Backflow Base / Tester certification / Rhode Island
Backflow tester certification in Rhode Island.
The state rule requires anyone who tests backflow preventers to hold current certification from a program the Director of Health recognizes. The rule does not name the programs. Each water system sets test timing and report handling in its own plan.
Last updated .
Who certifies
Rhode Island Department of Health (rule 216-RICR-50-05-1.9)
The state sets a minimum; a water system may ask for more.
What it takes
- Credential
- Inspector/Tester certification from a program recognized by the RIDOH Director.
- Training
- Basic course covering inspection, cleaning, basic repair, maintenance and testing.
- Test kit
- The water system's quality assurance program must address test kit calibration; no interval is set in the rule.
Certificates from elsewhere
No other state's certificate is named as valid here. Ask the program before you rely on one.
Where to get certified
- New England Water Works Association (NEWWA)Holliston, MA · course and exam · in person. Trains in all six New England states. Whether RIDOH recognizes NEWWA was not confirmed from a RIDOH source.
Listed for convenience, not endorsed. Check that a course is on the state's approved list before you pay.
Free exam prep → Study questions, practice exams, device tests.
Test procedures for every assembly → The steps we recommend for the field exam.
Filing test reports
Reports go to the water system serving the property; timing is set in that system's plan. Water systems file an annual report with RIDOH by January 15.
Largest water systems
Providence Water
- Reports
- Its backflow application page covers installation only; no tester filing rules found.
Pawtucket Water Supply Board
- Contact
- 401-729-5019
- Reports
- Page links a blank Backflow Prevention Assembly Test Report; submission method not stated.
- Testers
- Publishes a Backflow Tester Requirements PDF and a Table of Approved Backflow Testers; contents not read.
Kent County Water Authority
- Contact
- 401-821-9300
- Reports
- Page links a KCWA Backflow Test Form; submission method not stated.
- Testers
- Publishes a Cross-control Tester List and KCWA Regulations Part V; contents not read.
Warwick Water Division
Bristol County Water Authority
Sources
- 216-RICR-50-05-1.9 Assurance of Safety in Public Supply
- Pawtucket Water Supply Board Cross Connection Control Program
- Kent County Water Authority Cross Connections
- NEWWA program information
Little of this could be confirmed from an official source. Call the program or the water system before you rely on it.
Checked 2026-10-19 against each state's own program pages and rules. Rules change; confirm with the program before you book an exam or a test. Spot something out of date? hello@backflowbase.com.
The software
- Bookings from a booking page, your own website, and an AI receptionist on your phone.
- Schedule board and route for each tester.
- Field app that scores every test, even with no signal.
- Test reports sent to the water system that serves each address.
- Card payments to your own Stripe account, and yearly renewals that charge after the test.
- Client portal for HOAs, property managers and contractors.
- $50/month flat: no per-test fee, no cut of payments.
- Every feature →What the app does, part by part.
- Compare →Next to other backflow and field-service software.
- Start free →No card. $50/month or $500/year once you go live, 45 days free.
- Free exam prep →Study questions, practice exams, device tests, a VR wet lab.