Fights about Licensing!!

[brother]

Ok, I know this been a biggie with other states. But I think this may actually be good for my area. I just heard (rumor contol ) that our board is thinking of requiring electricians that that work for State buildings to be required to be licensed.

As the law is now, so long as they are 'employed' by the state/or any other employer and works on that building/equipment that is OWNED by the state or employere only, there is no licensing required. Kinda like a 'home owners permit'. This was always a touchy subject with some EC as if they were to be contracted to work on the building the EC would have to have licensed guys.


I was curious as was other states/areas exempted from having their employees/electricians licensed so long as they work for the state??

 

[celtic]

Join Date: Jul 2003
But I think this may actually be good for my area.

Ya think after 6 years you just might find the time to indicate where "my area" might be ?

 

[S'mise]

Name your State

Name your State

What State are you talking about?
Here in Michigan; You have to be licenced to work on building wiring. The way many institutions handle this is by having a master of record for the paperwork but the actual work is often done by unlicenced electricians (or Joe the handyman) Its a way to say they do their own maintenance and we assume our own liability. The AHJ in many cases is themselves so no permits or inspections are done. So yes, you are susposed to be licenced but that does not mean anything.

If your talking residential, its followed to the letter.

It all comes down to who the AHJ is.

 

[jimport]

It will only be good for your area if they don't grandfather everyone that is doing electrical work there now. Seems a lot of less than code knowledgeable will still get a license because I have been doing this for xx years. You can't take my job away.

 

[K8MHZ]

It will only be good for your area if they don't grandfather everyone that is doing electrical work there now. Seems a lot of less than code knowledgeable will still get a license because I have been doing this for xx years. You can't take my job away.

I remember when Michigan decided to license auto mechanics. No grandfathering. After a certain date anyone that worked on vehicles for pay (with certain exceptions like changing oil) had to have a license AND be at a licensed repair facility.

I am not old enough to remember when electricians were required to be licensed but I have never heard of grandfathering un-licensed tradespeople.

 

[acwservices]

What state are you from? I think the state should have to follow the same rules that are forced upon EC's.

 

[macmikeman]

In the Spam loving state, ALL or ANY electrical work is supposed to be done by licensed people. licensed ac guys can work on the electrical of the system downstream of the disco. There is no homeowner or handyman exemption. This is brilliant and wise, except there is not much enforcement available to back it up. So unlicensed "electricians" abound, and homeowners are often seen buying plastic wiremold sections and lamp cord at the home depot for new ceiling fans in the box also on the cart.........

 

[elohr46]

Ok, I know this been a biggie with other states. But I think this may actually be good for my area. I just heard (rumor contol ) that our board is thinking of requiring electricians that that work for State buildings to be required to be licensed.

As the law is now, so long as they are 'employed' by the state/or any other employer and works on that building/equipment that is OWNED by the state or employere only, there is no licensing required. Kinda like a 'home owners permit'. This was always a touchy subject with some EC as if they were to be contracted to work on the building the EC would have to have licensed guys.


I was curious as was other states/areas exempted from having their employees/electricians licensed so long as they work for the state??

How can that be? If the state requires that ALL electricians be licensed then you would think that in order to get a job with the state as an electrician it would be a prerequisite.

 

[brother]

How can that be? If the state requires that ALL electricians be licensed then you would think that in order to get a job with the state as an electrician it would be a prerequisite.

Its the way the laws are written. The state is WA for those that wanted to know. But back to my ORIGINAL question
"I was curious as was other states/areas exempted from having their employees/electricians licensed so long as they work for the state??"

 

[emahler]

Ya think after 6 years you just might find the time to indicate where "my area" might be ?

guess not...

 

[Buck Parrish]

Its the way the laws are written. The state is WA for those that wanted to know. But back to my ORIGINAL question
"I was curious as was other states/areas exempted from having their employees/electricians licensed so long as they work for the state??"

They'll have a lot of electricians in Olympia, hey ! ?

 

[Ken9876]

Its the way the laws are written. The state is WA for those that wanted to know. But back to my ORIGINAL question
"I was curious as was other states/areas exempted from having their employees/electricians licensed so long as they work for the state??"

Well In NJ It's called the state workers union IFPTE, NJ wanted everyone to get J-Mans cards but heaven forbid. I even spoke (well I spoke she was yelling) to someone at my union about this being licensed myself I think it would be a good thing, they however did not.

 

[ceb58]

OK streight forward answer. In NC if you are a bonafide employee of the state you can preform elect. work without a license on state owned property. If the state leases the property then the work must be permitted and done by a licensed elect. contractor. If work is put out for bid the contractor must be licensed.
With that said I am a licensed elect. contractor who happens to work for the State of NC. My work is inspected by the Dept. of Insurance only, no city or county inspections. But the fact that I am licensed has no bearing on what I do, for the State, since we dont actually pull permits.

 

[celtic]

guess not...

It's like a disease....

 

[celtic]

Well In NJ It's called the state workers union IFPTE, NJ wanted everyone to get J-Mans cards but heaven forbid. I even spoke (well I spoke she was yelling) to someone at my union about this being licensed myself I think it would be a good thing, they however did not.

The J-man card is a reality here in NJ.

J-man card or State employee does NOT alleviate the need a licensee.

Back in the 90's, when I worked on the RR, the DCA [who previously did not even inspect RR jobs] did a 180? requiring inspections AND a license holder for the RR.

 

[mthead]

Fights about Licensing!!

The post title sort of says it all.
!Fights!
Licensing needs to be required .
It should be standardized and for it to be worth its salt it requires a means of enforcement.
'Electric' is not something for amatures,or daytrippers or handyman specialists to play around with..,because the 'truth be known' electricians know there are always many different ways to get to the same place correctly and 10 times that many for a numbskull to get there incorrectly and set up a potential nightmare for us,the h/owner or their family/public.
Pennywise and pound foolish on the part of a naive h/owner is all too familiar a scenario to most saavy electricians.
But heres the rub.
Too often these days licensing proposals are pushed not by those with safety and the good of all electricians in mind but instead with requirements designed to benefit only a limited amount of electricians who have shops large enough to meet added requirements.
Licencing proposals should be about promoting safety and quality work.
That is common sense.
Shop owners need to be required to maintain their edge through continuing education,no?
Because if the shop owner doesn't at least visit his jobs,how will he ever know if his mechanics and helpers-the people who are representing his good name-are performing work that will ultimately "WORK"--or am I just naive -to think that something might be done for the right reason.
I apologize for soapboxing here -the moderators should feel free to edit this as needed.

 

[S'mise]

State your state

State your state

Don't forget. Not all electricians are required to be licenced. Many work on machinery, controls or other things out of jurisdiction

 

[Ken9876]

The J-man card is a reality here in NJ.

J-man card or State employee does NOT alleviate the need a licensee.

Back in the 90's, when I worked on the RR, the DCA [who previously did not even inspect RR jobs] did a 180? requiring inspections AND a license holder for the RR.

I'm going to look into this I work for the DOT and the union was fighting a bill that ended an exemption for not having a license or J-mans card. The bill was modified and said the same thing it always has in the end.

 

[celtic]

I'm going to look into this ....

I'll give you a leg up:


http://www.state.nj.us/oag/ca/proposal/elecpro1119.htm ~ Proposal 11/19/07

http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/adoption/eleado121508.htm ~ Adoption 12/15/08

http://www.state.nj.us/oag/ca/electric/journeyman.pdf ~ Application

New Jersey Administrative Code [NJAC]:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/njoal/

http://www.michie.com/newjersey/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=

 

[neutral]

Forcing All Electricians to be licensed will only increase the number of Hacks with licenses. A hack will not stop hacking just because they now are licensed. With the study material they have today it only takes about 2 weeks and a good memory for any untrained person to pass the test. If you don't know any hacks with license, Then you don't know many Electricians or Electrical Contractors.