PE and Master Electrician

[boku0003]

I work as an electrical engineer and have my PE. I just passed the class A Master Electrician exam last Wednesday (Dec 9). My intention was never to really utilize the license as an electrician. Mostly I just wanted to learn the NEC as I occasionaly use it at work. So I figured I'd get my license in the process since an Electrical Engineer can; with only a bachelor's degree...no experience required (in MN).

So naturally, everyone asks me what I'm going to do with it...am I going to do work on the side....that sort. But I tell them that I would need my contractor's license, and I need to be bonded and insured. All of which would make it not worth doing.

So what can I do with just a Master license (and a PE...)? Anything?...anything that I couldn't already do without it?

 

[TT009]

You could start a "company" and sell your services to other qualified electricians.

You would have to check with your state laws. In MN if a company is a sole proprietorship then the master, from the way I understand it, does not have to be employed and can hold a license for any company. If the company is a partnership, LLC, or INC company then the master must be employed and cant be employed anywhere else if he/ she is a managing employee.

 

[ohmhead]

I work as an electrical engineer and have my PE. I just passed the class A Master Electrician exam last Wednesday (Dec 9). My intention was never to really utilize the license as an electrician. Mostly I just wanted to learn the NEC as I occasionaly use it at work. So I figured I'd get my license in the process since an Electrical Engineer can; with only a bachelor's degree...no experience required (in MN).

So naturally, everyone asks me what I'm going to do with it...am I going to do work on the side....that sort. But I tell them that I would need my contractor's license, and I need to be bonded and insured. All of which would make it not worth doing.

So what can I do with just a Master license (and a PE...)? Anything?...anything that I couldn't already do without it?

Well that would mean you could design your own projects and as the electricial contractor you could approved all the changes for your company .

Less paper work time saved!

Nice ! :

 

[boku0003]

Company

Company

You could start a "company" and sell your services to other qualified electricians.



You would have to check with your state laws. In MN if a company is a sole proprietorship then the master, from the way I understand it, does not have to be employed and can hold a license for any company. If the company is a partnership, LLC, or INC company then the master must be employed and cant be employed anywhere else if he/ she is a managing employee.

This sounds interesting. Not sure what it would take to start my own company. Insurance, bond...what would it take? I've never started my own company.

My dad does own his own company as a Master and it is INC. So does that mean I could be a managing employee there?

 

[satcom]

I work as an electrical engineer and have my PE. I just passed the class A Master Electrician exam last Wednesday (Dec 9). My intention was never to really utilize the license as an electrician. Mostly I just wanted to learn the NEC as I occasionaly use it at work. So I figured I'd get my license in the process since an Electrical Engineer can; with only a bachelor's degree...no experience required (in MN).

So naturally, everyone asks me what I'm going to do with it...am I going to do work on the side....that sort. But I tell them that I would need my contractor's license, and I need to be bonded and insured. All of which would make it not worth doing.

So what can I do with just a Master license (and a PE...)? Anything?...anything that I couldn't already do without it?

Your professional liabilaity insurance would cover your electrical work provided you have it included in the audit schedule, your must be paying a pretty good amount on your existing liability policy.

 

[boku0003]

I do not have any professional liability insurance. I work as an engineer at a large company, so it is not needed. My PE is not required for the work that I do.

Are you saying that if I got professional liability insurance, that would cover me...I could then do electrical work, like at a residential or commercial building?

 

[cschmid]

With out the contractors license you can not do electrical work. Other wise it is the same as you are doing now except you have a better understanding of the NEC and have paper to prove to it.

 

[boku0003]

That's what I figured. I was never really planning on doing electrical work on the side. Just wanted "a better understanding of the NEC and the paper to prove it "(I like that). I don't really need it all that much at my current position, but things can happen. And if I lose my job, the license makes me more marketable and opens doors to other jobs.

 

[mivey]

So does that mean I could be a managing employee there?

Are you saying that if I got professional liability insurance, that would cover me...I could then do electrical work, like at a residential or commercial building?

Just wanted "a better understanding of the NEC and the paper to prove it "(I like that). I don't really need it all that much at my current position, but things can happen. And if I lose my job, the license makes me more marketable and opens doors to other jobs.

The "paper to prove it" is only part of the story. As you know from being a working engineer, the book sense is needed but doesn't guarantee you know everything needed for the task at hand. How could you be a managing employee if you don't know what you are doing?

The paper can be a door opener but does not mean you can hit the ground running. If you quit your job today and started your EC business tomorrow, you are at a high risk for failure. You need some OJT to learn the practical skills that go along with understanding the code as well as some business skills.

I think working with your dad would be great for you but don't expect to be a partner on day one. Your dad has a world of things that he needs to teach you first.

 

[satcom]

I do not have any professional liability insurance. I work as an engineer at a large company, so it is not needed. My PE is not required for the work that I do.

Are you saying that if I got professional liability insurance, that would cover me...I could then do electrical work, like at a residential or commercial building?

I will depend on you carrier, for professional liability, most require you to have E&O along with completed operations, expensive insurance, not the cheap year to year policies a lot of EC's have to just get their business license, a lot of EC's take a big risk when it comes to insurance, they take the position that a disaster will happen to the other guy, not them, electrical work in many ways is risky business.

 

[boku0003]

yea I agree. In all honesty, I am surprised they even allow us engineers to become Master Electricians. I don't even know why they do. What's the point, you can't really work as an electrician practically. Not without working under someone first, in which case, you are pretty much an apprentice. Throughout my life I have worked with him from time to time, but there is a lot to the work that is not in the code. Like how do you bend pipe, how do you hang fixtures, how do you wire this and that. The NEC only covers the safety of it.

 

[mull982]

I have always wondered about being able to get a masters electrical license with an undergraduate degree.

I have an undergraduate EE degree but do not yet have my PE. Am I able to take this masters test in Florida to get my masters license?

 

[boku0003]

Not sure about how the rules are in Florida, but in Minnesota, you can either take the electrician route (x hundred hours as an apprentice, 2 years of trade school, journeyman, etc.) or you can take the engineer route, which means you only need your bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. No experience required. I don't want to downplay "only" because getting your EE degree is no easy task!! I'm just saying you don't have to prove that you have x number of hours experience in each of the various areas. You do not need your PE. I still recommend you get that first (unless you just graduated...you usually have to wait 4 or 5 years) as it will have more relevance and benefit in your career.

I would do a google search and find your Department of Labor for Electrical. In MN it is the DOLI that takes care of all that.

 

[cschmid]

hey congratulations on getting your masters..now you have the paper tools to do great things or not so great things but you now have options..With options the road of life flows better..

 

[boku0003]

Yea I am definitely not equipped to go out and do electrican work. However, I think it is a good thing for EE's to get their Master license. I remember when I was working for Olympic electric during college. I was an "Electrical Helper" for the union. I still remember on the construction site guys telling me to "remember my work experience here". They knew I was in school to be an EE and said how they got frustrated a lot with EE's and how they would do bad designs because they didn't know anything about electrical work. Sometimes their designs weren't practical or would violate code. So to those guys if you are listening, I haven't forgotten about you

And to those of you that are EE's, if you are doing this kind of work, I strongly urge you to study the code. Getting your Master license is even better as it forces you to really learn the material. It only makes life better and easier for everyone around you. Plus having your license, you'll be the "go to" guy when questions about the NEC and electrical installations come up.

 

[cschmid]

I remember my apprentice years though many year ago..I was a journeyman and was working on this industrial setting I ran thousands of feet of pipe to one end for the packaging equipment.

I notice that when it came time to run the wiring the pipe sizes where wrong. I questioned it and got yelled at for questioning the engineer and was told to pull the wire, so I did.

Later to realize the contractor did know that when the wiring was wrong they had to pay him T&M to fix it. I learned then that there is more to making money then being a good electrician..

Yet I do not like being an a** H*** to get my money or hiring a lawyer and going to court, no money making then..you also have to know when it is cheaper to let the debt go..So being a contractor is not fun either..that is only small portion of what a contractor goes through because customer has cash and they are trying to get small portion for them..good that is whole another issue..

 

[mull982]

Is a masters license the same as an electrical contractors license?

I was looking at the Florida Board website and found the following requirements in this faq section.

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/elboard/documents/elecfaqs.pdf

Also it referes to different types of electrical contractor licenses. There is one called an "unlimited electrical contractor" is this one the same as the masters?

 

[skeshesh]

gratz on your new license. I'm an EE waiting for the 4th year of exp so I can take the PE exam. My dad and all my uncles are EE's so they told me early on to not overlook the practical side of things. Everything this subject gets brought up I ask the same question: why not have just one semester of something to the effect of 'means and methods of electrical installations' so that recent grad EEs arent so green... As far as some EE's knowing nothing about routing, equip placement, etc. and coming up with horrible designs, I think there's certainly some truth to that - but I also think it depends on the person. There are plenty of contractors/electricians out there, similarly, that know very little about electrical theory and have just learned some common pratices by the way of experience and think they're the end of all electrical work. I think bottom line is when someone loves what he/she does and wants to be good at it, there's a drive to learn whatever's necessary for that end, be it the engineer learning practicall matters or the electrician learning theory (many of great examples of both cases all over this forum)...