Experior Exam

[bphgravity]

For all you Florida electricans: as of March 1st, Experior has changed the format of the local Master and Journeyman exam from a 6-hour 3 section test to a 4 hour 1 section test. The old exam was a total of 150 questions, and the new is only 100 questions long. The problem is that many counties are droping the licensing of registered contractors because of this new reduced format. This action is requiring persons wishing to work in these counties to get the State Ulimited Certified license. Many of the local building departments have explained to me that this is a future trend that will eventually eliminate the registered license all together. If you are planning on becoming a registered contractor in the county you live, I suggest you do it soon. Two counties in my area stopped licensing for registered contractors immediately on the 1st of March. The State Unlimted is a totaly different animal than the local Master and certain financial requirements must be met to even sit for the State Unlimited. Good Luck!!

 

[luke warmwater]

Re: Experior Exam

So Bryan, if you pass a local master exam, does it reciprocate to all other counties? Or do you have to take a local master exam in each county?

 

[roger]

Re: Experior Exam

Bravo for these counties.

Any attempt at "dumbing down" should be a reason to change to a more ridgid standard.


Roger

 

[bphgravity]

Re: Experior Exam

Todd, Yes. All but one county in the state will reciprocate any other county license. But you must register with the state each time you wish to do this. In effect, every year you must renew your license, occupational tax license, and local master license for every county and jurisdiction you are registered in. Certified Contractors are only required to renew their Unlimited License and Occupational Tax License fr each county they work in.

Roger, I agree. the olf format determined an electricians qualifications much better than this new format will do. The local counties here are telling me that the exam was just one of the many reasons to stop the licensing of registered contractors. The problem is that 2/3 of state contractors are registered. These arethe contractors that work in small communities and really support the building department through permitting fees. The Certiified Contractors are centered in the larger cities, and perform limited work in the general community. The loss of the registered license is going to be a great cost to more than just the electrician, the home owners will see the change as well. The insurance, bonding, liability coverage for Certified contractors is much greater than that of registered contractors. It is going to be interesting to see how things go the next couple of years. In any case, dumbing down the exam or reducing licensing requirements is the wrong path to go down. I kinda like what is going on, but at the same time, I would have never been able to get my contractos license without the registered license.

 

[daverz]

Re: Experior Exam

Bryan, I'm confused.. what was the difference for qualification between the Certified and Registered licenses?

FYI... the information you give regarding the new master and journeyman formats is not correct.

 

[bphgravity]

Re: Experior Exam

Daverz: A Certified Contractor has passed the state electrical exam, they can work anywhere in the state, they meet the states insurance and bonding requirements, etc.

A Registered Contractor has passed a local county exam. They can only work in the counties that they have received certificates of competency (Masters), and only need to meet the counties insurance requirements, etc.

So basically, the difference is that one (ER) meets local requirements and the other (EC) meets the states requirements.

Please don't make a statement that I am not correct on something without providing your reasoning.

Per Experior: (For Florida) J-Man = 3hrs, 80 questions, M = 4hrs, 100 questions.

(Catalog # f20210 (1999) , f20211 (2002) J-Man
(Catalog # f20110 (1999) , F20111 (2002) Master

These exams used to be 6 hrs and three sections, with 1 closed book, 2 hrs open book, 3 hrs calculations. This new format is one open book session.

By the way, the State Exam Unlimited Electrical) is 7.5 hours, consisting of theory, code, practices, safety, and alarm systems for 5 hrs and 2.5 hrs of business practices.