Florida License

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H

horses

Member
Location
Bradenton, Florida
I signed up to take the Florida Electrical Unlimited exam and had a couple of questions!

1- Do I really need to purchase all of the books that are listed under Electrical Unlimited reference books at Palms bookstore that are around $1200.00? I have the 2011 NEC handbook, Florida Construction Manual, and the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code 2013 Edition!

2- I used Mike's study course when I obtained my original Master license in Virginia, and I have my North Carolina Unlimited license through reciprocity with Virginia.
I need my CEU credits for Virginia and North Carolina so I enrolled in an exam prep course in North Carolina because it would meet my CEU requirements and at the same time I would get some help preparing for my Florida Exam. The said that their course would prepare me for the Florida technical part, but not the Business part?

Any help will be appreciated!
 
Coppersmith

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I took the FL unlimited EC test about 3 years ago. There were (if I remember correctly) 13 separate reference books/pamphlets required for the technical portion. I decided to not buy about half of them. I based my buy/no-buy decision on the percentage of questions from each expected on the test. (Your application documents tell you these percentages.)

For instance, one of the reference books is about concrete mixtures. I estimated there would be one question about this on the test. (If I remember correctly, there was.) I figured I had about a 25% chance of guessing the correct answer. I didn't but that book.

There was also a book about neon signs. I was able to read portions of that book (preview samples) online at Amazon.com. If I remember correctly there were two questions about neon signs on the test, one of which I covered in my reading.

They don't tell you your score if you pass, only if you fail. I don't know how well I did other than I passed. I haven't felt like I missed anything I didn't study since I've been in business. Maybe one day I'll add neon signs to my repertoire and I'll have to buy that book.

BTW, You may be able to borrow the books from another EC. Make EC friends. You're going to need them later anyway when you have technical questions, need a mentor, or need to borrow equipment.
 
Coppersmith

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I don't remember the list of references. That was a while ago. Like I said, base your purchases on the percentages and you should be good.
 
mwm1752

mwm1752

Senior Member
Location
Aspen, Colo
Does Florida have Master, Journeyman, Residential Wireman licenses similar to Colorado? It appears they have levels of electrical contractor licenses only -- & If they do where would you search for verification?
 
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
mwm1752 said:
Does Florida have Master, Journeyman, Residential Wireman licenses similar to Colorado? It appears they have levels of electrical contractor licenses only -- & If they do where would you search for verification?
Click to expand...

There is a journeyman license but it's only required in 3 Florida counties. The union has those designations for its members, but the union is exceptionally weak in Florida.
 
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
peter d said:
There is a journeyman license but it's only required in 3 Florida counties. The union has those designations for its members, but the union is exceptionally weak in Florida.
Click to expand...

I believe Miami/Dade is one of them, not sure on the others. But as Florida is a huge state, only 3 counties if insignificant.
 
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
Coppersmith said:
The IBEW does not have a "Master" membership level. My union membership card says "Journeyman" even though I'm a master and a union signatory contractor (i.e. employer).
Click to expand...

You're right, I was thinking of the "Wireman" designation he mentioned. I don't know of any state licensing agency that uses that terminology, but that is a common term in the union.
 
Coppersmith

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
cbledsoe89 said:
The wireman he is referring to is a "residential wireman" texas has the same thing
Click to expand...

Wireman is a descriptor for either an "inside wireman" or a "residential wireman". Insiders can do industrial, commercial and residential electrical work. Residential wiremen are not allowed to do anything except 1 and 2 family residential work.

Wiremen are trained to do all the work from the service point to the final branch circuits. "Linemen" are the people who work the service point back to the generating station. (They are the "outside wiremen", but we don't use that term.)

Other than exchanging an occasional greeting, linemen and inside wiremen rarely work together.

(If I'm saying something you already know, sorry. Sounded like there was confusion.)

Note that there are female wiremen and linemen, but gender neutral titles (wireperson? wirer? wirenut?) have not been discussed as far as I know.
 
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