Passed WA Administrator! and a question

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ericsherman37

ericsherman37

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Location
Oregon Coast
Woo hoo!

Passed the Washington General Electrical Administrator's Exam! Well, I passed the NEC and the Calculations portions a couple weeks ago, but failed the WA Rules & Laws portion. Retook that portion today and passed it.

Sendin' off my license application Monday!

Then sending my boss a bill for the expenses I incurred in obtaining the license. After all, he's the one that will benefit from the expanded business opportunities.

A question for everyone:

Would it be reasonable or unusual (or even legal) for me to charge my boss a small fee for each Washington permit that I sign for him? Just curious.
 
wireguy8169 said:
Doubt its illegal but that is what you will have to negotiate with your boss...but if it gets him more work hey should be glad your able to do it...congrats
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That's my reasoning too. It will be more work for him, and more for me (I have a WA Journeyman license too). I figure a small percentage of the value of each permit I sign should tally up enough to cover my Continuing Education costs and license renewal fees and thus remain able to continue my Administratorly duties for him.
 
How is your boss' company pulling permits now? He can't be in business withour already having an Administrator.
If it is a small ( 10 or under employees ) company and you officially sign on with LNI as the Admin you should be getting 500 - 1500 month plus your wages.

LEGAL!! Heck yea! Whatever you both agree upon is what it is!
 
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ericsherman37 said:
Woo hoo!

Passed the Washington General Electrical Administrator's Exam! Well, I passed the NEC and the Calculations portions a couple weeks ago, but failed the WA Rules & Laws portion. Retook that portion today and passed it.

Sendin' off my license application Monday!

Then sending my boss a bill for the expenses I incurred in obtaining the license. After all, he's the one that will benefit from the expanded business opportunities.

A question for everyone:

Would it be reasonable or unusual (or even legal) for me to charge my boss a small fee for each Washington permit that I sign for him? Just curious.
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That was going to be question, how is your boss getting permits now, he has to already have an administrator on hand. And yes its legal as others have said.
 
bill j said:
How is your boss' company pulling permits now? He can't be in business withour already having an Administrator.
If it is a small ( 10 or under employees ) company and you officially sign on with LNI as the Admin you should be getting 500 - 1500 month plus your wages.

LEGAL!! Heck yea! Whatever you both agree upon is what it is!
Click to expand...

brother said:
That was going to be question, how is your boss getting permits now, he has to already have an administrator on hand. And yes its legal as others have said.
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We're an Oregon-based contractor. We're all licensed and established in Oregon. We're only in the beginning process of getting licensed up in Washington. We've got a couple guys with WA Journeyman cards, but no Administrators (until now).

Now that I've got this license my boss can apply for a WA contractor license and once all that bureaucratic stuff is done with then we can be all legit and stuff.
 
bill j said:
as the Admin you should be getting 500 - 1500 month plus your wages.
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Duner said:
If your the only one with a admin card... $$$
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Now if I'm not working exclusively in WA... just whenever we land a job up there... what would be a "standard" amount to charge him for signing off on the job?

I've worked for the guy for about 5 years now so I don't want to rip him off, but I also want to be compensated fairly for my Administratorly duties, on top of my Journeyman wages.
 
ericsherman37 said:
Now if I'm not working exclusively in WA... just whenever we land a job up there... what would be a "standard" amount to charge him for signing off on the job?

I've worked for the guy for about 5 years now so I don't want to rip him off, but I also want to be compensated fairly for my Administratorly duties, on top of my Journeyman wages.
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Are there any legal ramifications directly to you if something goes wrong on a job by having your name as the WA Administator on file for this company? CYA.
 
stevenje said:
Are there any legal ramifications directly to you if something goes wrong on a job by having your name as the WA Administator on file for this company? CYA.
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Interestingly enough I had a question on my exam about this. I couldn't find a definite answer but the most I could see is that my license could be suspended or revoked for several reasons, including incompetence and/or failure to carry out the duties my license requires me to carry out.

Financial liability and stuff, though, I believe lies with the company.
 
ericsherman37 said:
Now if I'm not working exclusively in WA... just whenever we land a job up there... what would be a "standard" amount to charge him for signing off on the job?

I've worked for the guy for about 5 years now so I don't want to rip him off, but I also want to be compensated fairly for my Administratorly duties, on top of my Journeyman wages.
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Good job passing the test .
the best way to find out is to just go in to the shop and tell him what you want.
I don't think you will get fired for that:D
 
When I passed the MI Masters test and was going to be the master-of-record for my bosses contractors license, he told me I owed him! He kept me employed while I did the apprenticeship and 4000 hrs as a journeyman to take the test, so I owed him !?!?!? Didn't work there any longer.
 
ericsherman37 said:
Interestingly enough I had a question on my exam about this. I couldn't find a definite answer but the most I could see is that my license could be suspended or revoked for several reasons, including incompetence and/or failure to carry out the duties my license requires me to carry out.

Financial liability and stuff, though, I believe lies with the company.
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Heres the state web site this may help you get the anwser.

http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Electrical/default.asp
 
Congrats on passing the test.

In regards to doing business with your boss, you need to be very careful in how you do this. Local laws will have alot to do with this agreement.

I would definitely, without a doubt hire a construction attorney to draft the contract agreement.
It may cost both of you money, but the long term results could be extremely important.

Your boss may not want to sign a contract....THAT IS A BIG RED FLAG!!

A contractor I am in discussion with from last week found out the hard way to the tune of very big bucks and his liability. I directed him to a construction attorney who specializes in electrical. But, it is pretty much too late for him. He is now trying to reduce his liability.
 
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Congratulations on passing the test. It's not an easy one, I passed the same test about twelve years ago.

You will definitely be liable for any work performed under your administrator's ticket. Read below from the Washington RCW code:

19.28.061
(5) The designated master electrician or administrator shall:
(a) Be a member of the firm or a supervisory employee and shall be available during working hours to carry out the
duties of an administrator under this section;
(b) Ensure that all electrical work complies with the electrical installation laws and rules of the state;
(c) Ensure that the proper electrical safety procedures are used;
(d) Ensure that all electrical labels, permits, and licenses required to perform electrical work are used;
(e) See that corrective notices issued by an inspecting authority are complied with; and
(f) Notify the department in writing within ten days if the master electrician or administrator terminates the relationship
with the electrical contractor.

In my opinion, if any of the above items aren't done correctly, you could be sued (if something goes wrong). So it's in your best interest to oversee things properly. And since you must be a full-time employee, the state prohibits you from using your license with more than one company.

Good luck!

Andrew
 
ericsherman37 said:
Woo hoo!

Passed the Washington General Electrical Administrator's Exam! Well, I passed the NEC and the Calculations portions a couple weeks ago, but failed the WA Rules & Laws portion. Retook that portion today and passed it.
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Congrats. It will be interesting to see the pass rates on exams now that PSI has taken over the testing. Each test is random. Those companies that use to offer exam prep classes reviewing the answers to the old 1 of 5 exams are going to have a harder time of it.
The average pass rate for all exams was 38%, Average passrate for residential was only 28%.
Thats dismal.
 
LEO2854 said:
Good job passing the test .
the best way to find out is to just go in to the shop and tell him what you want.
I don't think you will get fired for that:D
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That's the trouble. What I want and what is reasonable are two different things :roll:

Pierre C Belarge said:
Congrats on passing the test.

In regards to doing business with your boss, you need to be very careful in how you do this. Local laws will have alot to do with this agreement.

I would definitely, without a doubt hire a construction attorney to draft the contract agreement.
It may cost both of you money, but the long term results could be extremely important.

Your boss may not want to sign a contract....THAT IS A BIG RED FLAG!!

A contractor I am in discussion with from last week found out the hard way to the tune of very big bucks and his liability. I directed him to a construction attorney who specializes in electrical. But, it is pretty much too late for him. He is now trying to reduce his liability.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great idea, thank you for the advice! I suspect I'd need to find such a person in (or at least licensed in) Washington and familiar with Washington contracting law.

buzzbar said:
Congratulations on passing the test. It's not an easy one, I passed the same test about twelve years ago.

You will definitely be liable for any work performed under your administrator's ticket. Read below from the Washington RCW code:

19.28.061
(5) The designated master electrician or administrator shall:
(a) Be a member of the firm or a supervisory employee and shall be available during working hours to carry out the
duties of an administrator under this section;
(b) Ensure that all electrical work complies with the electrical installation laws and rules of the state;
(c) Ensure that the proper electrical safety procedures are used;
(d) Ensure that all electrical labels, permits, and licenses required to perform electrical work are used;
(e) See that corrective notices issued by an inspecting authority are complied with; and
(f) Notify the department in writing within ten days if the master electrician or administrator terminates the relationship
with the electrical contractor.

In my opinion, if any of the above items aren't done correctly, you could be sued (if something goes wrong). So it's in your best interest to oversee things properly. And since you must be a full-time employee, the state prohibits you from using your license with more than one company.

Good luck!

Andrew
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I'll get to the bottom of the liability thing. Thanks for the info. I certainly don't plan on shirking my duties.
 
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