This was also posted in the Electricians Subreddit.
If this is the wrong forum please let me know and I will move it to the appropriate one.
I am having a conundrum and was hoping someone has some advice.
First the back story.
In 2014 I started looking into taking my Journeyman Electrician test. While looking at the requirements I noticed Alabama required 8000 hours in supervisory experience to take the Electrical Contractors test, but did not specifically require a Journeyman license first. At that time I had more than enough hours supervising others so I sent in the application, was cleared for the test, took it, and passed. I became an Alabama licensed Electrical Contractor (Alabama does not have a designation as a Master Electrician) in June 2014.
Now the problem.
My current employer asked me to pursue getting licensed in Texas, so I sent in the application. The response I am getting in Texas is since I never held a Journeyman license I do not meet the requirements to sit for the test, I pointed out I surpass the requirements but was told my only option is to get a Texas Journeyman license for two years first.
Looking into the Texas laws it does state that you must have a Journeyman license for two years before being eligible to take the test. However when I dug into the definitions listed in the codes it says licensee or license holder is anyone who has a license issued by the department, and department is defined as the Texas Department of licensing and regulation.
I know for a fact Texas has let other Alabama electricians use their Alabama Journeyman card to qualify to sit for the exam, even though the letter of the law does not allow it. The department however uses the spirit of the law to let these others test. I'll admit, I do not qualify under the letter of the law, but since they let others test who qualify under the spirit of the law I think I should be eligible to test.
Has anyone had to deal with anything similar when trying to get licensed in Texas when coming from out of state? If so, do you have any advice or know of someone in the department I can talk to regarding this decision.
If this is the wrong forum please let me know and I will move it to the appropriate one.
I am having a conundrum and was hoping someone has some advice.
First the back story.
In 2014 I started looking into taking my Journeyman Electrician test. While looking at the requirements I noticed Alabama required 8000 hours in supervisory experience to take the Electrical Contractors test, but did not specifically require a Journeyman license first. At that time I had more than enough hours supervising others so I sent in the application, was cleared for the test, took it, and passed. I became an Alabama licensed Electrical Contractor (Alabama does not have a designation as a Master Electrician) in June 2014.
Now the problem.
My current employer asked me to pursue getting licensed in Texas, so I sent in the application. The response I am getting in Texas is since I never held a Journeyman license I do not meet the requirements to sit for the test, I pointed out I surpass the requirements but was told my only option is to get a Texas Journeyman license for two years first.
Looking into the Texas laws it does state that you must have a Journeyman license for two years before being eligible to take the test. However when I dug into the definitions listed in the codes it says licensee or license holder is anyone who has a license issued by the department, and department is defined as the Texas Department of licensing and regulation.
I know for a fact Texas has let other Alabama electricians use their Alabama Journeyman card to qualify to sit for the exam, even though the letter of the law does not allow it. The department however uses the spirit of the law to let these others test. I'll admit, I do not qualify under the letter of the law, but since they let others test who qualify under the spirit of the law I think I should be eligible to test.
Has anyone had to deal with anything similar when trying to get licensed in Texas when coming from out of state? If so, do you have any advice or know of someone in the department I can talk to regarding this decision.