Employee of school doing maintenance work on fixtures?

[sw_ross]

If a maintenance person at the school (employed by the school district) is working on light fixtures, how far can they go before having to hire out the work to an electrician?

Obviously they can change out fl. lamps. Can they change out ballast? How about taking an existing fixture and bypassing the ballast to operate LED tube lamps?

My thought is that they can work on (maintain) an existing fixture, but if the fixture is getting changed out an electrician is required for that work.

What if they're modifying all the fixtures (~150 fixtures) in the school to bypass the ballast and operate LED tubes?

I can't find anything to back that up though...
Any thoughts?

 

[jumper]

If a maintenance person at the school (employed by the school district) is working on light fixtures, how far can they go before having to hire out the work to an electrician?

Obviously they can change out fl. lamps. Can they change out ballast? How about taking an existing fixture and bypassing the ballast to operate LED tube lamps?

My thought is that they can work on (maintain) an existing fixture, but if the fixture is getting changed out an electrician is required for that work.

What if they're modifying all the fixtures (~150 fixtures) in the school to bypass the ballast and operate LED tubes?

I can't find anything to back that up though...
Any thoughts?

Not an NEC issue.

Each area/state/jurisdiction decides. In house maintenance rules are different for each application.

 

[cowboyjwc]

as an in house electrician I installed complex electrical systems and the plants new conveyor system, lifts, lighting, lighting control systems and what ever else was required, but we were all "electricians" the permits were pulled by he plant engineer.

What makes you think that just because he works for the school that he's not an electrician? I've sat on oral boards for the city, park district and school district, hiring people that can do electrical work. Many are guys just like me that simply want a regular pay check and some insurance benefits.

 

[tom baker]

Our state allows anyone working full time for the property owner to do electrical work. Where I work we require electricians to be certified (licensed).
Sometimes insurance companies require certification. In any case permits and inspections are required.

 

[jumper]

as an in house electrician I installed complex electrical systems and the plants new conveyor system, lifts, lighting, lighting control systems and what ever else was required, but we were all "electricians" the permits were pulled by he plant engineer.

What makes you think that just because he works for the school that he's not an electrician? I've sat on oral boards for the city, park district and school district, hiring people that can do electrical work. Many are guys just like me that simply want a regular pay check and some insurance benefits.

And the permit rules, licensing or qualifications, scope of work, inspections, and duties will vary.

Industrial plant, large commercial campus, residential complex, etc.

 

[packersparky]

If a maintenance person at the school (employed by the school district) is working on light fixtures, how far can they go before having to hire out the work to an electrician?

Obviously they can change out fl. lamps. Can they change out ballast? How about taking an existing fixture and bypassing the ballast to operate LED tube lamps?

My thought is that they can work on (maintain) an existing fixture, but if the fixture is getting changed out an electrician is required for that work.

What if they're modifying all the fixtures (~150 fixtures) in the school to bypass the ballast and operate LED tubes?

I can't find anything to back that up though...
Any thoughts?

Look at ND Chapter 43-09-09

 

[jumper]

Our state allows anyone working full time for the property owner to do electrical work. Where I work we require electricians to be certified (licensed).
Sometimes insurance companies require certification. In any case permits and inspections are required.

Key point on the insurance aspects.:thumbsup:

Also local legislation and rules for commercial/industrial maintenance are adopted in some areas.

Totally different from EC rules.

 

[ptonsparky]

Our local school allowed one of their maintenance personnel to do minor electrical projects until I was called up to see why they were getting shocked from the new corn popper. A brief heated one sided discussion ended that practice. He was not qualified in any way shape or form.

 

[jumper]

Our local school allowed one of their maintenance personnel to do minor electrical projects until I was called up to see why they were getting shocked from the new corn popper. A brief heated one sided discussion ended that practice. He was not qualified in any way shape or form.

Most local schools basically try to let janitors do maintenance, it never works....

 

[sw_ross]

Look at ND Chapter 43-09-09

That's exactly what I was looking at as I thought about the situation!
It basically says if one entity (business employing electricians) does work for another entity (i.e. school) a license is required to do electrical work.

In this situation I know the person. He's a maintenance person at the school that I do a lot of work with. He's not licensed. He asked me about whether it was okay to gradually convert the fixtures in the school over to LED tubes. He's already done a number of them without issue.

I kindve think that as a maintenance man he would need to be able to maintain lights in the school.

If it was a major lighting upgrade that involved changing out fixtures it would be a different story and an electrician would need to be involved.

ETA; I have seen some bad practices at a couple of other schools that I've worked at! One of those things where the more you looked around the more worried I got about that guys knowledge/ability!

 

[packersparky]

That's exactly what I was looking at as I thought about the situation!
It basically says if one entity (business employing electricians) does work for another entity (i.e. school) a license is required to do electrical work.

In this situation I know the person. He's a maintenance person at the school that I do a lot of work with. He's not licensed. He asked me about whether it was okay to gradually convert the fixtures in the school over to LED tubes. He's already done a number of them without issue.

I kindve think that as a maintenance man he would need to be able to maintain lights in the school.

If it was a major lighting upgrade that involved changing out fixtures it would be a different story and an electrician would need to be involved.

I'm certainly no lawyer, but it does say "person". Some language edited for brevity.

43-09-09. License required - Examination - Board to issue license. Every person that undertakes to plan, lay out, supervise, install, make additions, make alterations, or make repairs, in the installation of wiring, apparatus, or equipment for electric light,heat, or power, shall apply to the board for a license.

 

[sameguy]

In N.Y. it is a city by city, so anything out side the jurisdiction of a city that requires a license is fair game, a free for all.

 

[KnightPower]

This is one of the reasons the quick disconnects in fluorescent lights and multi-pole/handle ties on MWBCs codes were introduced.

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[sameguy]

When the school/internet wiring phase was happening years ago, we had a well to do district, engineers, doctors, lawyers, decide to buy, pull, terminate cat 5 in their district schools because electricians are too expensive. They did it at one elementary school. When I ran into one of the engineers on the job I was running, I asked if he thought it would be ok if we construction trades people did all of your jobs for free seeing how you cost more than we do. He told me after it was all done the instigators realized it was more work and harder than what was thought; plus not all the volunteers showed so would be bidding out the rest of the district.