Florida is so strange to me. You have literally one of the most difficult and expensive electrical contractor licenses in the country. Yet in most areas you have no journeyman license or test and no apprenticeship/training program. The owner of the business who may never put on tools has the license but nobody else has any formal training? Explain that one to me. :huh:
Difficult? The FL unlimited EC is just that, unlimited. You are allowed to do ANY KIND of electrical work. Looking back, they did not test me on half the stuff I'm allowed to do. The entire test is open book so anyone who has familiarised themselves with the reference books and can use an index should be able to pass first time. (There a few calculations questions. Very few.) FL offers a bunch of limited license types. If one wants to do just residential, or alarms, or low voltage, then just take that test instead. They are much easier.
I like the fact the people consider it difficult. I spent about 6 months (two months was test prep) getting licensed and now I can enjoy the rest of my working life reaping the benefits of being a master electrician, one of which is the legal competition is limited to those willing to put in the effort to get licensed. I even get work referred to me from people who have limited electrical licenses because they can't legally do anything outside the scope of their license. (I'm sure many are violating this rule.)
Expensive? Between the reference books, test prep books, application fees, and test fees it will cost about $2000. Test prep courses are really not required. The material is fairly easy to understand except the NEC. For that you need Mike's test prep book. You can make back $2K in your first full week of billings. (BTW, FL requires a minimum $10K in the bank to get your license. I wouldn't try to start the business in any state with less than $30K.)
Jman Licences? I would love this. It would cut way down on competition from incompetent workers and raise wages for the men. We had Jman licences at one time. The Republicans in office got rid of that requirement. ("Unneeded regulation.") They reasoned that the qualifier (the person with the licence) is supposed to be supervising the men s/he employs. (Not that it really happens.)
Apprenticeship training programs? There are union training programs covering the entire state. There are non-union training programs in the major cities. I spent five years in a FL apprenticeship program. My program is certified by the FL Dept of Education. I think they all are.
