Office Furniture - WA State Proposed electrical law change

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tom baker

tom baker

First Chief Moderator & NEC Expert
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Bremerton, Washington
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Master Electrician
I have never worked on any of the office partitions that are prewired with power, often 3 circuits. There is a bill in our legislature to exempt installing this type of office partitions from licensing.
What are the hazards if uncertified workers are allowed to do this?
The contractor does not have to be an electrical contractor and the employees don't have to be electricians.

Here is the language:

No license under the provisions of this chapter shall be required from any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other
entity because of work in connection with the installation,reconfiguration, or maintenance of modular electrical systems that
are UL-listed for use in commercial furniture. This subsection does not apply to line voltage connections to the building power source
necessary as part of the office furniture installation.
 
tom baker said:
I have never worked on any of the office partitions that are prewired with power, often 3 circuits. There is a bill in our legislature to exempt installing this type of office partitions from licensing.
What are the hazards if uncertified workers are allowed to do this?
The contractor does not have to be an electrical contractor and the employees don't have to be electricians.

Here is the language:

No license under the provisions of this chapter shall be required from any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other
entity because of work in connection with the installation,reconfiguration, or maintenance of modular electrical systems that
are UL-listed for use in commercial furniture. This subsection does not apply to line voltage connections to the building power source
necessary as part of the office furniture installation.
Click to expand...
Sounds as though a lobbyist for Microsoft and/or Adobe got to someone and convinced them that these are no different than appliances that are factory pre-wired and listed as an assembly. Like power strips essentially.
 
I've installed tons of those furniture systems and it really requires little skill to snap together components. Connections to the branch circuitry is a different story due to the various codes that apply.

In the past due to jurisdictional issues we've always handled all of the electrical components of the system including the snap-in lighting fixtures and installed all of it. I can see this as a cost saving measure because the EC's typically get paid more money than the furniture installers.
 
Given that the rule still requires an electrician to make the connections to the branch circuit, I don't see any issue.
 
Ok Thanks. I will make a comment along Dons. When a bill is introduced, I look at who introduced it and who they represent. Amazon and Paul Allen are building a lot of office buildings in Seattle.
 
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