BackInTheHabit
Senior Member
- Location
- Lexington, Kentucky
Wisconsin Governor Signs Electrician Licensing Bill
- Thread starter BackInTheHabit
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Mike Burch
Member
- Location
- Apache Junction, Arizona
Hopefull Arizona will be next.BackInTheHabit said:
BackInTheHabit
Senior Member
- Location
- Lexington, Kentucky
Mike Burch said:
Welcome to the forum! :grin:
What are the requirements in Arizona?
BackInTheHabit
Senior Member
- Location
- Lexington, Kentucky
480sparky said:We're one year ahead of you in Iowa. And we're not prepared at all.
How are you, or others, not prepared?
Mike Burch
Member
- Location
- Apache Junction, Arizona
There is a contractor licensing requirement but none that I know of for electricians. Arizona is like everywhere else really, there are some really sharp guys and then some that are not so skilled. But I think licensing would at least require electricians here to increase theire knowledge even if its by force.BackInTheHabit said:
I worked for a company in Phoenix a few years ago who's owner shopped for help from Michigan because he felt the quality was considerably better from there. Michigan has licensing requirements and also has the mandatory NEC update classes as well. I take my updates through a corespondence course. Oh yeah, it's the a... Mike Holt corespondence course. Plug.... Thank you for the welcome. MikeBackInTheHabit said:
Problem is, every little city, town, municipality, county, burg, village, hamlet, general store and trading post has different licensing procedures. Some are 8,000/hour documented and proctored test, some are 'pay the fee and get a license.' So confirming thousands of electricians records is not an easy task.
We're in a multi-state agreement already, and they want to be sure that those who are classified as Class A masters or journeymen are, in fact, properly trained & tested in order to cross state lines.
Another problem I ran into today... one city is so unsure of the whole process they are not issuing permits to anyone who hasn't pulled a permit there in the last year. Restriction of trade, as far as I'm concerned. A call will be placed to their city attorney tomorrow.
e57
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
Be afraid - be very afraid! If it goes anything like California you're in for a long confusing ride - like Alice in Wonderland bad....
electriciangirl
Member
- Location
- Oulu, Wisconsin
e57 said:
I wasn't afraid before. I thought Wisconsin requiring licenses was a good thing. For those of you who have been through this, do I need to do anything else to prepare? I have my Journeyman's license and will test for Master at the end of the year or early next year? What else should I look for?
electriciangirl said:
Jan 1, 2008, was our cut-off date for rolling your local licenses over to a state level. If you had a JW card before then, you will get a state JW card. But at the time, no one was sure what the process was going to be in order to test for a higher level. So I told everyone to take a shot at it and take the test. If you passed, you got a better state-level license.
I don't know if that's how Wisconsin is doing it, but that's one suggestion I would make.... take the test as soon as you can so you're in a better position when the *bleep* hits the fan.
BackInTheHabit
Senior Member
- Location
- Lexington, Kentucky
480sparky said:
That's how it was before the State took over licensing in 2002.
BackInTheHabit
Senior Member
- Location
- Lexington, Kentucky
electriciangirl said:
It may not seem like a good thing now, but it will eventually work. It has and continues to do so in KY.
These are what requirements Wisconsin has currently.
Make sure you keep records of employers and your history with them. What type of work you have done and for how many years. Keep withholding statements and tax returns to help document your experience. If you leave an employer, try to get a letter from them stating that you worked there and any pertinent information.
More or less - Leave a paper trail. They will want documentation.
BackInTheHabit
Senior Member
- Location
- Lexington, Kentucky
480sparky said:
To get an idea of what other state are doing, see attachments.
jrclen
Senior Member
- Location
- Central Wisconsin
BackInTheHabit said:
Only those who do not presently hold state issued licenses will be affected. The handymen and trunk slammers will have a grace period to apply for and obtain the license. They will need to document their required work experience and or education, and then pass the exam. Or complete a state approved apprentice program.
Wisconsin has issued state licenses for a long time now. But they were not mandatory in many municipalities or jurisdictions. So we are not inventing something new here, just codifying the fact that people who do electric work will now need the license. The majority of those doing electrical work in the state already hold the proper license. So we will have to do nothing at all.
Links for Wisconsin credentials:
http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/SB/SB-DivCreds.html#J journeyman
http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/SB/SB-DivCreds.html#M master
http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/SB/SB-DivCreds.html#E electrical contractor
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e57
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
electriciangirl said:
Look into - and very closely - at the rules for our state... How's your 'legalese'?
www.legis.state.wi.us/2007/data/acts/07Act63.pdf
Nearest I can tell with my brief read:
- Splitting Journeyman (Anything) from Residential (only) classifications - probably for life with little chance to cross-over... Makes no mention of what happens to your states other classifications "Beginning Electrician" and "Electrical Contractor -limited" - basically says they will make up the rules as they go along and how it suits them....
- After that point - you'll have to look into every law and regulation mentioned for licencing requirements, maintenance of that license (CEU's?), approval of CEU's, Apprenticeship Programs for labor, and Approval of those programs, and allowable geographical locations of those programs. That's where they get ya....
- Enforcement regulations or governmental body enforcing those regulations and what political agenda they might have.
Sorry if I seem like I am projecting here - but after several years of malicious clowns in charge of my career I am not exactly happy with the prospect of this type of idea.
They adopted a Resi-class license here in Iowa. I know it's a good starting point for a lot of electricians. Once they learn how to wire a house, let 'em loose. But eventually, they'll need to learn commercial, industrial and troubleshooting if they want to move up the ladder. So that license is updated yearly to give them a chance to move up. I'm sure you can apply for any license at any time, but won't get credit for any unusing portion of the funds on your old license. Personally, I think anyone applying for such a license is cutting themselves off at the knees.
BackInTheHabit
Senior Member
- Location
- Lexington, Kentucky
e57 said:
Thanks for posting that link. I couldn't find any info searching for 2007 Act 73.
jrclen
Senior Member
- Location
- Central Wisconsin
I checked with my Wisconsin state representative about this.
There is a new Journeyman - Residential license added to the mix with shorter apprenticeship or experience requirements than regular Journeyman.
The regular Journeyman license is not affected.
No one can do electrical work for others without an Electrical Contractors license. This used to be regulated by local governments.
An Electrical Contractor must be, or must employ, a Master Electrician - no change from before.
Electrical Contractor - Restricted, to be eliminated in 61 months. Those were a local contractors license converted to a state license.
A Journeyman cannot do any electrical work unless under the control of a Master Electrician. This used to be regulated by local governments.
All existing rules by local governments will continue for 61 months. Those cannot be amended or eliminated during that time.
This is a little more complicated than I was led to believe earlier this year.
There is a new Journeyman - Residential license added to the mix with shorter apprenticeship or experience requirements than regular Journeyman.
The regular Journeyman license is not affected.
No one can do electrical work for others without an Electrical Contractors license. This used to be regulated by local governments.
An Electrical Contractor must be, or must employ, a Master Electrician - no change from before.
Electrical Contractor - Restricted, to be eliminated in 61 months. Those were a local contractors license converted to a state license.
A Journeyman cannot do any electrical work unless under the control of a Master Electrician. This used to be regulated by local governments.
All existing rules by local governments will continue for 61 months. Those cannot be amended or eliminated during that time.
This is a little more complicated than I was led to believe earlier this year.
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