WSR 19-14-122
EMERGENCY RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR AND INDUSTRIES
[Filed July 3, 2019, 10:22 a.m., effective July 3, 2019, 10:22 a.m.]
Effective Date of Rule: Immediately upon filing.
Purpose: This emergency rule provides for the issuance of reciprocal licenses and temporary permits in lieu of certificates of competency for electricians coming from another state as authorized by RCW 19.28.231.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: New WAC 296-46B-939.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: Chapter 19.28 RCW, Electricians and electrical installations, including RCW 19.28.031 and 19.28.251.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.
Reasons for this Finding: There is an increase in construction in the state and a shortage of journey level electricians to meet the demand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for electricians in the state will grow eighteen percent from 2016 to 2026, twice as fast as the national average, surpassed only by Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Florida. Job openings greatly outpace supply. The impacts of the shortage of qualified electricians include: Small projects are delayed because electricians seek work on large projects that offer inflated wages; companies stop bidding, causing delays in starting new projects; projects take longer to complete, resulting in cost overruns; public safety risks associated with hazards created when unqualified individuals step in to perform electrical work when qualified electricians are not available.
To help address these issues, the emergency rule provides for the issuance of temporary permits in lieu of certificates of competency for electricians as authorized by RCW 19.28.231. To be eligible for a temporary permit under the emergency rule, electricians must have completed a four-year journey level electrical apprenticeship program that is equivalent to one approved in Washington or possess an equivalent journey level electrician certificate obtained by examination in another state, and meet the requirements under RCW 19.28.181. Successful applicants receive a temporary electrician permit and approval to sit for a certification examination. The temporary electrician permit is only valid for ninety days and is not renewable. A permit is valid only on jobsites where a general electrical contractor licensed in Washington state has requested and received permission to employ temporary electricians from the department's chief electrical inspector. To remain eligible, contractors must employ at least fifty certified electricians on a jobsite where they employ temporary electricians and regularly report the status of temporary electricians.
Substantiation to limit eligibility to employ temporary electricians to contractors employing fifty or more Washington journey level electricians:
•Projects of a magnitude that require fifty electricians most likely have levels of engineering design and oversight far beyond that at lesser projects where electricians often work in isolation.
•Temporary electricians likely pose the least risk of danger to life and property when working under the scrutiny of at least fifty Washington certified electricians.
•Without a threshold, risk of danger to life and property increases. Not establishing a threshold is contrary to the electrical board's advice in 2016 when they cautioned the department not to allow temporary electricians on jobsites where their installations are likely to go unscrutinized.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: July 3, 2019.
Joel Sacks
Director
NEW SECTION
WAC 296-46B-939Temporary electrician permits—Reciprocal agreements.
General.
(1) In lieu of certificate of competency requirements in WAC 296-46B-940(3), the department may issue nonrenewable temporary electrician permits to applicants who meet eligibility requirements in subsection (5)(b)(i) or (ii) of this section.
(2) Temporary electrician permits expire ninety days from the date of issue.
(3) A temporary electrician permit is valid only while employed by the contractor named on the permit at a job site where that contractor has written permission from the chief electrical inspector to employ temporary electricians.
(4) Applicants must apply using a form prescribed by the department. Applications are a request for a permit and a journey level electrician examination. The department will deny an application if an applicant:
(a) Fails to qualify for an (01) general journey level electrician examination; or
(b) Possessed a temporary electrician permit at any time; or
(c) Previously passed or failed an examination for a Washington (01) general journey level electrician certificate; or
(d) Owes money because of an outstanding final judgment(s) to the department; or
(e) Holds a (01) master or general journey level electrician certificate that is in revoked or suspended status.
Temporary electrician permits.
(5) Applicants may be eligible for temporary electrician permits while awaiting an examination for a (01) general journey level certificate of competency if they can present appropriate evidence of experience gained in another state equivalent to that required by RCW 19.28.181. Appropriate evidence is limited to completion of a four-year journey level electrical apprenticeship program or possession of an equivalent out-of-state journey level electrician credential obtained through examination by a state licensing authority.
To qualify for a temporary electrician permit and qualify for an examination for a (01) general journey level certificate of competency, applicants must:
(a) Submit an application for a temporary electrician permit and provide a legible photocopy of their government issued photo identification and pay an application fee of one hundred twenty-four dollars (includes original certificate fees, temporary permit and journey level examination application fees) sixty-two dollars is nonrefundable after application is submitted; and
(b) Provide evidence prescribed by (b)(i) or (ii) of this subsection and proof of in-class training required by (b)(iii) of this subsection with their application:
(i) Evidence of completion of a four-year journey level electrical apprenticeship program equivalent to a program approved in Washington. In completing the program, applicants must have worked in the electrical construction trade for a minimum of eight thousand hours. At least four thousand of those hours must be in industrial or commercial electrical installation. Evidence of completion must be in the form of a notarized letter signed by the apprenticeship training director of the program the applicant completed. The letter must include: The name of the apprenticeship program; contact phone number for the program; address of the program; applicant's legal name; the date the applicant began the program; the date the applicant completed the program; and total hours of supervised work experience required to complete the program.
(ii) Evidence from a state licensing authority that the applicant qualified for and possesses a journey level certificate of competency obtained by examination in that state. Acceptable evidence can be in the form of a legible photocopy of a license or certificate accompanied by a verifiable second document such as a detailed letter of good standing or a webpage screen print from a state licensing authority.
(iii) Evidence of completion of at least ninety-six hours of in-class training on the National Electrical Code, basic electrical theory or the use of the Washington electrical laws and rules.
(6) Temporary electricians must possess, wear, and visibly display a valid temporary electrician permit in accordance with WAC 296-46B-940(3).
Employing temporary electricians.
(7) Only principal members of (01) general electrical contractors are eligible to request permission to employ temporary electricians. Address all requests to the attention of the chief electrical inspector at electricalprogram@lni.wa.gov. Requests must include:
(a) Name of the person making the request and title;
(b) Contractor business name;
(c) Contractor license number;
(d) Job site or project name;
(e) Job site address;
(f) Business name of the end user customer; and
(g) A statement from the requestor acknowledging they know their approval to employ temporary electricians on a job site is invalid if they fail to employ at least fifty Washington certified (01) general journey level electricians there.
(8) At each job site where a contractor employs temporary electricians, contractors must maintain a conspicuously posted copy of the letter from the chief electrical inspector approving them to do so.
(9) Fourteen days after approval to employ temporary electricians at a job site, and every fourteen days thereafter, a status report for the job site is due at the office of the chief electrical inspector at electricalprogram@lni.wa.gov. The report must include:
(a) The submitter's business name;
(b) The submitter's electrical contractor license number;
(c) The job site name and address;
(d) Current number of Washington certified journey level electricians under their employ at the job site; and
(e) Each temporary electrician's name, date of hire, date of termination (if applicable), permit number, and permit expiration date.
The job site status report must be conspicuously posted at the job site.
Reciprocal agreements between Washington and other states.
(10) The department may negotiate reciprocal agreements with states that have equivalent requirements for certification of journey level or specialty electricians. These agreements allow electricians from those reciprocal states to become certified in the state of Washington without examination and allow Washington certified electricians to become certified in the other states without taking competency examinations. An individual may only apply for reciprocity from another state(s) one time in Washington.
(11) An individual will be issued a reciprocal electrician certificate of competency if all the following conditions are met:
(a) The department has a valid reciprocal agreement with the other state in the journey level or specialty category requested;
(b) The individual makes a complete application for a reciprocal certificate on the form provided by the department. A complete application includes:
(i) Application for reciprocal certificate of competency;
(ii) Evidence that the individual meets the eligibility requirements listed in RCW 19.28.191, by presenting a current, valid journeyperson or specialty electrician certificate or certified letter from the issuing state attesting to possession of such certificate by the applicant; and
(A) Evidence from an apprenticeship training director that any journey level category applicant has successfully completed an apprenticeship program that is equivalent to an apprenticeship program approved under chapter 49.04 RCW approved by the department for the electrical construction trade in which the applicant worked in the electrical construction trade for a minimum of eight thousand hours; or
(B) Evidence that any journey level category applicant has worked in the electrical construction trade for a minimum of sixteen thousand hours; and
(iii) All appropriate fees as listed in WAC 296-46B-909; and
(c) The individual obtained the reciprocal state's certificate of competency as a journey level or specialty electrician by examination and the individual held the reciprocal state's certificate for a period of at least one year.
(12) An individual is not eligible for a reciprocal electrician certificate of competency if the individual:
(a) Has failed to renew a similar Washington electrician certificate of competency as required in RCW 19.28.211;
(b) Has a similar Washington electrician certificate of competency in suspended, revoked, or inactive status under this chapter;
(c) Owes money as a result of an outstanding final judgment(s) to the department;
(d) Has ever taken and failed a Washington exam for the certificate being applied for; or
(e) Was a resident of the state of Washington at the time the examination was taken in the other state.
(13) The application fee for a reciprocal electrician certificate is ninety dollars (includes original certificate and application processing fee) (thirty-four dollars and seventy cents is nonrefundable after application is submitted).