AN
ACT Relating to premanufactured electric power generation equipment; and amending
RCW 19.28.200 and 19.28.610.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
19.28.200 and 1992 c 240 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
No license under the provision of this chapter shall be required from any
utility or any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity employed
by a utility because of work in connection with the installation, repair, or
maintenance of lines, wires, apparatus, or equipment owned by or under the
control of a utility and used for transmission or distribution of electricity
from the source of supply to the point of contact at the premises and/or
property to be supplied and service connections and meters and other apparatus
or appliances used in the measurement of the consumption of electricity by the
customer.
(2)
No license under the provisions of this chapter shall be required from any
utility because of work in connection with the installation, repair, or
maintenance of the following:
(a)
Lines, wires, apparatus, or equipment used in the lighting of streets, alleys,
ways, or public areas or squares;
(b)
Lines, wires, apparatus, or equipment owned by a commercial, industrial, or
public institution customer that are an integral part of a transmission or
distribution system, either overhead or underground, providing service to such
customer and located outside the building or structure: PROVIDED, That a
utility does not initiate the sale of services to perform such work;
(c)
Lines and wires, together with ancillary apparatus, and equipment, owned by a
customer that is an independent power producer who has entered into an
agreement for the sale of electricity to a utility and that are used in
transmitting electricity from an electrical generating unit located on premises
used by such customer to the point of interconnection with the utility's
system.
(3)
Any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity licensed under RCW
19.28.120 may enter into a contract with a utility for the performance of work
under subsection (2) of this section.
(4)
No license under the provisions of this chapter shall be required from any
person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity because of the work of
installing and repairing ignition or lighting systems for motor vehicles.
(5)
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, repair, or maintenance of wires and equipment,
and installations thereof, exempted in RCW 19.28.010.
(6)
The department may by rule exempt from licensing requirements under this
chapter work performed on premanufactured electric power generation equipment
assemblies and control gear involving the testing, repair, modification,
maintenance, or installation of components internal to the power generation
equipment, the control gear, or the transfer switch.
Sec.
2. RCW
19.28.610 and 1994 c 157 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Nothing
in RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 shall be construed to require that a person
obtain a license or a certified electrician in order to do electrical work at
his or her residence or farm or place of business or on other property owned by
him or her unless the electrical work is on the construction of a new building
intended for rent, sale, or lease. However, if the construction is of a new
residential building with up to four units intended for rent, sale, or lease,
the owner may receive an exemption from the requirement to obtain a license or
use a certified electrician if he or she provides a signed affidavit to the
department stating that he or she will be performing the work and will occupy
one of the units as his or her principal residence. The owner shall apply to
the department for this exemption and may only receive an exemption once every
twenty-four months. It is intended that the owner receiving this exemption
shall occupy the unit as his or her principal residence for twenty-four months
after completion of the units. Nothing in RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620
shall be intended to derogate from or dispense with the requirements of any
valid electrical code enacted by a city or town pursuant to RCW 19.28.010(3),
except that no code shall require the holder of a certificate of competency to
demonstrate any additional proof of competency or obtain any other license or
pay any fee in order to engage in the electrical construction trade. RCW
19.28.510 through 19.28.620 shall not apply to common carriers subject to Part
I of the Interstate Commerce Act, nor to their officers and employees. Nothing
in RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 shall be deemed to apply to the installation
or maintenance of telephone, telegraph, radio, or television wires and
equipment; nor to any electrical utility or its employees in the installation,
repair, and maintenance of electrical wiring, circuits, and equipment by or for
the utility, or comprising a part of its plants, lines or systems. The licensing
provisions of RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 shall not apply to:
(1)
Persons making electrical installations on their own property or to regularly
employed employees working on the premises of their employer, unless the
electrical work is on the construction of a new building intended for rent,
sale, or lease; ((or))
(2)
Employees of an employer while the employer is performing utility type work of
the nature described in RCW 19.28.200 so long as such employees have registered
in the state of Washington with or graduated from a state-approved outside
lineman apprenticeship course that is recognized by the department and that
qualifies a person to perform such work; or
(3)
Any work exempted under RCW 19.28.200(6).
Nothing
in RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 shall be construed to restrict the right of
any householder to assist or receive assistance from a friend, neighbor,
relative or other person when none of the individuals doing the electrical
installation hold themselves out as engaged in the trade or business of
electrical installations. Nothing precludes any person who is exempt from the
licensing requirements of this chapter under this section from obtaining a
journeyman or specialty certificate of competency if they otherwise meet the
requirements of this chapter.
