(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require that a person obtain a license or a certified plumber in order to do plumbing work at his or her residence or farm or place of business or on other property owned by him or her. ((Any person performing plumbing work on a farm may do so without having))

   (2) A current certificate of competency or apprentice permit is not required for: ((PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That))

   (a) Persons performing plumbing work on a farm; or

   (b) Certified journeyman electricians, certified residential specialty electricians, or electrical trainees working for an electrical contractor and performing exempt work under RCW 18.27.090(18).

   (3) Nothing in this chapter shall be intended to derogate from or dispense with the requirements of any valid plumbing code enacted by a political subdivision of the state, 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 trade of plumbing((: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That)).

   (4) This chapter shall not apply to common carriers subject to Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act, nor to their officers and employees((: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That)).

   (5) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to any farm, business, industrial plant, or corporation doing plumbing work on premises it owns or operates((: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That)).

   (6) Nothing in this chapter 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 such plumbing hold themselves out as engaged in the trade or business of plumbing.

PART 5 - ELECTRIC APPLIANCE REPAIR

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 501. A new section is added to chapter 19.28 RCW to read as follows:

   (1) The repair, maintenance, or replacement of an electric appliance, if performed by an employee of a manufacturer-authorized dealer or service company, is exempt from licensing and certification requirements under RCW 19.28.091 and RCW 19.28.161.

   (2) A joint legislative task force is created to review licensing and certification requirements under RCW 19.28.091 and RCW 19.28.161 as they pertain to the repair, maintenance, or replacement of an electric appliance, and as they compare to licensing and certification requirements in other states. The task force membership shall consist of: (a) One member from each caucus of the senate commerce and trade committee, appointed by the president of the senate; (b) one member from each caucus of the house commerce and labor committee, appointed by the co-speakers of the house of representatives; and (c) representatives of electrical contractors, journey level electrical workers, appliance repair businesses, appliance repair technicians, and residential consumers, appointed jointly by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives. The department of labor and industries shall cooperate with the task force and provide such technical expertise as the task force cochairs may reasonably require. The task force shall choose its cochairs from among its membership. The task force shall use legislative facilities and staff from senate committee services and the office of program research. Legislative members of the task force shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members, except those representing an employer or organization, are entitled to be reimbursed in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and RCW 43.03.060, such reimbursement to be paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. The task force shall report its findings and recommendations for legislation or rulemaking, if any, to the legislature by December 1, 2003.

   (3) For the purposes of this section, “repair, maintenance, or replacement of an electric appliance” means servicing, maintaining, repairing, or replacing household appliances, small commercial/ industrial appliances, and other small utilization equipment. The appliance or utilization equipment must be self-contained and built to standardized sizes or types. The appliance or utilization equipment must be connected as a single unit to a single source of electrical power limited to a maximum of 250 volts, 60 amperes, single phase.

   (a) Appliances and utilization equipment include, but are not limited to: Dish washers, ovens, water heating equipment, office equipment, vehicle repair equipment, commercial kitchen equipment, self-contained hot tubs and spas, grinders, and scales.

   (b) Appliances and utilization equipment do not include systems and equipment such as: Alarm/energy management/similar systems, luminaires, furnaces/heaters/air conditioners/heat pumps, sewage disposal equipment, door/gate/similar equipment, or individual components installed so as to create a system (e.g., pumps, switches, controllers, etc.).

   (c) Repair, maintenance, or replacement of an electric appliance includes the like-in-kind replacement of the appliance or utilization equipment if the same unmodified electrical circuit is used to supply the equipment being replaced. It also includes:

   (i) The like-in-kind replacement of electrical components within the appliance or equipment;

   (ii) The disconnection and reconnection of low-voltage control and line voltage supply whips not over six feet in length provided there are no modifications to the characteristics of the branch circuit; and

   (iii) The installation of an outlet box and outlet at an existing appliance or equipment location when converting the appliance from a permanent electrical connection to a plug and cord connection. Other than the installation of the outlet box and outlet, there can be no modification to the existing branch circuit supplying the appliance or equipment.

   (d) Repair, maintenance, or replacement of an electric appliance does not include:

   (i) The installation, repair, or modification of branch circuits conductors, services, feeders, panelboards, disconnect switches, or raceway/conductor systems interconnecting multiple appliances, equipment, or other electrical components; or

   (ii) Any work governed under Article(s) 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 510, 511, 513, 514, 515, or 516 NEC (i.e., classified locations).

PART 6 - ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT REPAIR

   Sec. 601. RCW 19.28.191 and 2002 c 249 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

   (1) Upon receipt of the application, the department shall review the application and determine whether the applicant is eligible to take an examination for the master journeyman electrician, journeyman electrician, master specialty electrician, or specialty electrician certificate of competency.

   (a) Before July 1, 2005, an applicant who possesses a valid journeyman electrician certificate of competency in effect for the previous four years and a valid general administrator's certificate may apply for a master journeyman electrician certificate of competency without examination.

   (b) Before July 1, 2005, an applicant who possesses a valid specialty electrician certificate of competency, in the specialty applied for, for the previous two years and a valid specialty administrator's certificate, in the specialty applied for, may apply for a master specialty electrician certificate of competency without examination.

   (c) Before December 1, 2003, the following persons may obtain an equipment repair specialty electrician certificates of competency without examination:

   (i) A person who has successfully completed an apprenticeship program approved under chapter 49.04 RCW for the maintenance machinist trade; and

   (ii) A person who provides evidence in a form prescribed by the department affirming that: (A) he or she was employed as of April 1, 2003, by a factory-authorized equipment dealer or service company; and (B) he or she has worked in equipment repair for a minimum of four thousand hours.

   (d) To be eligible to take the examination for a master journeyman electrician certificate of competency the applicant must have possessed a valid journeyman electrician certificate of competency for four years.

   (((d))) (e) To be eligible to take the examination for a master specialty electrician certificate of competency the applicant must have possessed a valid specialty electrician certificate of competency, in the specialty applied for, for two years.

   (((e))) (f) To be eligible to take the examination for a journeyman certificate of competency the applicant must have:

   (i) Worked in the electrical construction trade for a minimum of eight thousand hours, of which four thousand hours shall be in industrial or commercial electrical installation under the supervision of a master journeyman electrician or journeyman electrician and not more than a total of four thousand hours in all specialties under the supervision of a master journeyman electrician, journeyman electrician, master specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty, or specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty. Speciality electricians with less than a four thousand hour work experience requirement cannot credit the time required to obtain that specialty towards qualifying to become a journeyman electrician; or

   (ii) Successfully completed an apprenticeship program approved under chapter 49.04 RCW for the electrical construction trade.

   (((f))) (g) To be eligible to take the examination for a specialty electrician certificate of competency the applicant must have:

   (i) Worked in the residential (as specified in WAC 296-46A-930(2)(a)), pump and irrigation (as specified in WAC 296-46A-930(2)(b)(i)), sign (as specified in WAC 296-46A-930(2)(c)), limited energy (as specified in WAC 296-46A-930(2)(e)(i)), nonresidential maintenance (as specified in WAC 296-46A-930(2)(f)(i)), restricted nonresidential maintenance as determined by the department in rule, or other new nonresidential specialties as determined by the department in rule under the supervision of a master journeyman electrician, journeyman electrician, master specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty, or specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty for a minimum of four thousand hours; or

   (ii) Worked in the appliance repair specialty as determined by the department in rule, the equipment repair specialty as determined by the department in rule, or a specialty other than the designated specialties in (((f)(i))) (g)(i) of this subsection for a minimum of the initial ninety days, or longer if set by rule by the department. The initial period must be spent under one hundred percent supervision of a master journeyman electrician, journeyman electrician, master specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty, or specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty. After this initial period, a person may take the specialty examination. If the person passes the examination, the person may work unsupervised for the balance of the minimum hours required for certification. A person may not be certified as a specialty electrician in the appliance repair specialty or in a specialty other than the designated specialities in (((f)(i))) (g)(i) of this subsection, however, until the person has worked a minimum of two thousand hours in that specialty, or longer if set by rule by the department; or

   (iii) Successfully completed an approved apprenticeship program under chapter 49.04 RCW for the applicant's specialty in the electrical construction trade.

   (((g))) (h) Any applicant for a journeyman electrician certificate of competency who has successfully completed a two-year program in the electrical construction trade at public community or technical colleges, or not-for-profit nationally accredited technical or trade schools licensed by the work force training and education coordinating board under chapter 28C.10 RCW may substitute up to two years of the technical or trade school program for two years of work experience under a master journeyman electrician or journeyman electrician. The applicant shall obtain the additional two years of work experience required in industrial or commercial electrical installation prior to the beginning, or after the completion, of the technical school program. Any applicant who has received training in the electrical construction trade in the armed service of the United States may be eligible to apply armed service work experience towards qualification to take the examination for the journeyman electrician certificate of competency.

   (((h))) (i) An applicant for a specialty electrician certificate of competency who, after January 1, 2000, has successfully completed a two-year program in the electrical construction trade at a public community or technical college, or a not-for-profit nationally accredited technical or trade school licensed by the work force training and education coordinating board under chapter 28C.10 RCW, may substitute up to one year of the technical or trade school program for one year of work experience under a master journeyman electrician, journeyman electrician, master specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty, or specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty. Any applicant who has received training in the electrical construction trade in the armed services of the United States may be eligible to apply armed service work experience towards qualification to take the examination for an appropriate specialty electrician certificate of competency.

   (((i))) (j) The department must determine whether hours of training and experience in the armed services or school program are in the electrical construction trade and appropriate as a substitute for hours of work experience. The department must use the following criteria for evaluating the equivalence of classroom electrical training programs and work in the electrical construction trade:

   (i) A two-year electrical training program must consist of three thousand or more hours.

   (ii) In a two-year electrical training program, a minimum of two thousand four hundred hours of student/instructor contact time must be technical electrical instruction directly related to the scope of work of the electrical specialty. Student/instructor contact time includes lecture and in-school lab.

   (iii) The department may not allow credit for a program that accepts more than one thousand hours transferred from another school's program.

   (iv) Electrical specialty training school programs of less than two years will have all of the above student/instructor contact time hours proportionately reduced. Such programs may not apply to more than fifty percent of the work experience required to attain certification.

   (v) Electrical training programs of less than two years may not be credited towards qualification for journeyman electrician unless the training program is used to gain qualification for a four thousand hour electrical specialty.

   (((j))) (k) No other requirement for eligibility may be imposed.

   (2) The department shall establish reasonable rules for the examinations to be given applicants for certificates of competency. In establishing the rules, the department shall consult with the board. Upon determination that the applicant is eligible to take the examination, the department shall so notify the applicant, indicating the time and place for taking the examination.

   (3) No noncertified individual may work unsupervised more than one year beyond the date when the trainee would be eligible to test for a certificate of competency if working on a full-time basis after original application for the trainee certificate. For the purposes of this section, full-time basis means two thousand hours.

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 602. A new section is added to chapter 19.28 RCW to read as follows:

   (1) The scope of work for the equipment repair specialty involves servicing, maintaining, repairing, or replacing utilization equipment.

   (2) “Utilization equipment” means equipment that is: (a) Self-contained on a single skid or frame; (b) factory built to standardized sizes or types; (c) listed or field evaluated by a laboratory or approved by the department under WAC 296-46B-030; and (d) connected as a single unit to a single source of electrical power limited to a maximum of 600 volts. The equipment may also be connected to a separate single source of electrical control power limited to a maximum of 250 volts. Utilization equipment does not include devices used for occupant space heating by industrial, commercial, hospital, educational, public, and private commercial buildings, and other end users.

   (3) “Servicing, maintaining, repairing, or replacing utilization equipment” includes:

   (a) The like-in-kind replacement of the equipment if the same unmodified electrical circuit is used to supply the equipment being replaced;

   (b) The like-in-kind replacement or repair of remote control components that are integral to the operation of the equipment;

   (c) The like-in-kind replacement or repair of electrical components within the equipment; and

   (d) The disconnection, replacement, and reconnection of low-voltage control and line voltage supply whips not over six feet in length provided there are no modifications to the characteristics of the branch circuit.

   (4) “Servicing, maintaining, repairing, or replacing utilization equipment” does not include:

   (a) The installation, repair, or modification of wiring that interconnects equipment and/or remote components, branch circuit conductors, services, feeders, panelboards, disconnect switches, motor control centers, remote magnetic starters/contactors, or raceway/conductor systems interconnecting multiple equipment or other electrical components;

   (b) Any work providing electrical feeds into the power distribution unit or installation of conduits and raceways; or

   (c) Any electrical work governed under article(s) 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 510, 511, 513, 514, 515, or 516 NEC (i.e., classified locations), except for electrical work in sewage pumping stations.

PART 7 - BOILER REPAIR

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 701. A new section is added to chapter 19.28 RCW to read as follows:

   (1) Until July 1, 2004, the department shall cease to administer and enforce licensing requirements under RCW 19.28.091, certification requirements under RCW 19.28.161, and inspection and permitting requirements under RCW 19.28.101, as applied only to maintenance work on the electrical controls of a boiler.

   (2) The electrical board and the board of boiler rules shall jointly evaluate whether electrical licensing, certification, inspection, and permitting requirements should apply to maintenance work on the electrical controls of a boiler. The board shall report their joint findings and recommendations for legislation or rulemaking, if any, to the commerce and labor committee of the house of representatives and the commerce and trade committee of the senate by December 1, 2003.

   (3) This section expires July 1, 2004.

PART 8 - PLUMBING CONTINUING EDUCATION

   Sec. 801. RCW 18.106.070 and 1997 c 326 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

   (1) The department shall issue a certificate of competency to all applicants who have passed the examination and have paid the fee for the certificate. The certificate shall bear the date of issuance, and shall expire on the birthdate of the holder immediately following the date of issuance. The certificate shall be renewable every other year, upon application, on or before the birthdate of the holder. ((A renewal fee shall be assessed for each certificate.)) The department shall renew a certificate of competency if the applicant: (a) Pays the renewal fee assessed by the department; and (b) during the past two years has completed sixteen hours of continuing education approved by the department with the advice of the advisory board, including four hours related to electrical safety. If a person fails to renew the certificate by the renewal date, he or she must pay a doubled fee. If the person does not renew the certificate within ninety days of the renewal date, he or she must retake the examination and pay the examination fee. The journeyman plumber and specialty plumber certificates of competency, the medical gas piping installer endorsement, and the temporary permit provided for in this chapter grant the holder the right to engage in the work of plumbing as a journeyman plumber, specialty plumber, or medical gas piping installer, in accordance with their provisions throughout the state and within any of its political subdivisions on any job or any employment without additional proof of competency or any other license or permit or fee to engage in the work. This section does not preclude employees from adhering to a union security clause in any employment where such a requirement exists.

   (2) A person who is indentured in an apprenticeship program approved under chapter 49.04 RCW for the plumbing construction trade or who is learning the plumbing construction trade may work in the plumbing construction trade if supervised by a certified journeyman plumber or a certified specialty plumber in that plumber's specialty. All apprentices and individuals learning the plumbing construction trade shall obtain a plumbing training certificate from the department. The certificate shall authorize the holder to learn the plumbing construction trade while under the direct supervision of a journeyman plumber or a specialty plumber working in his or her specialty. The holder of the plumbing training certificate shall renew the certificate annually. At the time of renewal, the holder shall provide the department with an accurate list of the holder's employers in the plumbing construction industry for the previous year and the number of hours worked for each employer. An annual fee shall be charged for the issuance or renewal of the certificate. The department shall set the fee by rule. The fee shall cover but not exceed the cost of administering and enforcing the trainee certification and supervision requirements of this chapter. Apprentices and individuals learning the plumbing construction trade shall have their plumbing training certificates in their possession at all times that they are performing plumbing work. They shall show their certificates to an authorized representative of the department at the representative's request.

   (3) Any person who has been issued a plumbing training certificate under this chapter may work if that person is under supervision. Supervision shall consist of a person being on the same job site and under the control of either a journeyman plumber or an appropriate specialty plumber who has an applicable certificate of competency issued under this chapter. Either a journeyman plumber or an appropriate specialty plumber shall be on the same job site as the noncertified individual for a minimum of seventy-five percent of each working day unless otherwise provided in this chapter. The ratio of noncertified individuals to certified journeymen or specialty plumbers working on a job site shall be: (a) ((From July 28, 1985, through June 30, 1988, not more than three noncertified plumbers working on any one job site for every certified journeyman or specialty plumber; (b) effective July 1, 1988,)) Not more than two noncertified plumbers working on any one job site for every certified specialty plumber or journeyman plumber working as a specialty plumber; and (((c) effective July 1, 1988,)) (b) not more than one noncertified plumber working on any one job site for every certified journeyman plumber working as a journeyman plumber. An individual who has a current training certificate and who has successfully completed or is currently enrolled in an approved apprenticeship program or in a technical school program in the plumbing construction trade in a school approved by the work force training and education coordinating board, may work without direct on-site supervision during the last six months of meeting the practical experience requirements of this chapter.

   (4) An individual who has a current training certificate and who has successfully completed or is currently enrolled in a medical gas piping installer training course approved by the department may work on medical gas piping systems if the individual is under the direct supervision of a certified medical gas piping installer who holds a medical gas piping installer endorsement one hundred percent of a working day on a one-to-one ratio.

   (5) The training to become a certified plumber must include not less than sixteen hours of classroom training established by the director with the advice of the board. The classroom training must include, but not be limited to, electrical wiring safety, grounding, bonding, and other related items plumbers need to know to work under section 301 of this act.

   (6) All persons who are certified plumbers before January 1, 2003, are deemed to have received the classroom training required in subsection (5) of this section.

PART 9 - MISCELLANEOUS

   NEW SECTION. Sec. 901. Part headings used in this act are not part of the law.