General.

(1) The minimum passing score on any examination or examination section is 70 percent. If examination is requested to be administered by the department, an application is required and the examination must be successfully completed within one year of application or the individual must submit a new application for exam including all appropriate fees.

(2) All examinations are open book.

(a) Candidates may use:

(i) Any original copyrighted material;

(ii) A silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator that is not designed for preprogrammed electrical calculations;

(iii) Copies of chapter 19.28 RCW and this chapter; or

(iv) A foreign language dictionary that does not contain definitions.

(b) Candidates may not use:

(i) Copies of copyrighted material;

(ii) Copies of internet publications, except for RCWs or WACs;

(iii) Personal notes; or

(iv) A personal computing device of any type other than the calculator in (a)(ii) of this subsection.

(3) Administrator, master electrician, and electrician examinations may consist of multiple sections. For all administrator examinations, all sections must be successfully completed within a one-year examination period after beginning the examination. For all master electrician and electrician examinations, all sections must be successfully completed within a one-year examination period beginning with the date of the examination approval. Within the one-year examination period, the candidate does not have to retake any sections successfully completed within the examination period. If all sections are not successfully completed within the one-year period, the candidate must begin a new examination period and retake all sections.

Special accommodations for examination.

(4) An applicant for an examination who, due to a specific physical, mental, sensory impairment, requires special accommodation in examination procedures, may submit a written request to the chief electrical inspector for the specific accommodation needed.

(a) The applicant must submit an individualized written opinion from a physician or other appropriate specialist:

(i) Verifying the existence of a specific physical, mental, sensory impairment;

(ii) Stating whether special accommodation is needed for a specific examination;

(iii) Stating what special accommodation is necessary; and

(iv) Stating if extra time for an examination is necessary and if so, how much time is required. The maximum allowance for extra time is double the normal time allowed.

(b) The written request for special accommodation and individualized written opinion should be submitted to the department only after the applicant has made application and received an examination approval from the department.

(5) An applicant for an examination who, due to limited English proficiency, requires special accommodation in examination procedures, including requesting extra time for examination, may submit a written request to the chief electrical inspector. The maximum allowance for extra time is double the normal time allowed. The written request should be submitted to the department after the applicant has made application and received an examination approval from the department.

Failed examination appeal procedures.

(6) Any candidate who takes an examination and does not pass the examination may request a review of the examination.

(a) The department will not modify examination results unless the candidate presents clear and convincing evidence of error in the grading of the examination.

(b) The department will not consider any challenge to examination grading unless the total of the potentially revised score would result in a passing score.

(7) The procedure for requesting an informal review of examination results is as follows:

(a) The request must be made in writing to the chief electrical inspector and must be received within 20 days of the date of the examination and must request a rescore of the examination. The written request must include the appropriate fees for examination review described in WAC 296-46B-909.

(b) The following procedures apply to a review of the results of the examination:

(i) The candidate will be allowed one hour to review their examination.

(ii) The candidate must identify the challenged questions of the examination and must state the specific reason(s) why the results should be modified with multiple published reference material supporting the candidate's position.

(iii) Within 15 days of the candidate's review, the department will review the examination and candidate's justification and notify the candidate in writing of the department's decision.

Failing an administrator certificate exam or electrician certificate of competency examination.

(8) Anyone failing an administrator or electrician competency examination may retake the examination by making arrangements with the testing agency and paying the retesting fee.

(9) If the individual makes a failing score, the individual must wait two weeks before being eligible to retest.

(10) If the individual fails a part of an electrician, administrator, or master electrician examination three times within a one-year period, the individual must wait three months to retake the failed portion of the examination.

(11) Anyone failing an electrician competency examination may continue to work in the electrical trade if they have a valid electrical training certificate and work under the direct supervision of a certified journey level or specialty electrician in the proper ratio, per RCW 19.28.161.

Cheating on an examination.

(12) Anyone found cheating on an examination, attempting to bribe a proctor or other agent involved in administering an examination, or using inappropriate materials/equipment during an examination will be required to wait at least 11 months before being allowed to reexamine. All such reexaminations will be administered by the department in Tumwater, Washington and the candidate will be required to apply and schedule for the examination with the chief electrical inspector. The department may also file a civil penalty action under chapter 19.28 RCW.

Examination confidentiality.

(13) All examination questions are confidential. Examination candidates and persons who have taken an examination are not allowed to copy or otherwise make note of or share examination content, in any manner, outside the individual's examination environment. Examination candidates must agree, prior to beginning an examination, to keep all examination content confidential. The department may also file a civil penalty action under chapter 19.28 RCW.

PDFWAC 296-46B-960

Administrator and electrician certificate of competency examinations.