AN
ACT Relating to regulation of electricians and electrical installations; and
amending RCW 19.28.510, 19.28.520, 19.28.530, and 19.28.070.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
19.28.510 and 1996 c 241 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
No person may engage in the electrical construction trade without having a
current journeyman electrician certificate of competency or a current specialty
electrician certificate of competency issued by the department in accordance
with this chapter. Electrician certificate of competency specialties include,
but are not limited to: Residential, domestic appliances, pump and irrigation,
limited energy system, signs, and nonresidential maintenance.
(2)
A person who is indentured in an apprenticeship program approved under chapter
49.04 RCW for the electrical construction trade or who is learning the
electrical construction trade may work in the electrical construction trade if
supervised by a certified journeyman electrician or a certified specialty
electrician in that electrician's specialty. All apprentices and individuals
learning the electrical construction trade shall obtain an electrical training
certificate from the department. The certificate shall authorize the holder to
learn the electrical construction trade while under the direct supervision of a
journeyman electrician or a specialty electrician working in his or her
specialty. The holder of the electrical 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 electrical
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 electrical construction trade shall have their
electrical training certificates in their possession at all times that they are
performing electrical 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 an electrical 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 electrician or an appropriate specialty electrician who has an
applicable certificate of competency issued under this chapter. Either a
journeyman electrician or an appropriate specialty electrician 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
electricians working on a job site shall be:
(a)
From September 1, 1979, through December 31, 1982, not more than three
noncertified electricians working on any one job site for every certified
journeyman or specialty electrician;
(b)
Effective January 1, 1983,)) (4) The ratio of
noncertified individuals to certified journeymen or specialty electricians
working on a job site shall be:
(a)
Not more than two noncertified individuals working on any one job site for
every specialty electrician or journeyman electrician working as a specialty
electrician((;
(c)
Effective January 1, 1983,)); and
(b)
Not more than one noncertified individual working on any one job site for
every certified journeyman electrician((.)), except that the
ratio requirements ((do not apply to a trade school program in the electrical
construction trade established during 1946)) shall be one certified
journeyman electrician to no more than four students enrolled in and working as
part of an electrical construction program at public community or technical
colleges, or not-for-profit nationally accredited trade or technical schools
licensed by the work force training and education coordinating board under
chapter 28C.10 RCW. In meeting the ratio requirements for students enrolled in
an electrical construction program at a trade school, a trade school may
receive input and advice from the electrical board.
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)) an electrical construction program ((in
the electrical construction trade in a school approved)) at public
community or technical colleges, or not-for-profit nationally accredited
technical or trade schools licensed by the ((commission for vocational
education)) work force training and education coordinating board under
chapter 28C.10 RCW, may work without direct on-site supervision during the
last six months of meeting the practical experience requirements of this
chapter.
(((4)))
(5) The electrical contractor shall accurately verify and attest to the
electrical trainee hours worked by electrical trainees on behalf of the
electrical contractor.
Sec.
2. RCW
19.28.520 and 1980 c 30 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
Any
person desiring to be issued a certificate of competency as provided in this
chapter shall deliver evidence in a form prescribed by the department affirming
that said person has met the qualifications required under RCW 19.28.530((,
as now or hereafter amended)). An electrician from another jurisdiction
applying for a certificate of competency must provide evidence in a form
prescribed by the department affirming that the person has the equivalent
qualifications to those required under RCW 19.28.530.
Sec.
3. RCW
19.28.530 and 1988 c 81 s 13 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
journeyman or specialty certificate of competency.
(a)
To be eligible to take the examination for a journeyman certificate the
applicant must have:
(i)
Worked in the electrical construction trade for a minimum of four years
employed full time, of which two years shall be in industrial or commercial
electrical installation under the supervision of a journeyman electrician ((certified
under this chapter)) and not more than a total of two years in all
specialties under the supervision of a journeyman electrician ((certified
under this chapter)) or an appropriate specialty electrician ((certified
under this chapter or have)); or
(ii)
Successfully completed an apprenticeship program approved under chapter
49.04 RCW for the electrical construction trade.
(b)
To be eligible to take the examination to become a specialty electrician the
applicant shall have:
(i)
Worked in that specialty of the electrical construction trade, under the
supervision of a journeyman electrician ((certified under this chapter))
or an appropriate specialty electrician ((certified under this chapter)),
for a minimum of two years employed full time((,)); or ((have))
(ii)
Successfully completed an approved apprenticeship program under chapter
49.04 RCW for the applicant's specialty in the electrical construction trade.
((Before
January 1, 1984, applicants for nonresidential maintenance specialty licenses
are eligible to become nonresidential maintenance specialists upon
certification to the department that they have the equivalent of two years
full-time experience in that specialty field. Persons applying before January
1, 1984, for a journeyman certificate are eligible to take the examination to
become journeymen until July 1, 1984, upon certification to the department that
they have the equivalent of five years full-time experience in nonresidential
maintenance, of which two years shall be in industrial electrical installation.))
(c)
Any applicant who has successfully completed a two-year ((technical school))
program in the electrical construction trade ((in a school that is approved))
at public community or technical colleges, or not-for-profit nationally
accredited technical or trade schools licensed by the ((commission for
vocational education)) 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 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
take the examination for the certificate of competency. ((Any applicant who
is a graduate of a trade school program in the electrical construction trade
that was established during 1946 is eligible to take the examination for the
certificate of competency.))
(d)
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.
Sec.
4. RCW
19.28.070 and 1986 c 156 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
The director of labor and industries of the state of Washington and
the officials of all incorporated cities and towns where electrical inspections
are required by local ordinances shall have power and it shall be their duty to
enforce the provisions of this chapter in their respective jurisdictions. The
director of labor and industries shall ((have power to)) appoint ((an))
a chief electrical inspector((, and such assistant inspectors as he
shall deem necessary to assist him in the performance of his duties)) and
may appoint other electrical inspectors as the director deems necessary to
assist the director in the performance of the director's duties. The chief
electrical inspector, subject to the review of the director, shall be
responsible for providing the final interpretation of adopted state electrical
standards, rules, and policies for the department and its inspectors, assistant
inspectors, electrical plan examiners, and other individuals supervising
electrical program personnel. If a dispute arises within the department
regarding the interpretation of adopted state electrical standards, rules, or
policies, the chief electrical inspector, subject to the review of the
director, shall provide the final interpretation of the disputed standard,
rule, or policy. All electrical inspectors appointed by the director of
labor and industries shall have not less than: Four years experience as
journeyman electricians in the electrical construction trade installing
and maintaining electrical wiring and equipment, or two years electrical
training in a college of electrical engineering of recognized standing and four
years continuous practical electrical experience in installation work, or four
years of electrical training in a college of electrical engineering of recognized
standing and two years continuous practical electrical experience in electrical
installation work; or four years experience as a journeyman electrician
performing the duties of an electrical inspector employed by the department or
a city or town with an approved inspection program under RCW 19.28.360, except
that for work performed in accordance with the national electrical safety code
and covered by this chapter, such inspections may be performed by a person
certified as an outside journeyman lineman, under RCW 19.28.610(2), with four
years experience or a person with four years experience as a certified outside
journeyman lineman performing the duties of an electrical inspector employed by
an electrical utility. Such state inspectors shall be paid such salary as
the director of labor and industries shall determine, together with their
travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060 as now existing
or hereafter amended. As a condition of employment, inspectors hired
exclusively to perform inspections in accordance with the national electrical
safety code must possess and maintain certification as an outside journeyman
lineman. The expenses of the director of labor and industries and the
salaries and expenses of state inspectors incurred in carrying out the
provisions of this chapter shall be paid entirely out of the electrical license
fund, upon vouchers approved by the director of labor and industries.
