[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to authorizing certain residential property management entities to perform work on the owner's residential property; and amending RCW 19.28.261 and 18.27.090.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 19.28.261 and 1998 c 98 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

Nothing in RCW ((~~19.28.510 through 19.28.620~~)) 19.28.161 through 19.28.271 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~~)) 19.28.161 through 19.28.271 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~~)) 19.28.161 through 19.28.271 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~~)) 19.28.161 through 19.28.271 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~~)) 19.28.161 through 19.28.271 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;

(2) Employees of an employer while the employer is performing utility type work of the nature described in RCW ((~~19.28.200~~)) 19.28.091 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)~~)) 19.28.091(6); or

(4)(a) Employees and the owners of a residential property management entity operated by a licensed real estate broker under chapter 18.85 RCW, when the entity acts as an agent on behalf of an owner to manage the residential property of an owner, and the entity and its employees perform exclusively the following work on the owner's residential property: The installation, alteration, or maintenance of electrical systems for plug-in appliances, travel trailers, or like-in-kind replacement of a circuit breaker, fuse, lamp, snap switch, receptacle outlet, heating element, lighting fixture ballast with an exact same ballast, contactor, relay, timer, starter, similar control component, or motor; and the maintenance, repair, or like-in-kind replacement of existing lighting fixtures, hot water heaters, ranges, electric heaters, or similar domestic appliances. The residential property management agent or his or her employee is limited to equipment and circuits of two hundred forty volts, sixty amperes, single-phase maximum and may disconnect and reconnect line supply whips not over six feet in length provided there are no modifications to the characteristics of the branch circuit.

(b) For the purpose of this subsection, "electrical equipment" does not include electrical conductors. However, this exemption does not apply if the electrical work is on the construction of a new building intended for rent, sale, or lease. If an owner building contains both residential and commercial uses, the exemption only applies to the residential uses.

Nothing in RCW ((~~19.28.510 through 19.28.620~~)) 19.28.161 through 19.28.271 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.

Sec. 2. RCW 18.27.090 and 1997 c 314 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

This chapter does not apply to:

(1) An authorized representative of the United States government, the state of Washington, or any incorporated city, town, county, township, irrigation district, reclamation district, or other municipal or political corporation or subdivision of this state;

(2) Officers of a court when they are acting within the scope of their office;

(3) Public utilities operating under the regulations of the utilities and transportation commission in construction, maintenance, or development work incidental to their own business;

(4) Any construction, repair, or operation incidental to the discovering or producing of petroleum or gas, or the drilling, testing, abandoning, or other operation of any petroleum or gas well or any surface or underground mine or mineral deposit when performed by an owner or lessee;

(5) The sale or installation of any finished products, materials, or articles of merchandise which are not actually fabricated into and do not become a permanent fixed part of a structure;

(6) Any construction, alteration, improvement, or repair of personal property, except this chapter shall apply to all mobile/manufactured housing. A mobile/manufactured home may be installed, set up, or repaired by the registered or legal owner, by a contractor registered under this chapter, or by a mobile/manufactured home retail dealer or manufacturer licensed under chapter 46.70 RCW who shall warranty service and repairs under chapter 46.70 RCW;

(7) Any construction, alteration, improvement, or repair carried on within the limits and boundaries of any site or reservation under the legal jurisdiction of the federal government;

(8) Any person who only furnished materials, supplies, or equipment without fabricating them into, or consuming them in the performance of, the work of the contractor;

(9) Any work or operation on one undertaking or project by one or more contracts, the aggregate contract price of which for labor and materials and all other items is less than five hundred dollars, such work or operations being considered as of a casual, minor, or inconsequential nature. The exemption prescribed in this subsection does not apply in any instance wherein the work or construction is only a part of a larger or major operation, whether undertaken by the same or a different contractor, or in which a division of the operation is made into contracts of amounts less than five hundred dollars for the purpose of evasion of this chapter or otherwise. The exemption prescribed in this subsection does not apply to a person who advertises or puts out any sign or card or other device which might indicate to the public that he or she is a contractor, or that he or she is qualified to engage in the business of contractor;

(10) Any construction or operation incidental to the construction and repair of irrigation and drainage ditches of regularly constituted irrigation districts or reclamation districts; or to farming, dairying, agriculture, viticulture, horticulture, or stock or poultry raising; or to clearing or other work upon land in rural districts for fire prevention purposes; except when any of the above work is performed by a registered contractor;

(11) An owner who contracts for a project with a registered contractor;

(12) Any person working on his or her own property, whether occupied by him or her or not, and any person working on his or her personal residence, whether owned by him or her or not but this exemption shall not apply to any person otherwise covered by this chapter who constructs an improvement on his or her own property with the intention and for the purpose of selling the improved property;

(13) Owners of commercial properties who use their own employees to do maintenance, repair, and alteration work in or upon their own properties;

(14) A licensed architect or civil or professional engineer acting solely in his or her professional capacity, an electrician licensed under the laws of the state of Washington, or a plumber licensed under the laws of the state of Washington or licensed by a political subdivision of the state of Washington while operating within the boundaries of such political subdivision. The exemption provided in this subsection is applicable only when the licensee is operating within the scope of his or her license;

(15) Any person who engages in the activities herein regulated as an employee of a registered contractor with wages as his or her sole compensation or as an employee with wages as his or her sole compensation;

(16) Contractors on highway projects who have been prequalified as required by RCW 47.28.070, with the department of transportation to perform highway construction, reconstruction, or maintenance work;

(17)(a) Employees and the owners of a residential property management entity operated by a licensed real estate broker under chapter 18.85 RCW, when the entity acts as an agent on behalf of an owner to manage the residential property of an owner, and the entity and its employees perform exclusively the following work on the owner's residential property: The installation, alteration, or maintenance of electrical systems for plug-in appliances, travel trailers, or like-in-kind replacement of a circuit breaker, fuse, lamp, snap switch, receptacle outlet, heating element, lighting fixture ballast with an exact same ballast, contactor, relay, timer, starter, similar control component, or motor; and the maintenance, repair, or like-in-kind replacement of existing lighting fixtures, hot water heaters, ranges, electric heaters, or similar domestic appliances. The residential property management agent or his or her employee is limited to equipment and circuits of two hundred forty volts, sixty amperes, single-phase maximum and may disconnect and reconnect line supply whips not over six feet in length provided there are no modifications to the characteristics of the branch circuit.