BILL REQ. #: H-0023.1
State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/23/2003. Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.
AN ACT Relating to electrician certification; and amending RCW 19.28.191.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 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) 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) 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) 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) 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, restricted nonresidential maintenance as determined
by the department in rule, or a specialty other than the designated
specialties in (f)(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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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.