It shall be the purpose and function of the board to establish, in addition to a general electrical contractors' license, such classifications of specialty electrical contractors' licenses as it deems appropriate with regard to individual sections pertaining to state adopted codes in this chapter. In addition, it shall be the purpose and function of the board to establish and administer written examinations for general electrical administrators' certificates and the various specialty electrical administrators' certificates. Examinations shall be designed to reasonably ensure that general and specialty electrical administrators' certificate holders are competent to engage in and supervise the work covered by this statute and their respective licenses. The examinations shall include questions from the following categories to ensure proper safety and protection for the general public: (1) Safety, (2) state electrical code, and (3) electrical theory. The department with the consent of the board shall be permitted to enter into a contract with a professional testing agency to develop, administer, and score these examinations, or accept certifications or other appropriate demonstrations established by independent entities that otherwise fulfill the examination requirements of this section. The fee for the examination may be set by the department in its contract with the professional testing agency. The department may direct that the applicant pay the fee to the professional testing agency. The fee shall cover but not exceed the costs of preparing and administering the examination. It shall be the further purpose and function of this board to advise the director as to the need of additional electrical inspectors and compliance officers to be utilized by the director on either a full-time or part-time employment basis and to carry out the duties enumerated in RCW
19.28.161 through
19.28.271 as well as generally advise the department on all matters relative to RCW
19.28.161 through
19.28.271.