RCW 19.28.161 (continued)
Certificate of competency required --
Electrical training certificate -- Fee -- Verification and attestation of
training hours.
Author's comment: Ratio Requirements
(4) The ratio of noncertified
individuals to certified master journeymen electricians, journeymen
electricians, master specialty electricians, or specialty electricians on any
one job site is as follows:
(a)
When working as
a specialty electrician, not more than two noncertified individuals for every
certified master specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty,
specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty, master journeyman
electrician, or journeyman electrician, except
that the ratio requirements are
one certified master specialty electrician working in that electrician's
specialty, specialty electrician working in that electrician's specialty, master
journeyman electrician, or journeyman electrician working as a specialty
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; and
(b)
When
working as a journeyman electrician,
not more than one noncertified individual
for every certified master journeyman electrician or journeyman electrician,
except that the ratio requirements shall be
one certified master journeyman
electrician or 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.
Authors Comment: Ratio summary
Specialty electrician to noncertified Journeyman electrician to noncertified Student Ratios For specialty and journeyman electricians to students
one to two
one to one
One to four
An individual who has a current training
certificate and who has successfully completed or is currently enrolled in an
approved apprenticeship program or in an electrical construction program 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 work without direct on-site
supervision during the last six months of meeting the practicalexperience
requirements of this chapter.
Author's comment: 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. (RCW 19.28.191(3)) In other words, once an apprentice or trainee completes the requirements for being a journeyman, they cannot work unsupervised for more than one year without taking the journeyman's test.
(5) For 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, not including appliance repair, as
determined by the department in rule, either a master journeyman electrician,
journeyman electrician, master specialty electrician working in that
electrician's specialty, or specialty electrician working in that electrician's
specialty must be on the same job site as the noncertified individual for a
minimum of seventy-five percent of each working day. Other specialties must meet
the requirements specified in *RCW 19.28.191(1)(f)(ii).
When the ratio of certified electricians to noncertified individuals on a job
site is one certified electrician to three or four noncertified individuals, the
certified electrician must:
(a) Directly
supervise and instruct the noncertified individuals and the certified
electrician may not directly make or engage in an electrical installation;
and
Author's comment: A Certified electrician must not work with the tools when instructing three or four students.
(b) Be on the same job site as the noncertified individual for a minimum of one hundred percent of each working
day.
(6) The electrical contractor shall
accurately verify and attest to the electrical trainee hours worked by
electrical trainees on behalf of the electrical contractor.
RCW 19.28.171
Electrical trainee hours --
Audit -- Rules -- Confidentiality.
The department may audit the records of an electrical contractor that has verified the hours of experience submitted by an electrical trainee to the department under RCW 19.28.161(2) in the following circumstances: Excessive hours were reported; hours reported outside the normal course of the contractor's business; the type of hours reported do not reasonably match the type of permits purchased; or for other similar circumstances in which the department demonstrates a likelihood of excessive hours being reported. The department shall limit the audit to records necessary to verify hours. The department shall adopt rules implementing audit procedures. Information obtained from an electrical contractor under the provisions of this section is confidential and is not open to public inspection under chapter 42.17 RCW.
RCW 19.28.181
Application for certificate of
competency.
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 19.28.191. 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 19.28.191.
RCW 19.28.191
Certificate of competency -- Eligibility
for examination -- Rules.
(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) Before December 1, 2003, the
following persons may obtain an equipment repair specialty electrician
certificate of competency without examination:
(i) A person who has successfully completed an apprenticeship program approved
under chapter 49.04 RCW for the machinist trade;
and
(ii) A person who provides evidence in a
form prescribed by the department affirming that: (A) He or she was employed as
of April 1, 2003, by a factory-authorized equipment dealer or service company;
and (B) he or she has worked in equipment repair for a minimum of four thousand
hours.
(d) 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.
(e) 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.
(f) 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.
(g) 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)), 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, the equipment repair specialty as
determined by the department in rule, or a specialty other than the designated
specialties in (g)(i) of this subsection for a minimum of the initial ninety
days, or longer if set by rule by the department.
The restricted nonresidential maintenance specialty is limited to a maximum of 277 volts and 20 amperes for lighting branch circuits and/or a maximum of 250 volts and 60 amperes for other circuits, but excludes the replacement or repair of circuit breakers.
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 (g)(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.
(h)
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.
(i)
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.
(j) 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.
(k) 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.