(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Accredited continuing professional education” means any education of an electrician or plumber that is designed to maintain professional competence in the pursuit, practice and standards of electrical work or plumbing and piping work and that is approved by the commissioner and is provided by an organization, institution or agency that is approved by the commissioner;

(2) “Certificate of continuing education” means a document issued to an electrician or plumber by an organization, institution or agency approved by the commissioner that offers accredited continuing professional education, which (A) certifies that an electrician or plumber has satisfactorily completed a specified number of continuing education hours, and (B) bears the name of such organization, institution or agency, the title of the program, the dates during which the program was conducted, the number of continuing education hours satisfactorily completed and the signature of the director of such organization, institution or agency or the signature of the director's authorized agent;

(3) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.

(b) The commissioner, with the advice and assistance of the Electrical Work Board established pursuant to subsection (b) of section 20-331, shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to (1) establish requirements for accredited continuing professional education for electricians licensed pursuant to sections 20-330 to 20-341, inclusive; (2) establish qualifying criteria for accredited continuing professional education programs and establish qualifying criteria for acceptable certificates of continuing education; and (3) provide for the waiver of required accredited continuing professional education for electricians for good cause. Such regulations shall require not less than four hours per year of accredited continuing professional education for such electricians, except upon request of the Electrical Work Board, the commissioner may increase such hours to a maximum of seven hours.

(c) The commissioner, with the advice and assistance of the Plumbing and Piping Work Board established pursuant to subsection (d) of section 20-331, shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to (1) establish requirements for accredited continuing professional education for plumbers licensed pursuant to sections 20-330 to 20-341, inclusive, which regulations shall require not more than a total of seven hours of accredited continuing professional education every two years, except in the event of significant changes to the building code, as approved by the International Code Council, that relate to plumbing, the commissioner, at such commissioner's discretion, may require more than a total of seven hours of accredited continuing professional education every two years; (2) establish qualifying criteria for accredited continuing professional education programs and establish qualifying criteria for acceptable certificates of continuing education; and (3) provide for the waiver of required accredited continuing professional education for plumbers for good cause.

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, any person who has been issued a P-6, P-7, W-8 or W-9 license pursuant to section 20-334a and the regulations of Connecticut state agencies shall not be required to meet the continuing education requirements established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.

(P.A. 02-142, S. 1; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(c); P.A. 04-189, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 48; P.A. 06-49, S. 1; P.A. 07-110, S. 1; P.A. 11-247, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 02-142 effective June 14, 2002; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Commissioner of Consumer Protection with Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 added Subsec. (d) re exemption for plumbers who serve an apprenticeship that includes at least 700 hours of related classroom instruction, effective June 30, 2005; P.A. 06-49 added provision in Subsec. (c)(1) requiring commissioner to adopt regulations requiring not more than 7 hours of continuing professional education every two years for plumbers, deleted former Subsec. (d) re exemption for plumbers who had completed at least 700-hour apprenticeship and added new Subsec. (d) re exemption for P-6, P-7, W-8 or W-9 license holders, effective May 8, 2006; P.A. 07-110 made a technical change in Subsec. (c)(1); P.A. 11-247 amended Subsec. (b) by adding provision re regulations to require not less than 4 hours per year of accredited continuing professional education, except upon request of Electrical Work Board, commissioner may increase such hours to a maximum of 7, effective July 1, 2011.