No person shall be issued a certificate of competency as a Class A electrical contractor, Class B electrical contractor, appliance repair shop, electrical sign contractor, motor shops, Class A journeyman electrician, Class B journeyman electrician, journeyman sign electrician, or electrical appliance repairman until he has passed an examination by the joint electrical examining and appeals board, except as herein provided. Said board shall meet within ten (10) days after its appointment and shall then designate the time and place for the first examination of all applicants desiring to secure certificates.

Said board shall examine applicants for certificate of competency as Class A electrical contractors or Class A journeyman electricians, as to their practical knowledge of electrical wiring, the installation of same, the installation of electrical appliance or fixtures, and the operation and control of electrical systems.

Applicants for certificate of competency as Class A electrical contractors shall further be required to present evidence of five (5) years' actual electrical experience. Applicants for certificate of competency as Class A journeyman electricians shall further be required to present evidence of three (3) years' actual electrical experience. A credit shall be allowed, however, of not to exceed one (1) year for Class A and Class B electrical contractor applicants, electrical sign contractor applicants, and Class A and Class B journeyman electrician applicants for time spent as a student in a program of electrical study or training at a school approved by the board. Such board approval shall not be required, however, with respect to publicly supported technology center schools.

All other applicants for certificates of competency shall be examined as to their practical knowledge of the installation, maintenance and repair of the appliances, equipment, apparatus and systems permitted to be worked on under the certificate which they seek. All examinations shall be written. If the applicant demonstrates his competency in that phase of the trade for which a certificate of competency is sought the board shall issue a certificate of competency to such applicant authorizing him to engage only in such electrical work described in said certificate upon compliance with the conditions of any other section herein relating thereto.

All certificates shall be signed by the chairman of said board and attested by the secretary and shall show the date of passage of the examination or, if issued without examination as herein provided, the reason therefor, the name of the person and the class of work authorized. Such certificate shall be issued only for the year in which it is dated and shall expire on December 31 of the year for which issued. Certificates shall be numbered consecutively and the examining board and the electrical inspector shall keep a record of all such certificates issued.

It shall be unlawful for any certificate of competency or license holder to transfer his certificate or license or to allow it to be used directly or indirectly by any other person.

Licensed contractors shall employ workmen licensed in the category of the contractor's work classification.

Any certificate of competency or license heretofore issued by a city of this state having a population of one hundred eighty thousand (180,000), or more, according to the last Federal Decennial Census, or by a joint examining and/or appeals board created under any previous act, shall be recognized for the balance of the year of its issue by the joint electrical examining and appeals board in the county in which such city or joint board shall have been located. Such certificates or licenses shall be subject to renewal without further examination upon payment of the regularly established renewal fee in the same manner as if such certificate or license had been originally issued by the joint electrical examining and appeals board to which it is presented for renewal.

In any county not heretofore covered by a statutory electrical code, any person who has been engaged in the work as a Class A journeyman electrician, Class B journeyman electrician, sign electrician, electrical appliance repairman or the work and business of a Class A electrical contractor, Class B electrical contractor, electrical sign contractor, motor shop or appliance repair shop, as such classifications are defined herein, within any county subject to the provisions of this act, for a period of at least two (2) years, immediately preceding July 5, 1965, shall, upon proof of such work, be issued a certificate of competency by the joint electrical examining and appeals board without examination and upon such person's payment of all fees as provided herein, and provided further that the application therefor is made within sixty (60) days after the creation of the joint electrical examining and appeals board. The latter-named group shall be granted such certificates of competency without regard as to whether they have ever been licensed in any municipality or not.

Added by Laws 1965, c. 406, § 4, emerg. eff. July 5, 1965. Amended by Laws 1971, c. 299, § 1, emerg. eff. June 24, 1971; Laws 2001, c. 33, § 18, eff. July 1, 2001.