Electrical Licensing--Stay Compliant!

by Michelle Dreier
Executive Manager

As MN Electrical Association’s consulting expert, I thought that I would get peppered with prevailing wage questions when I came on board. Quite the contrary, I’ve had significantly more licensing questions. While sitting at the latest Board of Electricity meeting, I noticed some of our members’ names on the recent violations and decided it would be good to identify the most frequent violations and how to stay in compliance.

1. Unlicensed contractor and/or unlicensed/unregistered employees

• Make certain you are a licensed electrical contractor. Make certain your license is current. Minnesota electrical contractor renewal deadline was February 28, 2018.
• Register your unlicensed electrical employees. Make certain they are taking their continuing education, reporting their hours, and submitting their renewal annually.

2. Failure to pull permits prior to starting work

• Remember to file for your permits. Don’t jump the gun.

3. Pulling permits and not calling for inspections

• Make certain your work is properly inspected. There may be pressure to get a project to the next stage, but the inspection must happen before things move on.

4. Unsupervised unlicensed workers and supervision out of ratio (licensed electrician supervising more than two unlicensed)

• This is where I am seeing most violations. If your journeyworker needs to leave the site for a quick bite, or to answer a service call, the individuals they are supervising need to quit working. I understand this can be a hardship because of the labor shortage but it has to happen. Inevitably an inspector will pick this exact moment to walk up and ask for documentation.
• Contractors are responsible for keeping records of the unlicensed electricians’ work experience, but it is the unlicensed electrician’s responsibility to report their work experience to DLI when they renew their unlicensed registration each year. Partner with your workers to make this happen. Many employees believe that “The State” automatically knows how many hours of work they perform each year. Individuals’ hours of experience are now visible on the DLI website. Please review them for accuracy. As you know, this is an important step in growing your Journeyworker workforce.
• Additionally, it is not currently lawful for a journeyworker of one company to supervise an unlicensed electrician of another company. We have been seeing sign-up sheets at some job sites used to track who is supervising whom. Certified payroll on prevailing wage projects has also been used to spot violations.

I’ve also seen a situation where a Master of Record performed work for another shop as an employee. This was identified through certified payroll on a prevailing wage project. Unfortunately, sometimes performing favors can get you into hot water.

I hope these reminders serve to keep you out of trouble. If you have any questions regarding current regulations, please give me a call. Not only are violations costly, they could potentially keep you from bidding on public projects due to the Responsible Contractor Act.