Iowa State Electrical Examining Board Meeting Minutes January 06, 2009 (UNAPPROVED)

Transcription

1 Board Members Present: Chad Layland Valynda Akin Barbara Mentzer Chad Campion, Chairperson Rod Van Wart Jim Kenkle Lori Mease Randy Van Voorst Skip Perley Duane Quirk Iowa State Electrical Examining Board Meeting Minutes (UNAPPROVED) Board Members Not Present: Unfilled Board Position Staff Attending: Joe Brooks, Executive Secretary Rhonda Clark, Secretary Pat Merrick, Chief Electrical Inspector Scott Galenbeck, Assistant Attorney General Mike Coveyou, Agency Rules Administrator Ross Loder, Legislative Liaison Chairperson Chad Campion called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Chairperson Campion asked if everyone had a chance to read over the minutes from the November 20, 2008, meeting. Skip made a motion to accept the November 20, 2008 minutes. Randy seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Chairperson Campion introduced Tracy Smith of Iowa Interactive. Tracy gave proposed pricing of the program. The charge would be $5.00 per year, per license. For a duplicate letter or wallet card the charge would be $2.00. For inspections the charge would be $4.25. If the state decided not to continue with Iowa Interactive, the state would keep the program. Iowa Interactive would not take the program back and the state s I.T. department would manage the program. The contract is through March of 2011 with a one-year extension opportunity. Much discussion continued. Chairperson Campion advised Tracy that he would like to do some research and get back to her this afternoon. Report of Executive Secretary Joe Brooks: Provided the Board with a copy of the budget that consists of the beginning balance, receipts (what we received in funds), expenses, and salaries. Received letter from Spencer and Waterloo changing their local ordinances for Contractors and Class B licenses.

2 Page 2 of 7 Waterloo is also charging contractors a $150, one-time fee, to register with the City of Waterloo. Mike Coveyou, Agency Rules Administrator, advised that a city ordinance regarding the Class B license can not take affect until it has met all of the requirements of the rule. Scott Galenbeck, Assistant Attorney General, is going to check into cities charging fees, and will get back to the Board. Joe presented a letter from the City of Burlington noting a case of someone working improperly. Joe asked the Board if it wanted to take any action. Discussion ensued. Scott indicated that if this person is licensed by this Board, then the Board can initiate licensee disciplinary proceedings. It is important to first investigate the circumstances very carefully. Once the investigative material is gathered, then the next step is that the Board has to determine whether it wants to proceed with charges. If the Board decides to adopt charges, then a negotiation of resolution that is agreeable to the Board and to the electrician takes place. Discussion continued. Everyone agreed for Joe to research what took place, and to report back to the Board. Joe and Scott will work on this together. More discussion continued. Chief Electrical Inspector Pat Merrick introduced the Inspector Supervisors. Dwight Kramer has the Northwest part of the state, Brian Young has the Southwest part of the state, Chuck Carpenter has the Northeast part of the state, and Pat Hansen has the Southeast part of the state. Chairperson Campion opened the floor to Mike. Mike advised that during the Administrative Rules Committee a couple of weeks ago a question was discussed about the formulation of guidelines for what does not need to be inspected. Based on that discussion, Mike drafted the following language: Neither an inspection nor a state electrical permit shall be required for any electrical installation which meets all of the following criteria: 1 The installation is performed by a State of Iowa licensed Class A or B Journeyman or Master Electrician, or by an State of Iowa licensed apprentice electrician, who performs the work under the supervision of State of Iowa licensed Class A or B Journeyman or Master Electrician. 2 The installation to be performed does not, in any way, involve work within a new or existing electrical panel or subpanel. 3 The work to be conducted does not involve any electrical circuit of more than 30 amps or 277 volts. The following in red are the changes that were discussed contingent to rewrite: Neither a state inspection nor a state electrical permit shall be required for any electrical installation which meets all of the following criteria:

3 Page 3 of 7 1. The installation is to be legally performed by a State of Iowa licensed Class A or B Journeyman or Master Electrician, or by an State of Iowa licensed apprentice electrician, who performs the work under the direct supervision of State of Iowa licensed Class A or B Journeyman or Master Electrician. 2. The installation to be performed does not, in any way, involve work within a new or existing switchboard or panelboard. 3. The installation to be performed does not involve any electrical line to ground circuit of more than 30 amps or 277 volts single phase. Much discussion ensued after changes were made. Skip made a motion to adopt what is written with the changes given. Duane Quirk seconded the motion. With no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously. Valynda Akin made a motion to have Ross pursue the two separate amendments to the statute by amendment to the Board Bill to give the Board clear statutory authority to exempt small jobs in general language and then separately the authority to issue bulk and individual permits with all permits. Vice Chairman Barb Mentzer seconded the motion. With no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously. Chairperson Campion opened the floor for the public comment period. Chairperson Campion called Jenny Tyler who is with a firm that represents CEDIA, Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association. This company specializes in the designing and installation of residential low voltage electronic systems, for example: home theaters, home automation controls, and house video- and audio-systems. Jenny wanted to address the policy guideline that the Board just finished discussing. The types of systems that the CEDIA members install involve the delivery of signals and data, and not the delivery of power, so under code Chapter 103 the people that install these systems, design them, alter them, and maintain them are exempted from the provisions of code Chapter 103. That exemption can be found at Code Section subsection 10. Jenny wanted to confirm that the guideline the Board just adopted is intended to be consistent with this exemption for power-limited work in Code Section subsection 10. And if so, Jenny is asking the Board to amend the statement to clarify that. Jenny is concerned that the language of the proposal creates some confusion, that the exempted low voltage electronic systems are required a permit and inspection if installed by electronic systems technicians who are not meeting the licensure criteria under criteria 1 of the hand-out that was distributed. Discussion ensued. Rod replied that Jenny s technicians are not required to be licensed, so this rule does not apply to them. Executive Secretary Brooks will write a letter of clarification indicating that it will not overrule the exemption. Chairperson Campion called Rich Kurtenbach of the IBEW 288.

4 Page 4 of 7 Rich asked, If a city had licensing prior to state legislation, is it the understanding that that city can continue the local license for an individual without licensing through the state? The Board replied yes as long as he only works in the jurisdiction in which he is licensed. Rich asked if they can charge a fee for that; and, Rod replied yes. Rich then asked, Can a city require a registration fee for the contractor? Chairperson Campion stated that a city can require that a contractor or an electrician check in to make sure they are bonded or insured but they could not charge a fee for that. Much discussion ensued. At 11:55 a.m., the meeting adjourned for lunch. At approximately 12:48 p.m., the meeting reconvened. Chairperson Campion opened the floor to Vice-Chairman Mentzer. Vice-Chairman Mentzer re-wrote the proposal for the acceptance of the city licensing programs prior to January 01, Vice-Chairman Mentzer wanted to make sure everyone understood what she and Joe both learned at the Multi-State Reciprocity meeting: that as long as these particular licensees are documented regarding how they went from being a Class B to a Class A, they would not be eligible for reciprocity. As it stands right now anyone who took any Prometric test other than a state-sponsored Prometric test is not eligible for reciprocity. That becomes a non-issue as far as the acceptance or denial of the city licensing program. As to individual state agreements, we don t know, because we have not started those negotiations yet. As far as validation, and needing to make sure the person is in good standing, and is continuing education, and has a current license, that really doesn t need to be made specific because, per the statute, one is not even eligible unless one had a current license with a political subdivision as of January 01, The sub-committee proposes the following recommendation: The recommendation of the Historical Exam Sub-Committee is to accept the licensing procedures and exams for all of the following political subdivisions within the State of Iowa. This acceptance would grant those electricians who have met the qualifications set forth by the individual political subdivisions and were issued licensure from the passing of an exam written and proctored by said political subdivision the ability to advance from a Class B electrical license to that of a Class A with the State of Iowa. The program acceptance would include licenses issued form the date of program inception and the first administered exam at the political subdivision to a date no later than the end of the city written examination procedure, or December 31, 1997, whichever is earliest. The reason for the end date is to coincide with the requirement of how you can achieve a Class B license. In order for a person to qualify for this, you have to qualify for a Class B license. The following list of cities was originally approved on November 20, 2008, at the regular meeting of the Electrical Examining Board, but this proposal will clarify the motion made for acceptance: Ames, Boone, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Keokuk, Marshalltown, Sioux City, and Waterloo.

5 Page 5 of 7 The following list is political subdivisions evaluated since the November board meeting and are recommended for acceptance under the conditions set forth above: Carroll, Fort Madison, Mason City, Mount Pleasant, and Muscatine. The following political subdivision will be contacted to provide more information and will be voted on at a later date: Oelwein. It is also the recommendation of this subsequently-committee to accept for validation, any form created and signed and notarized by either the Building Official or Electrical Inspector employed by one of the accepted political subdivisions above. This form shall include, at minimum, name and address of applicant, the date and score of examination, level of exam and licensure, and expiration date of license. If further information becomes necessary, this Board or its staff will contact the parties involved. Much discussion ensued. Val made a motion to allow Class B electricians to switch over to a Class A license from the following cities: Ames, Boone, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Keokuk, Marshalltown, Sioux City, Waterloo, Carroll, Fort Madison, Mason City, Mount Pleasant, and Muscatine, by completing the City Exam Certificate Statement Affidavit, including the city official s signature stating that the applicant has taken a city approved exam, based on the sub-committee s evaluation of the program and samples of the written exams. Duane seconded the motion. Discussion continued. With no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously. Chairperson Campion has been talking to the Building Officials in Cedar Rapids, who have written a letter to the Board asking for guidance about how to change licensees from a Class B license to a Class A license. They do not have a test or documentation for the sub-committee to review because it was lost in the recent flood. Much discussion ensued. It was decided that Chairperson Campion would try to get the study materials that Chad said he had, and community agreements between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City concerning how they reciprocated with one another and with any other communities. Vice-Chairman Mentzer advised that if the Board needs a more detailed letter, Don Harbaugh, who is the retired Inspector in Cedar Rapids, could provide more information, since he would have the most knowledge concerning that test. Vice-Chairman Mentzer wanted to clarify that Joe is going to create the affidavit that would allow the afore-mentioned 18 cities Class B licensees to switch over to a Class A license. Much discussion ensued. It was decided that Joe will create the form and have it posted on the website. The electrician would then print and complete the form, and give it the Building Code Official or Building Inspector to sign and have notarized. Mike suggested that the Rules Committee could develop a policy or rule on how to handle a situation when a city has lost documentation because of a national disaster.

6 Page 6 of 7 Rod made a motion that if a person from one of the 18 cities can demonstrate that they have taken one of the exams that the Board has approved, and that they have had four years of experience, they can be a Class A. Val seconded the motion. With no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously. Chairperson Campion opened the floor to Chief Electrical Inspector Merrick for the inspection update. Inspection update: The majority of the Inspector background checks will be back to the Fire Marshal s office by Friday. Advanced-appointment rates should be back to us by the end of the day. Will need to write justification letters for all of these appointments, which might take another week to get final letters to Inspectors with a start date. Testing-date for Iowa Interactive is January 15 th. We will meet with Iowa Interactive on January 16 th to deal with any changes that need to be made, and will start training with the program on January 20 th. All computer mounts will be installed in the trucks by January 20 th. Toughbooks are being imaged right now, and should be ready by January 20 th. Office equipment should be arriving by February 1. Secretary I has been hired contingent on passing the background check. Our domain name will be iowaelectric.gov. Joe talked to the inspectors, and reported the following list of items requested: Toolbox, multi-kit screwdrivers, measuring tape, a GFCI /AFCI tester, clip board, hardhat, safety glasses, high visibility vest, camera, polarity tester, couple of handbooks-on-cds, the White Book CD, and the White Book with tabs. It was suggested to get arc-flash suits and first-aid kits. Joe provided an update on the community colleges. Joe talked to the colleges about what the Board looked at in November. The colleges wanted a very specific agenda, rather than a constructed program based on guidelines. So, right now we are in the process of studying what the DOL has, what the JATC and ABC offer, and making a comparison so that no one has to make a complete change, but to come to a compromise. Much discussion ensued. Chairperson Campion opened the floor for other business. Regarding the tracking of political sub-division Electrical Inspectors: Joe advised that once all of the results come back and we get the complete list of cities that are going to do their own inspections, we will track them to make sure that the inspectors in each respective city are certified, and what their certification level is. Joe will have posted on the website the test that is needed for certification. Recommendations for renewal notice: Once our new system is up and running, we will make a mass-mailing to let applicants know how to renew. The new program will allow the applicants to renew up to five months in advance.

7 Page 7 of 7 Chairperson Campion opened the floor for discussion on Iowa Interactive and the pricing. After much discussion, it was decided that Joe and Pat should meet with Iowa Interactive and negotiate the price. Pat will also get a copy of the contract to give to Scott for review. Rod made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Barb. Meeting was adjourned at about 2:20 p.m. Respectfully Submitted by, Rhonda Clark, Secretary