H. B. 2788
(By Delegate Love)
[Introduced February 24, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article three-b,
chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
promulgating rules to cause licensed electricians to
delineate names of workers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article three-b, chapter twenty-nine of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3B. SUPERVISION OF ELECTRICIANS.
§29-3B-5. Rules; applications and examinations; fees.
(a) The state fire marshal shall promulgate necessary rules pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
to implement the provisions of this article, including, but not
limited to, requiring licensed contractors to provide, in writing
under penalty of perjury names of persons installing work in any
event wherein the licensed contractor was not present at the work
site. Furthermore to insure through rules that local volunteer
fire department personnel be empowered to issue citations for
witnessed violations of section 10:01, with the proceeds divided
evenly between the volunteer fire department and the state fire
marshal.
Rules adopted by the state fire marshal and presently in
effect shall remain in effect until and unless the state fire
marshal adopts new rules, and the state fire marshal may adopt
any or all of the rules presently in effect.
(b) The state fire marshal shall prepare and arrange for the
receipt of applications from those who intend to perform
electrical work in the state of West Virginia. Such application
shall be sufficiently detailed to enable the state fire marshal
to determine the presence or absence of an applicant's
qualifications for a license of a particular class. The state fire marshal may, if he considers it necessary, require
applicants to supply affidavits or other documents attesting to
the applicant's qualifications from past employers, other
electricians, engineers and others with knowledge of the
applicant's qualifications. The state fire marshal may make such
other inquiries as he considers necessary to determine the
qualifications of the applicant. An applicant expressly consents
to such inquiries by the state fire marshal by his application.
(c) The state fire marshal shall prepare and arrange for the
giving of examinations to all applicants for licensure. There
shall be a separate and different examination for each class of
license, appropriate in subject matter, difficulty and depth of
understanding for each class. All examinations shall be based on
and derived from the national electric code as promulgated from
time to time by the national fire protection association. A
minimum grade of eighty percent correct for all examinations is
necessary for licensure by the state fire marshal. The
examinations shall be given at least four times each year. The
places, dates and times of such examinations shall be made known
by public notice issued by the state fire marshal. The state fire marshal may contract with the bureau of vocational,
technical and adult education, state department of education, to
perform such examinations.
(d) Each person desiring to take an examination shall make
written application therefor at the time designated by and on
forms prescribed by the state fire marshal. The applicant shall
specify the class of license for which he seeks licensure. The
application shall be accompanied by an examination fee of
twenty-five dollars for licenses for master electrician or
journeyman electrician, or by an examination fee of ten dollars
for an apprentice electrician license applicant or twenty-five
dollars for a specialty license. The fee is not returnable.
(e) An applicant who fails to make the required passing
score on any examination or who lacks qualifications for the
class of license desired may retake the examination or change his
application to request a license of a lesser class upon the
payment to the state fire marshal of a fee of ten dollars
together with a new application. Any reexamination may be taken
or new application may be submitted as many times as the
applicant desires, but each such examination or application requires the payment of the additional fee of ten dollars and the
making of a new application to the state fire marshal. When the
examination is successfully passed and the requisite
qualifications are established by the applicant, the state fire
marshal shall issue the appropriate license as provided above.
The purpose of this bill is to require electrical
contractors to attest to the fire marshall work performed when
the contractor is not at the work site and to empower volunteer
firefighters to issue citations for violations of section 10:01
with proceeds evenly split.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.