Don’t Get Zapped

UPDATE: In its Notice of CSLB Quarterly Meeting, the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) indicated that, at its upcoming February 19, 2014 quarterly Board meeting, its Enforcement Committee Report may include an update on its Electrician Certification Enforcement Policy. The meeting is scheduled to commence at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 19, 2014, in Sandpebble Rooms C, D, E at the Hyatt Regency, 1333 Bayshore Highway, Burlingame, CA 94010, (650) 347-1234, and there will be a live webcast of the meeting.

The California Stare Contractors License Board (CSLB) recently reconfirmed that it has a “Zero Tolerance Policy In Effect for Non-Compliant Electricians.” In 2010 it established this policy and, at its June 11, 2013 board meeting, it reconfirmed its commitment to investigate and to initiate disciplinary action against any C-10 Electrical contractor that willfully employs an uncertified electrician to perform work as an electrician.

Except as otherwise contemplated by California Labor Code §§ 108(c) and 108.2, California Labor Code § 108.2(a) and (b) require anyone who performs work as an electrician for a C-10 Electrical contractor to hold an electrical certification card issued by the Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) and, in turn, it requires DAS to report violations to the CSLB. An “electrician” is anyone who engages in the connection of electrical devices for a C-10 Electrical contractor (Cal. Lab. Code § 108(c)). The CSLB’s position is that electrical work must be performed by either a state-licensed or certified electrician; an indentured apprentice or state-registered electrician trainee may also perform electrical work if supervised by a state-certified electrician. The CSLB is legally required to open an investigation and initiate disciplinary action against the C-10 Electrical contractor (which may include license suspension or revocation) within 60 days of receipt of a referral or complaint from the DAS (Cal. Lab. Code § 108.2(j)).

In addition, existing California law requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works projects and, in addition, it requires contractors and subcontractors to keep payroll records that include, among other things, the name, address, and work classification of each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed in connection with the public works project. Currently pending Assembly Bill 972 would further require contractors’ and subcontractors’ payroll records for public works projects that use an electrician to include the electricianss state certification numbers.

Additional Sources: Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Electrician Certification Program; Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Electrician Certification Program – Enforcement; Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Electrician Certification FAQs; Statistics of the Division of Fair Labor Standards – Electrician Certification Unit (September 2013)