SB 545

Licensing structure

Under provisions that will become law on April 1, 2014, no person may work as

an electrician, and no person may engage in business as an electrical contractor,

unless the person is licensed by, or registered with, the Department of Safety and

Professional Services (DSPS).

Current statutory law classifies electricians as follows: beginning electricians,

journeyman electricians, and master electricians. The statutes require that

different licensing requirements be established by rule for residential journeyman

electricians. DSPS, by rule, has created the following additional types of electricians:

residential master electricians and industrial journeyman electricians. DSPS, by

rule, has also created "electrical apprentices" as an additional classification of

electrician. This classification includes residential and industrial electrical

apprentices. This bill incorporates these types of electricians into the current

statutory licensing structure.

Master electricians

Under current rules promulgated by DSPS, in order to be licensed as a master

electrician, a person must have at least 1,000 hours per year of experience in

installing electrical wiring for at least seven years and have passed an examination,

as required by DSPS. If the person will be licensed as a residential master

electrician, he or she only needs 1,000 hours per year for at least five years. Under

these rules, DSPS must accept completed semesters at an institution of higher

education in an electrical-related educational program as partial credit towards this

experience.

This bill establishes statutory requirements for being a master electrician,

other than a residential master electrician. Under the bill, a person is eligible to be

licensed as a master electrician if he or she has a bachelor's or master's degree in

electrical engineering, if he or she has 12 months of experience in installing,

repairing, or maintaining electrical work while being licensed as a journeyman

electrician, or if he or she has at least 10,000 hours of experience in a period of not

less than 60 months, and has passed the DSPS examination. These statutory

requirements established under the bill apply only to persons who apply for master

electrician licenses after the bill becomes law. The bill does not establish separate

statutory requirements for residential master electricians, but it requires DSPS to

have rules in effect that establish requirements for these electricians.

Journeyman electricians

Current statutory law requires DSPS to promulgate rules that require that, in

order to be licensed as a journeyman electrician, a person must have completed an

apprenticeship program of at least four years that is recognized by both the U.S.

Department of Labor (USDOL) and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce

Development (DWD), or must have had experience as an electrician for at least 60