BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 972
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Roger Hern�ndez, Chair
AB 972 (Ian Calderon) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : Employment: electricians: certification.
SUMMARY : Enacts various requirements related to certified
electricians. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires an individual employed on a construction job site by
a class C-10 electrical contractor to visibly display his or
her license on their person while on the construction job
site.
2)Provides that only an individual displaying his or her license
at the time of a site inspection shall be considered a
licensee when determining compliance with existing law related
to electrician certification.
3)Requires certified payroll records, on projects that require
the use of an electrician, to also provide the electrician's
state certification number below the individual's name.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) within
the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) to establish and
validate minimum standards for the competency and training of
electricians through a system of testing and certification.
2)Requires persons who perform work as electricians to become
certified by January 1, 2005, and prohibits uncertified
persons from performing electrical work for which
certification is required after that date.
3)Authorizes the California Apprenticeship Council (CAC) to
extend for up to two years the January 1, 2005 deadline for
persons who perform work as electricians to become certified.
4)Contains various exemptions from the certification
requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 972
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COMMENTS : The certification requirement for electricians has a
lengthy legislative and administrative history. AB 931
(Calderon) of 1999, established a certification program for
electricians to be implemented by July 1, 2001. Proponents of
the original legislation stated that it was designed to address
electrician competency, as well as safety. Proponents argued
that, prior to the enactment of AB 931 no state law required
testing and certification of electricians who performed the
actual wiring and connection of electrical devices.
The actual deadline for electrician certification has been
adjusted a number of times in recent years, both by statute and
by administrative action. AB 1087 (Calderon) of 2002,
established a date certain of January 1, 2005, for specified
electricians who have met standards for training and competency
to be certified.
However, AB 1719 (Committee on Labor and Employment) of 2003
authorized the CAC to extend for up to two years the January 1,
2005 deadline if it concluded that the existing deadline will
not provide individuals sufficient time to obtain certification.
The CAC was given authority to extend the deadlines further by
AB 2907 (De La Torre) of 2006.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT :
This bill is sponsored by the California State Association of
Electrical Workers. The sponsor states that California law
requires electricians achieve minimum standards in training and
competency. These requirements are in place to ensure job site
safety, proper installations and quality of work. Electricians
who work for contractors licensed as class C-10 electrical
workers, must become certified.
According to the sponsor, site inspections can occur at any
moment and without warning. While the inspections are necessary
and warranted, the amount of time and distraction that occurs
during these inspections can and should be avoided by
establishing a standard for displaying your electrician
certification on your helmet. An inspector would be able to
simply approach workers, note the certification and the work
that is being done to ensure that the worker is appropriately
licensed for the work they are carrying out.
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In addition, the sponsor states that, in order to assist in
prevailing wage enforcement, current law requires all
contractors and subcontractors to submit weekly certified
payrolls to the awarding body of a public works contract. The
certified payroll include the name, address, social security
number, job classification, hours worked, and the wages paid
each worker for the pay period. Because the payroll record is a
public record, it is made available to the general public,
including private third party labor law compliance programs.
The social security numbers and names are redacted prior to
public release. This bill would require that for electricians
employed on a public works project, that the contractor or
subcontractor include the state-issued electrician certification
number on the certified payroll to assist in compliance with the
certification law.
The sponsor notes that electrician certification is a
professional license issued by the DAS and is a public record.
The sponsor also notes that the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement (DLSE) maintains on their web site a public listing
of every certified electrician, including their name and
certification number. They argue that the inclusion of the
electrician certification number of each electrician performing
work on a public works project will more easily enable awarding
agencies, compliance officers, the Labor Commissioner, and the
Contractors State Licensing Board to investigate and enforce the
law.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION :
The California State Council of Laborers (Laborers) opposes this
bill. They contend that the license display provision of the
bill is completely unnecessary since contractors are regulated
by the Contractors State Licensing Board and are already aware
that to perform electrical work requiring certification or to be
licensed is their duty and responsibility. The Laborers state
that, as with many other licensed contractors in the
construction industry, a C-10 electrical contractor utilizes
workers to perform work not requiring certification. They argue
that this bill would trigger potential false violations if
during inspections these workers would not be wearing these
"licenses" based on interpretation of a person making such
inspections of the work or tasks performed. The Laborers
represent many of these workers performing work not requiring
these licenses and express concern that the bill may potentially
AB 972
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impact their employment status by virtue of incorrect
interpretation of the laws governing certification. They
conclude that this bill would be harmful to the construction
industry by creating unnecessary addition requirements to
existing law.
The Western Electrical Contractors Association (WECA) opposes
this measure. With respect to the license display provision of
the bill, WECA contends that amendment language is needed to
clarify that this requirement would not apply to
non-electricians employed by the contractor who are performing
non-electrician work, as well as apprentices and other
uncertified persons. WECA also contends that there may be
logistical issues with this requirement: "[A] construction site
is a robust environment and it is easy to envision situations
where a license could become lost or could even become a hazard
if it became entangled in equipment - or worse, had a conductive
element (say a metallic clip) that would present a flash or
shock hazard for the employee. It would be preferable to simply
require the certification card be carried and presented to an
authorized individual performing a site visit upon request."
WECA also raises the following concerns with the provision of
the bill related to certified payroll records:
"Certification is only required for electricians employed
by a C-10 contractor but the proposed change to LC�1776
would seem to require ALL contractors to report this
information - even if they are not covered by LC�108. It
would be helpful to delineate which employers are required
to report this information.
Since apprentices and trainees are permitted to perform
electrical work under certain circumstances and do not
possess a 'state certification number' this requirement
should be clarified to either exempt them from the
requirement or establish a distinct reporting requirement
for them."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State Association of Electrical Workers (sponsor)
AB 972
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Opposition
California State Council of Laborers
Western Electrical Contractors Association (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091