BILL NUMBER: AB 2523 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eng
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section Sections 3099.2
and 3099.4 of the Labor Code, relating to apprenticeship.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2523, as amended, Eng. Apprenticeship: electricians.
Existing law requires the certification of electricians by the
Division of Apprenticeship Standards, except as specified. Existing
law allows establishes the certification date
applicable to certain individuals for the purpose of any continuing
education or recertification requirement.
This bill would prohibit an individual who does not satisfy an
applicable continuing education requirement from taking the
certification examination for one year after the deadline for
satisfying that requirement.
Existing law allows the chief of the division to approve an
apprenticeship program under specified circumstances.
This bill would require that continuing education instruction by
an entity that is not approved by the chief of the division as
described above be provided under the jurisdiction of the State
Department of Education or the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges.
Existing law allows an uncertified person to perform
electrical work for which certification is required if certain
requirements are met, including that the person has completed or is
enrolled in a curriculum of classroom instruction approved by the
electrician certification curriculum committee and provided under the
jurisdiction of the State Department of Education, the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges, or the Bureau for
Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education.
This bill would delete the requirement that
instead require that instruction under the curriculum of
classroom instruction discussed above be provided under the
jurisdiction of the State Department of Education, the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges, or the Bureau for
Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education , if
not provided by an entity approved by the chief of the division,
be provided under the jurisdiction of the State
Department of Education or the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3099.2 of the Labor
Code is amended to read:
3099.2. (a) (1) Persons who perform work as electricians shall
become certified pursuant to Section 3099 by the deadline specified
in this subdivision. After the applicable deadline, uncertified
persons shall not perform electrical work for which certification is
required.
(2) The deadline for certification as a general electrician or
fire/life safety technician is January 1, 2006, except that persons
who applied for certification prior to January 1, 2006, have until
January 1, 2007, to pass the certification examination. The deadline
for certification as a residential electrician is January 1, 2007,
and the deadline for certification as a voice data video technician
or a nonresidential lighting technician is January 1, 2008. The
California Apprenticeship Council may extend the certification date
for any of these three categories of electricians up to January 1,
2009, if the council concludes that the existing deadline will not
provide persons sufficient time to obtain certification, enroll in an
apprenticeship or training program, or register pursuant to Section
3099.4.
(3) (A) For purposes of any continuing
education or recertification requirement, individuals
an ind ividual who become
becomes certified prior to the deadline for
certification shall be treated as having become certified on the
first anniversary of their his or her
certification date that falls after the certification deadline.
An individual who does not satisfy an applicable continuing education
requirement shall not take the certification examination for one
year after the deadline for satisfying that requirement.
(B) Continuing education instruction by an entity that is not
approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3075 shall be provided under
the jurisdiction of the State Department of Education or the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges.
(b) (1) Certification is required only for those persons who
perform work as electricians for contractors licensed as class C-10
electrical contractors under the Contractors' State License Board
Rules and Regulations.
(2) Certification is not required for persons performing work for
contractors licensed as class C-7 low voltage systems or class C-45
electric sign contractors as long as the work performed is within the
scope of the class C-7 or class C-45 license, including incidental
and supplemental work as defined in Section 7059 of the Business and
Professions Code, and regardless of whether the same contractor is
also licensed as a class C-10 contractor.
(3) Certification is not required for work performed by a worker
on a high-voltage electrical transmission or distribution system
owned by a local publicly owned electric utility, as defined in
Section 224.3 of the Public Utilities Code; an electrical
corporation, as defined in Section 218 of the Public Utilities Code;
a person, as defined in Section 205 of the Public Utilities Code; or
a corporation, as defined in Section 204 of the Public Utilities
Code; when the worker is employed by the utility or a licensed
contractor principally engaged in installing or maintaining
transmission or distribution systems.
(c) The division shall establish separate certifications for
general electrician, fire/life safety technician, residential
electrician, voice data video technician, and nonresidential lighting
technician.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), certification is not required
for registered apprentices performing electrical work as part of an
apprenticeship program approved under this chapter, a federal Office
of Apprenticeship program, or a state apprenticeship program
authorized by the federal Office of Apprenticeship. An apprentice who
is within one year of completion of his or her term of
apprenticeship shall be permitted to take the certification
examination and, upon passing the examination, shall be certified
immediately upon completion of the term of apprenticeship.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), certification is not required
for any person employed pursuant to Section 3099.4.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), certification is not required
for a nonresidential lighting trainee (1) who is enrolled in an
on-the-job instructional training program approved by the Chief of
the Division of Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3090,
and (2) who is under the onsite supervision of a nonresidential
lighting technician certified pursuant to Section 3099.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the qualifying person for a
class C-10 electrical contractor license issued by the Contractors'
State License Board need not also be certified pursuant to Section
3099 to perform electrical work for that licensed contractor or to
supervise an uncertified person employed by that licensed contractor
pursuant to Section 3099.4.
(h) Commencing July 1, 2009, the following shall constitute
additional grounds for disciplinary proceedings, including suspension
or revocation of the license of a class C-10 electrical contractor
pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 7090) of Chapter 9 of
Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code:
(1) The contractor willfully employs one or more uncertified
persons to perform work as electricians in violation of this section.
(2) The contractor willfully fails to provide the adequate
supervision of uncertified workers required by paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) of Section 3099.4.
(3) The contractor willfully fails to provide adequate supervision
of apprentices performing work pursuant to subdivision (d).
(i) The Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards shall
develop a process for referring cases to the Contractors' State
License Board when it has been determined that a violation of this
section has likely occurred. On or before July 1, 2009, the chief
shall prepare and execute a memorandum of understanding with the
Registrar of Contractors in furtherance of this section.
(j) Upon receipt of a referral by the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards alleging a violation under this section, the
Registrar of Contractors shall open an investigation. Any
disciplinary action against the licensee shall be initiated within 60
days of the receipt of the referral. The Registrar of Contractors
may initiate disciplinary action against any licensee upon his or her
own investigation, the filing of any complaint, or any finding that
results from a referral from the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards alleging a violation under this section.
Failure of the employer or employee to provide evidence of
certification or trainee status shall create a rebuttable presumption
of violation of this provision.
(k) For the purposes of this section, "electricians" has the same
meaning as the definition set forth in Section 3099.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 3099.4 of
the Labor Code is amended to read:
3099.4. (a) After the deadline for certification, an uncertified
person may perform electrical work for which certification is
required under Section 3099 in order to acquire the necessary
on-the-job experience for certification, if all of the following
requirements are met:
(1) The person is registered with the Division of Apprenticeship
Standards. A list of current registrants shall be maintained by the
division and made available to the public upon request.
(2) The person either has completed or is enrolled in an approved
curriculum of classroom instruction.
(3) The employer attests that the person shall be under the direct
supervision of an electrician certified pursuant to Section 3099 who
is responsible for supervising no more than one uncertified person.
An employer who is found by the division to have failed to provide
adequate supervision may be barred by the division from employing
uncertified individuals pursuant to this section in the future.
(b) For purposes of this section, an "approved curriculum of
classroom instruction" means a curriculum of classroom instruction
approved by the electrician certification curriculum committee
established pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section
3099. Instruction by an entity that is not approved by the Chief
of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 3075 shall be provided under the jurisdiction of the
State Department of Education or the Board of Governors of
the California Community Colleges.
(c) The curriculum committee may grant approval to an educational
provider that presently offers only a partial curriculum if the
educational provider intends in the future to offer, or to cooperate
with other educational providers to offer, a complete curriculum for
the type of certification involved. The curriculum committee may
require an educational provider receiving approval for a partial
curriculum to periodically renew its approval with the curriculum
committee until a complete curriculum is offered and approved. A
partial curriculum means a combination of classes that do not include
all classroom educational components of the complete curriculum for
one of the categories of certification established in accordance with
subdivision (c) of Section 3099.2.
(d) An educational provider that receives approval for a partial
curriculum must disclose in all communications to students and to the
public that the educational provider has only received approval for
a partial curriculum and shall not make any representations that the
provider offers a complete approved curriculum of classroom
instruction as established by subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of
subdivision (a) of Section 3099.
(e) For purposes of this section, a person is "enrolled" in an
approved curriculum of classroom instruction if the person is
attending classes on a full-time or part-time basis toward the
completion of an approved curriculum.
(f) Registration under this section shall be renewed annually and
the registrant shall provide to the division certification of the
classwork completed and on-the-job experience acquired since the
prior registration.
(g) For purposes of verifying the information provided by a person
registered with the division, an educational provider of an approved
curriculum of classroom instruction shall, upon the division's
request, provide the division with information regarding the
enrollment status and instruction completed by a person registered.
By registering with the division in accordance with this section, a
person consents to the release of this information.
(h) The division shall establish registration fees necessary to
implement this section, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) for
the initial registration. There shall be no fee for annual renewal of
registration. Fees collected are continuously appropriated in an
amount sufficient to administer this section and that amount may be
expended by the division for this purpose.
(i) The division shall issue regulations to implement this
section.
(j) For purposes of Section 1773, persons employed pursuant to
this section do not constitute a separate craft, classification, or
type of worker.
(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an uncertified
person who has completed an approved curriculum of classroom
instruction and is currently registered with the division may take
the certification examination. The person shall be certified upon
passing the examination and satisfactorily completing the requisite
number of on-the-job hours required for certification. A person who
passes the examination prior to completing the requisite hours of
on-the-job experience shall continue to comply with subdivision (f).