[Amended 12-4-2001 by Ord. No. 13-2001]
All electrical work and the construction, maintenance and repair of electrical equipment and systems in the City must be performed by persons having a thorough knowledge of it and who are licensed by the City and who are duly registered electricians with the City, or by journeymen or apprentice electricians employed by and under the direction of such licensed electricians and who are duly registered with the City, except that any nonlicensed property owner may, upon fulfillment of § 112-12, perform electrical work in his/her own building provided that the building is strictly a single-family residential and that the owner resides in said building, and further excepted as specified at § 112-10, entitled "Exemptions."
A.
Form and contents; qualifications. Any person desiring
to procure a license as a master electrician or as a limited residential electrician
in the City shall make application therefor on forms furnished at the office
of the City Clerk. Said application shall state the name, age and residence
of the applicant and must also include an affidavit of eligibility.
B.
Affidavit of eligibility.
(1)
Any applicant for a master electrician's license
must provide evidence of at least five years' experience in the electrical
or related field, or graduation from an accredited school of electrical training
plus enough years in the electrical field to total the five years above. Affidavits
supporting such claims, showing experience, qualifications, employment and
residence for a period of five years prior to the date of the application,
must be submitted with the application, together with statements concerning
the applicant's conviction of a crime, if any, and such other information
as required and deemed desirable.
(2)
Any applicant for a limited residential electrician's
license must provide evidence of at least 2 1/2 years' experience
in the electrical or related field, or graduation from an accredited school
of electrical training plus enough years in the electrical field to total
the 2 1/2 years' experience required above. Affidavits supporting
such claims, showing experience, qualifications, employment and residence
for a period of 2 1/2 years prior to the date of the application, must
be submitted with the application, together with statements concerning the
applicant's conviction of a crime, if any, and such other information
as required and deemed desirable.
(3)
No license shall be granted to any person who is less
than 21 years of age.
(4)
Any applicant for a restricted maintenance license must
provide evidence of at least one year of electrical and installation work
or one year of attendance at an educational center (BOCES or military school),
or any accumulative combination thereof (which would include two years of
BOCES).
[Added 8-5-2003 by Ord. No. 1-2003]
C.
Fee; disposition of application. Such application shall
be accompanied by a fee set by resolution from time to time by the Common
Council of the City of Oneonta and filed with the City Clerk for submission
to the Secretary of the Board of Electrical Examiners for the purpose of passing
upon the qualifications and the examination of the applicant.
D.
Approval; prerequisite to examination. No applicant shall,
however, be entitled to take the examination until the applicant's qualifications
are first approved by the Board of Electrical Examiners.
E.
Reexamination. Any applicant who takes and falls the
same examination two times in a twelve-month period will not be eligible to
reapply again until a six-month period has passed and proof is provided to
the Board of attendance by the applicant at a Board-approved electrical code
class.
[Amended 8-5-2003 by Ord. No. 1-2003]
F.
Practical examination skills test for a restricted maintenance
license. A practical examination will be made available by the Engineering
Department with the approval of the Board of Electrical Examiners when necessary.
Practical examination stations may include the installation of receptacles,
thermostats, ballasts, and lighting fixtures.
[Added 8-5-2003 by Ord. No. 1-2003]
A.
Generally. Any applicant who has successfully passed
the examination shall be notified in writing thereof by the Secretary of the
Board of Electrical Examiners, and the City Clerk shall issue to him/her a
license therefor. The fee for an original license shall be established by
resolution from time to time by the Common Council of the City of Oneonta
for an individual, firm or corporation. All electricians' licenses shall
be issued in consecutive order. Licenses so issued shall be valid for the
then calendar year and shall only be issued upon proof that the individual
licensee, firm or corporation carries manufacturers' and contractors'
liability insurance and workers' compensation insurance, if required.
All such licenses may be renewed annually upon payment of a fee which shall
be determined from time to time by the Common Council and by supplying proof
of insurance. Any person licensed as a master electrician in the City of Oneonta
who fails to renew his/her license for a consecutive two-year period may be
required by the Board of Electrical Examiners to reapply and be reexamined.
B.
Out-of-town contractors and contractors licensed by other
entities.
(1)
It shall be unlawful for any out-of-town contractor and any contractor licensed by another entity to do any electrical work in the City without first obtaining a master electrician's license for the City of Oneonta. Such license shall be obtained as outlined in § 112-5 of this chapter. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section where an applicant for a master electrician's license establishes to the Board's satisfaction that she or he holds a current license from another state or political subdivision thereof, or from the State of New York or any political subdivision thereof which license was issued on the basis of a qualifying examination, the Board shall have the power to waive the written examination, at its discretion.
(2)
Out-of-town master electricians from cities that extend
reciprocal privileges to master electricians from the City of Oneonta may
apply for and receive a license limited to the same privileges that the reciprocating
City offers master electricians licensed by the City of Oneonta.
(3)
The licensing fees for out-of-town contractors and/or
master electricians shall be either the fee established from time to time
by the Common Council or the licensing fee used for the City of Oneonta master
electricians seeking license at that entity, whichever is greater.
[Added 8-5-2003 by Ord. No. 1-2003]
C.
Work performed by restricted maintenance forces. Firms that employ a full-time maintenance staff may perform electrical maintenance work and repair on their premises as defined in § 112-1, Definitions, restricted maintenance license. Any extension of any electrical equipment will require the work to be done by a licensed electrician. Any firm may apply for examination of their full-time employee for a license restricted to their place of business. The exams will be given per Article I § 112-3B, Examinations. However, if the building permit is required for any work performed, it shall be necessary for the firm or corporation to file an application for inspection with a City-approved electrical inspection agency prior to commencing any work.
[Amended 8-5-2003 by Ord. No. 1-2003]
D.
Insurance. An insurance policy to the City of Oneonta
individually and/or as an additional insured is required to indemnity the
City against liability for bodily injury, property damage, costs and expenses
which the City may incur or suffer by reason of the granting of such permit.
Such policy shall be at least the amounts as set from time to time by resolution
of the Common Council for bodily injury and property damage liability combined
and shall be in such form as may be prescribed or approved by the City Attorney.
This policy shall include completed operations coverage. This requirement
is necessary for renewals.
A.
Identification card required. Any person employed by
a master electrician or by any company, corporation or incorporated business
having a master electrician license shall carry with them either an apprentice
electrician or a journeyman electrician card. Said identification cards shall
be obtained at the office of the City Clerk, and said card shall state the
name, age and residence of the apprentice or journeyman by whom she or he
is employed and any other information required by the Board of Electrical
Examiners.
B.
Apprentice cards; fee; expiration. Apprentice cards shall
be issued to persons who are not qualified journeymen electricians for the
sum which shall be set by resolution from time to time by the Common Council
of the City of Oneonta per annum, and all such cards shall expire on December
31 of the calendar year issued.
C.
Journeymen electrician cards; requirements; fee; expiration.
(1)
Journeyman electrician cards shall be issued only after
four years' experience as an apprentice or the equivalent thereof by
graduation from an accredited school of electrical training, plus enough years
in the field to total four years.
(2)
Journeyman electrician cards shall be issued only to
persons who are qualified journeyman electricians for the sum which shall
be set by resolution from time to time by the Common Council of the City of
Oneonta, and all cards shall expire on December 31 of the calendar year issued.
(3)
All applications for journeyman cards must be reviewed
and approved by the Board of Electrical Examiners prior to issuance of said
journeyman card.
D.
Generally.
(1)
The cost of said apprentice and journeyman electricians
cards shall be borne by the employing master electrician.
(2)
Each identification card shall be signed by both the
employer and the employee, and said employee must carry said card on his or
her person at all times he or she is working on the job.
(3)
Whenever said journeyman or apprentice no longer is employed
by the master electrician who obtained and paid for said identification card,
said apprentice or journeyman electrician shall surrender said card to their
former employer, and said master electrician employer shall thereupon deliver
said card to the City Clerk for revocation and cancellation.
E.
Journeymen and apprentices; limited residential electricians.
Limited residential electricians shall do all work under their license without
assistance except from individuals who are either limited residential electricians
or master electricians.
A.
Grounds; hearing. Upon presentation to the Board of Electrical
Examiners of charges that the holder of any license has willfully violated
any provisions of any state law, the State Building Construction Code,[1] or local law, rule or regulation relating to electrical work,
or is incompetent to comply with such provisions, the Board of Electrical
Examiners shall fix a time and place for a meeting to consider such charges
and shall notify the holder at least five days in advance of the meeting.
If, upon a hearing by the Board of Electrical Examiners of all evidence offered,
it shall be decided by the Board of Electrical Examiners that said holder
of a license has willfully violated any of the provisions of any state law
or of the State Building Construction Code or local rule or regulation relating
to electrical work, or by continued violation has proved his or her incompetence
to comply with any of the provisions of any such requirement, then the Board
of Electrical Examiners shall revoke the license of said holder.
[1]
Editor's Note: The State Building Construction Code was superseded
by the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, effective
1-1-1984.
In the event that an applicant for a license is denied such license
by the Board of Electrical Examiners, or in the event that a license is revoked
for any reason whatsoever, an appeal from such decision of the Board of Electrical
Examiners may be taken within 10 days to the Common Council for review and
hearing thereon, and its determination shall be final, subject, however, to
review pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR).
An electrical license is not required for the following classes of work:
A.
Any work done by persons employed by manufacturers or
purveyors of electrical equipment in servicing their own products.
B.
The connection or disconnection of portable plug-in appliances
to permanently installed receptacles or the attachment or disconnection of
input terminals of electrical appliances; the replacement of defective devices
with directly interchangeable types, i.e., fuses, lamps and switches (when
enclosing boxes are not disturbed).
C.
Persons engaged solely in selling or solely in the attachment
of ordinary electrical appliances to existing circuits where no joining or
splicing of electrical conductors is required.
D.
Work in connection with the installation, maintenance
and repair of elevators by persons principally engaged in this business.
E.
Work involved in the manufacture, test, assembly and
repair of electrical machinery, apparatus, materials and equipment when performed
by persons engaged in manufacturing as their principal business.
F.
Work in connection with the erection, construction, maintenance
or repair of lines for the transmission of electricity from the source of
supply to and including the service connection on the premises of the consumer
by authorized public service companies.
G.
Work of companies incorporated for the transmission of
communications by electricity in the installation, maintenance or repair of
wires, apparatus, fixtures or other appliances in connection therewith.
