CO Code § 12-115-116 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 12 - Professions and Occupations|Article 115 - Electricians|§ 12-115-116. Exemptions - Definition

  Employees of public service corporations, rural electrification associations, or municipal utilities generating, distributing, or selling electrical energy for light, heat, or power or for operating street railway systems, or telephone or telegraph systems, or their corporate affiliates and their employees or employees of railroad corporations, or lawfully permitted or franchised cable television companies and their employees shall not be required to hold licenses while doing electrical work for those purposes.    Nothing in this article 115 shall be construed to require any individual to hold a license before doing electrical work on his or her own property or residence if all such electrical work, except for maintenance or repair of existing facilities, is inspected as provided in this article 115; if, however, the property or residence is intended for sale or resale by a person engaged in the business of constructing or remodeling the facilities or structures or is rental property that is occupied or is to be occupied by tenants for lodging, either transient or permanent, or is generally open to the public, the owner shall be responsible for, and the property shall be subject to, all of the provisions of this article 115 pertaining to inspection and licensing, unless specifically exempted therein.      Nothing in this article 115 requires a regular employee of a firm or corporation to hold a license before doing any electrical work on the property of the firm or corporation, whether or not the property is owned, leased, or rented if:   The firm or corporation employing the employee performing the work has all the electrical work installed in conformity with the minimum standards as set forth in this article 115;    The work is subject to inspection by the board or its inspectors by request in writing in accordance with section 12-115-120; and    The property of the firm or corporation is not generally open to the public.       Neither a license for the firm or corporation, nor an inspection by the board or its inspectors, nor the payment of any fees thereon shall be required, with the exception of inspection by the board or its inspectors when performed by written request. Nothing contained in this article 115 requires a license, an inspection by the board or its inspectors, or the payment of any fees for any electrical work performed for the maintenance or repair of existing facilities that are exempt as provided in this section.       If the property of any person, firm, or corporation is: Rental property or is developed for sale, lease, or rental; occupied or is to be occupied by tenants for lodging, either transient or permanent; or generally open to the public, the property is subject to all the provisions of this article 115 pertaining to inspection and licensing; except that the maintenance or repair of existing property specified in this subsection (4) is not subject to this article 115.    Nothing in this article 115 shall be construed to cover the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of vertical transportation or passenger conveyors, elevators, escalators, moving walks, dumbwaiters, stage lifts, man lifts, or appurtenances thereto beyond the terminals of the controllers. Furthermore, elevator contractors or constructors performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration under this exemption, or their employees, shall not be covered by the licensing requirements of this article 115.      Nothing in this article 115 shall be construed to require an individual to hold a license before doing any maintenance or repair of existing facilities on his or her own property or residence, nor to require inspection by the board or its inspectors, nor to pay any fees connected therewith.    Nothing in this article 115 shall be construed to require any firm or corporation or its regular employees to be required to hold a license before doing maintenance or repair of existing facilities on the property of the firm or corporation, whether or not the property is generally open to the public; nor shall inspection by the board or its inspectors or the payment of any fees connected therewith be required.    For the purposes of this subsection (6), “maintenance or repair of existing facilities” means to preserve or keep in good repair lawfully installed facilities by repairing or replacing components with new components that serve the same purpose.       An individual, firm, copartnership, or corporation may engage in business as an electrical contractor without an electrician's license if all electrical work performed by the individual, firm, copartnership, or corporation is under the direction and control of a licensed master electrician.    Any person who plugs in any electrical appliance where an approved electrical outlet is already installed shall not be considered an installer.    No provision of this article 115 shall in any manner interfere with, hamper, preclude, or prohibit any vendor of any electrical appliance from selling, delivering, and connecting any electrical appliance, if the connection of the appliance does not necessitate the installation of electrical wiring of the structure where the appliance is connected.    The provisions of this article 115 shall not be applicable to the installation or laying of metal or plastic electrical conduits in bridge or highway projects where the conduits must be laid according to specifications complying with applicable electrical codes.    Repealed.    Inasmuch as electrical licensing and the examination of persons performing electrical work is a matter of statewide concern, the examination, certification, licensing, or registration of electrical contractors, master electricians, journeymen electricians, residential wiremen, or apprentices who are licensed, registered, or certified under this article 115 shall not be required by any city, town, county, city and county, or qualified state institution of higher education; however, any such local governmental authority or qualified state institution of higher education may impose reasonable registration requirements on any electrical contractor as a condition of performing services within the jurisdiction of the authority or within buildings owned or leased or on land owned by the qualified state institution of higher education. No fee shall be charged for the registration.    The provisions of this article 115 shall not be applicable to any surface or subsurface operation or property used in, around, or in conjunction with any mine that is inspected pursuant to the “Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977”, Pub.L. 95-164, as amended, except permanent state highway tunnel facilities, which shall conform to standards based on the national electrical code. Nothing contained in this subsection (13) shall prohibit the department of transportation from adopting more stringent standards or requirements than those provided by the minimum standards specified in the national electrical code, and the department of transportation shall furnish a copy of the more stringent standards to the board.      The permit and inspection provisions of this article 115 do not apply to:   Installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities for the purpose of communication or metering or for the generation, control, transformation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy, whether the installations are located in buildings used exclusively for utilities for those purposes or located outdoors on property owned or leased by the utility or on public highways, streets, or roads or outdoors by virtue of established rights on private property; or    Load control devices for electrical hot water heaters that are owned, leased, or otherwise under the control of, and are operated by, an electric utility, and are on the load side of the single-family residential meter, if the equipment was installed by a registered electrical contractor. The contractor will notify appropriate local authorities that the work has been completed in order that an inspection may be made at the expense of the utility company.       This subsection (14) does not exempt any premises wiring on buildings, structures, or other premises not owned by or under the exclusive control of the utility nor wiring in buildings used by the utility for purposes other than those listed in this subsection (14), such as office buildings, garages, warehouses, machine shops, and recreation buildings. This subsection (14) exempts all of the facilities, buildings, and the like inside the security fence of a generating station, substation, control center, or communication facility.       Nothing in this article 115 shall be construed to:   Cover the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of security systems of fifty volts or less, lawn sprinkler systems, environmental controls, or remote radio-controlled systems beyond the terminals of the controllers. Furthermore, the contractors performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration under this exemption, or their employees, shall not be covered by the licensing requirements of this article 115.    Cover the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of electronic computer data processing equipment and systems beyond the terminals of the controllers. Furthermore, the contractors performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration under this exemption, or their employees, shall not be covered by the licensing requirements of this article 115.      Except to the extent that a communication system's cables and systems utilized for conveying power are hard-wired into a building's electrical system but subject to subsection (16)(a) of this section, cover the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of communications systems, including: (c) (I) Except to the extent that a communication system's cables and systems utilized for conveying power are hard-wired into a building's electrical system but subject to subsection (16)(a) of this section, cover the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of communications systems, including:   Telephone and telegraph systems not exempted as utilities in subsection (1) of this section;    Radio and television receiving and transmitting equipment and stations; and    Antenna systems other than community antenna television systems beyond the terminals of the controllers.       The contractors performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration under the exemption specified in this subsection (15)(c) and their employees are not covered by the licensing requirements of this article 115.       Cover the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of electric signs, cranes, hoists, electroplating, industrial machinery, and irrigation machinery beyond the terminals of the controllers. Furthermore, the contractors performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration under this exemption, or their employees, shall not be covered by the licensing requirements of this article 115.    Cover the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of equipment and wiring for sound recording and reproduction systems, centralized distribution of sound systems, public address and speech-input systems, or electronic organs beyond the terminals of the controllers. Furthermore, the contractors performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration under this exemption, or their employees, shall not be covered by the licensing requirements of this article 115.    Require either that employees of the federal government who perform electrical work on federal property shall be required to be licensed before doing electrical work on the property or that the electrical work performed on the property shall be regulated pursuant to this article 115;    Require licensing that covers the installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of fire alarm systems operating at fifty volts or less. Furthermore, the contractors performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration under this exemption, or their employees, shall not be covered by the licensing requirements of this article 115 but shall be subject to all provisions of this article 115 pertaining to inspections and permitting.       Nothing in this article 115 applies to:     The installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of class 2 and class 3 remote-control, signaling, and power-limited circuits, as defined by the national electrical code; or (a) (I) The installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of class 2 and class 3 remote-control, signaling, and power-limited circuits, as defined by the national electrical code; or    Contractors or their employees performing any installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of the circuits specified in subsection (16)(a)(I) of this section; or       The installation, maintenance, repair, or alteration of traffic signals or requires licensure for that work.        History. Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations,(HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 854, § 1, effective October 1; (3), (4), IP(14)(a), (14)(a)(II), and (15)(c) amended, (11) repealed, and (16) added,(SB 19-156), ch. 346, p. 3204, § 15, effective October 1.    Editor's note:    This section is similar to former § 12-23-111 as it existed prior to 2019.    Before its relocation in 2019, this section was amended in SB 19-156. Those amendments were superseded by the repeal and reenactment of this title 12, effective October 1, 2019. For those amendments to the former section in effect from July 1, 2019, to October 1, 2019, see SB 19-156, chapter 346, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.     ANNOTATION   Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.   State law not superseded by licensing ordinance. The state has a clear concern in ensuring that Colorado electricians have free access to markets throughout the state, in eliminating duplicative and expensive licensing and in establishing a statewide policy on the required competence of electricians, and therefore the licensing ordinance of a home-rule city could not supersede state law. Century Elec. Serv. & Repair, Inc. v. Stone, 193 Colo. 181 , 564 P.2d 953 (1977).   Master's duty to direct and control work done under his license. Although subsection (10) does not provide literally for vicarious liability of a master electrician, there exists a relationship between a master and an electrician working under the master's license which imposes upon the master the duty to direct and control the work done under his license. Stocker v. Stitt, 643 P.2d 793 (Colo. App. 1982).