Washington Administrative Code › Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of › Chapter 296-46B - Electrical safety standards, administration, and installation › Part F - ADMINISTRATIVE › Section 296-46B-970 - Continuing education and classroom education requirements

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) DEFINITIONS -
				For purposes of this section.
"Applicant" means the entity submitting an application for
				  review.
"Application" means a submittal made by an applicant seeking
				  instructor or class approval.
"Calendar day" means each day of the week, including weekends
				  and holidays.
"Class" means continuing education or basic trainee
				  class.
"Currently adopted code," for this section means the code
				  adopted in WAC
				  296-46B-010(1)
				  or any more recently published National Electric Code.
"Date of notification" means the date of a request for
				  additional information from the department or the approval/ denial letter sent
				  to the applicant by the department.
"Electrical theory" means basic principles of electricity
				  such as: Magnetism, ohm's law, and circuit properties such as voltage, current,
				  power, resistance, inductance, capacitance, reactance, impedance, etc., in
				  series, parallel, and combination AC and DC circuits.
"Examination" is any examination required by this section.
				  Each examination must be unique and must provide randomized questions, except
				  for classroom training. Each examination question bank must be at least two
				  times larger than the number of questions in any individual examination.
				  Examinations must not direct or point the individual to a correct answer or
				  reference. Individuals must be responsible to determine the correct answer
				  without the assistance of the sponsor. No more than twenty percent of an
				  examination's questions may have a true/false answer. Competency is
				  demonstrated by scoring at least seventy-five percent on the
				  examination.
"Individual" means a master electrician, administrator or
				  electrician seeking credit for continuing education or a trainee seeking credit
				  for basic trainee class for renewal or certification.
"Instructor" means an individual who is authorized to
				  instruct an approved continuing education or basic trainee class.
"Working day" means Monday through Friday, excluding state of
				  Washington holidays.
(2)
				GENERAL.
(a) The department and the
				electrical board have the right to monitor all approved classes without notice
				and at no charge.
If the department or electrical board determines that the
				  class or instructor does not meet or exceed the minimum requirements for
				  approval, course length, or instructor qualifications, the department may
				  revoke the class and/or instructor approval and/or reduce the number of
				  credited hours for the class.
(b) Department-offered classes and the
				instructors used for department classes are automatically approved.
(c) Instructors who meet the minimum
				requirements using subsection (5)(d)(iv) of this section may only instruct
				classes sponsored by the manufacturer(s) who verified the instructors'
				qualifications.
(d) An individual
				will not be given credit for the same approved continuing education class taken
				more than once. A course sponsor may not submit an individual's name on a
				ros-ter(s) for multiple classes (i.e., multiple class numbers) when the classes
				are given simultaneously (e.g., code update, industry related, and/or basic
				trainee class that have similar class content given during the same class
				session). Credit will not be granted for a class that is not approved per this
				section.
(e) Electrical
				administrators, master electricians, and electricians:
(i) To be eligible for renewal of an
				administrator certificate, master electrician or electrician certificate of
				competency, the individual must have completed at least eight hours of approved
				continuing education for each year of the prior certification period. The
				individual is not required to take the classes in separate years.
(A) At least eight hours of the total
				required continuing education must be on the changes in the currently adopted
				code.
(B) Four hours of the
				required continuing education must be on the currently adopted chapter 19.28
				RCW and/or its related WAC.
(ii) An individual changing an electrical
				administrator and an electrician certificate of competency into a master
				electrician's certificate of competency as allowed in
				RCW
				19.28.191(1)(a) or (b) must
				have completed at least eight hours of approved continuing education for each
				year of the electrician's prior certificate period. The individual is not
				required to take the classes in separate years.
(A) At least eight hours of the total
				required continuing education must be on the changes in the currently adopted
				code.
(B) Four hours of the
				required continuing education must be on the currently adopted chapter 19.28
				RCW and/or its related WAC.
(iii) Any portion of a year of a prior
				administrator or electrician certificate period is equal to one year for the
				purposes of the required continuing education.
(iv) An individual who has both an
				electrician certificate and an administrator certification may use the same
				class to fulfill the requirements for continuing education.
(f) Training certificates: To be eligible for
				renewal of a training certificate, the individual must have completed:
(i) At least forty-eight hours of approved
				basic trainee classes. The individual cannot use a basic trainee class as
				credit for the continuing education requirements for renewing an electrician or
				administrator certificate(s) when the class is also used to satisfy the
				training certificate renewal requirements; or
(ii) Equivalent electrical training classes
				taken as a part of an approved:
* Apprenticeship program under chapter 49.04 RCW; or
* Electrical training program under
				  RCW
				  19.28.191(1)(h).
Equivalent classes must be submitted to and approved by the
				  chief electrical inspector thirty calendar days prior to offering the
				  class.
(g) A
				continuing or basic trainee class attended or completed by an individual before
				the class's effective date cannot be used to meet the certificate
				renewal/certification requirements.