Minnesota Session Laws - 1986, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1986 

                        CHAPTER 373-S.F.No. 1642 
           An act relating to commerce; regulating electricians; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1984, sections 326.01, by 
          adding a subdivision; 326.245; 326.248; Minnesota 
          Statutes 1985 Supplement, sections 326.01, subdivision 
          5; 326.242, subdivisions 1, 2, 6, and 12; 326.2421, 
          subdivision 3; 326.244, subdivisions 2 and 5; and 
          326.246. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.01, subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR.] The term "electrical 
contractor" means a person, firm, or corporation operating a 
business that undertakes or offers to undertake for another to 
plan for, lay out, supervise, or install or to make additions, 
alterations, or repairs in the installation of wiring, apparatus 
or equipment for electric light, heat, or power with or without 
compensation and who is licensed as such by the state board of 
electricity.  An electrical contractor's license does not of 
itself qualify its holder to perform the electrical work 
authorized by holding any class of electrician's license. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 326.01, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 6e.  [OWNER.] An owner is a natural person who 
physically performs electrical work on premises the person owns 
and actually occupies as a residence or owns and will occupy as 
a residence upon completion of construction. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.242, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [MASTER ELECTRICIAN.] Except as otherwise 
provided by law, no person shall, for another plan, install, 
repair, lay out, or supervise the installation of wiring, 
apparatus, or equipment for electrical light, heat, power, or 
other purposes unless he the person is:  (a) licensed by the 
board as a master electrician and (b)(i) the work is for a 
licensed electrical contractor and the person is an employee, 
partner, or officer of, or is the licensed electrical 
contractor, or (ii) the work is performed for the person's 
employer on electrical equipment, apparatus, or facilities owned 
or leased by the employer which is located within the limits of 
property which is owned or leased and operated and maintained by 
the employer.  
    (1) An applicant for a Class A master electrician's license 
shall (a) be a graduate of a four-year electrical course in an 
accredited college or university; or (b) shall have had at least 
one year's experience, acceptable to the board, as a licensed 
journeyman; or (c) shall have had at least five years' 
experience, acceptable to the board, in planning for, laying 
out, supervising and installing wiring, apparatus, or equipment 
for electrical light, heat and power.  
    (2) As of August 1, 1985, no new Class B master 
electrician's licenses shall be issued.  An individual who has a 
Class B master electrician's license as of August 1, 1985 may 
retain the license and exercise the privileges it grants, which 
include electrical work limited to single phase systems, not 
over 200 amperes in capacity, on farmsteads or single-family 
dwellings located in towns or municipalities with fewer than 
2,500 inhabitants. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.242, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN.] Except as otherwise 
provided by law, no person shall, for another, wire for, 
install, or repair electrical wiring, apparatus, or equipment, 
unless he is licensed by the board as a journeyman electrician 
employed by a licensed electrical contractor. 
    (1) An applicant for a Class A journeyman electrician's 
license shall have had at least four years of experience, 
acceptable to the board, in wiring for, installing, and 
repairing electrical wiring, apparatus, or equipment, provided 
however, that the board may by rule or regulation provide for 
the allowance of one year of experience credit for successful 
completion of a two-year post high school electrical course 
approved by the board. 
    (2) As of August 1, 1985, no new Class B journeyman 
electrician's licenses shall be issued.  An individual who holds 
a Class B journeyman electrician's license as of August 1, 1985 
may retain the license and exercise the privileges it grants, 
which include electrical work limited to single phase systems, 
not over 200 amperes in capacity, on farmsteads or on 
single-family dwellings located in towns or municipalities with 
fewer than 2,500 inhabitants. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.242, subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 6.  [CONTRACTORS.] Except as otherwise provided by 
law, no person other than an employee of a licensed electrical 
contractor as defined by section 326.01, subdivision 5, shall 
undertake or offer to undertake for another to plan for, lay 
out, supervise or install or to make additions, alterations, or 
repairs in the installation of wiring apparatus and equipment 
for electrical light, heat, or power with or without 
compensation unless he shall obtain an electrical contractor's 
license.  Such license shall be issued by the board upon the 
contractor's giving bond to the state in the penal sum of $5,000 
conditioned upon the faithful and lawful performance of all work 
entered upon by him within the state of Minnesota and such bond 
shall be for the benefit of persons injured or suffering 
financial loss by reason of failure of such performance.  The 
bond shall be filed with the board and shall be in lieu of all 
other license bonds to any political subdivision.  Such bond 
shall be written by a corporate surety licensed to do business 
in the state of Minnesota.  
    Each licensed electrical contractor shall have and maintain 
in effect general liability insurance, which includes premises 
and operations insurance and products and completed operations 
insurance, with limits of at least $100,000 per occurrence, 
$300,000 aggregate limit for bodily injury, and property damage 
insurance with limits of at least $25,000 or a policy with a 
single limit for bodily injury and property damage of $300,000 
per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate limits.  Such insurance 
shall be written by an insurer licensed to do business in the 
state of Minnesota and each licensed electrical contractor shall 
maintain on file with the board a certificate evidencing such 
insurance which provides that such insurance shall not be 
canceled without the insurer first giving 15 days written notice 
to the board of such cancellation.  
     No contractor shall engage in business unless he is or has 
in his employ a licensed Class A master or Class B master 
electrician, who shall be responsible for the performance of all 
electrical work in accordance with the requirements of this Act, 
and the classes of work for which the licensed electrical 
contractor is authorized shall be limited to those for which 
such Class A master, or Class B master employed by him is 
licensed.  When an electrical contractor's license is held by an 
individual, partnership, or corporation and the individual, one 
of the partners, or an officer of the corporation, respectively, 
is not the responsible master electrician of record, all 
requests for inspection shall be signed by the responsible 
master electrician of record.  The application for an electrical 
contractor's license must include a verified statement that the 
designated responsible master electrician is a full-time 
employee of the individual, partnership, or corporation which is 
applying for an electrical contractor's license.  For purposes 
of this subdivision, a full-time employee of a licensed 
electrical contractor is an individual who is not employed in 
any capacity as a licensed electrician by any other electrical 
contractor. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.242, subdivision 12, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 12.  [EXEMPTIONS FROM LICENSING.] (a) A maintenance 
electrician who is supervised by a master electrician or an 
electrical engineer registered with the board and who is an 
employee of an employer and is engaged in the maintenance, and 
repair of electrical equipment, apparatus, and facilities owned 
or leased by his employer, and performed within the limits of 
property which is owned or leased and operated and maintained by 
said employer, shall not be required to hold or obtain a license 
under sections 326.241 to 326.248; or 
     (b) Employees of a licensed alarm and communication 
contractor are not required to hold a license under sections 
326.241 to 326.248 while performing work authorized to be 
conducted by an alarm and communication contractor; or 
     (c) Employees of any electric, communications, or railway 
utility, or a telephone company as defined under section 237.01 
or its employees, or of any independent contractor performing 
work on behalf of any such utility or telephone company, shall 
not be required to hold a license under sections 326.241 to 
326.248: 
     1.  While performing work on installations, materials, or 
equipment which are owned or leased, and operated and maintained 
by such utility or telephone company in the exercise of its 
utility or telephone function, and which 
     (i) are used exclusively for the generation, 
transformation, distribution, transmission, or metering of 
electric current, or the operation of railway signals, or the 
transmission of intelligence and do not have as a principal 
function the consumption or use of electric current by or for 
the benefit of any person other than such utility or telephone 
company, and 
     (ii) are generally accessible only to employees of such 
utility or telephone company or persons acting under its control 
or direction, and 
     (iii) are not on the load side of the meter; or 
    2.  While performing work on installations, materials, or 
equipment which are a part of the street lighting operations of 
such utility; or 
    3.  While installing or performing work on outdoor area 
lights which are directly connected to a utility's distribution 
system and located upon the utility's distribution poles, and 
which are generally accessible only to employees of such utility 
or persons acting under its control or direction; or 
    (d) An owner shall not be required to hold or obtain a 
license under sections 326.241 to 326.248. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.2421, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [ALARM AND COMMUNICATION CONTRACTOR'S LICENSES.] 
No person may lay out, install, maintain, or repair alarm and 
communication systems, unless the person is licensed as an alarm 
and communication contractor under this subdivision, or is a 
licensed electrical contractor under section 326.242, 
subdivision 6, or is an employee of the contractor.  The board 
of electricity shall issue an alarm and communication 
contractor's license to any individual, corporation, 
partnership, sole proprietorship, or other business entity that 
provides adequate proof that a bond and insurance in the amounts 
required by section 326.242, subdivision 6, have been obtained 
by the applicant.  The board may initially set license fees 
without rulemaking, pursuant to section 16A.128.  Installation 
of alarm and communication systems are subject to inspection and 
inspection fees as provided in section 326.244, subdivision 1a. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.244, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [PROCEDURE.] (a) At or before commencement of any 
installation required to be inspected by the board, the 
electrical contractor, installer, special electrician, or owner 
making the installation shall submit to the board a request for 
inspection, in a form prescribed by the board, together with the 
fees required for the installation.  For purposes of this 
subdivision, an owner is a person who physically performs all 
the electrical work on premises he or she owns and actually 
occupies as his or her residence or that he or she will own and 
actually occupy as his or her residence upon completion of 
construction. 
    (b) The fees required are a handling fee and an inspection 
fee.  The handling fee shall be set by the board in an amount 
sufficient to pay the cost of printing and handling the form 
requesting an inspection.  The inspection fee shall be set by 
the board in an amount sufficient to pay the actual costs of the 
inspection and the board's costs in administering the 
inspection.  All fees shall be set pursuant to the procedure of 
sections 14.01 to 14.70.  
    (c) All handling fees shall be deposited in the general 
fund.  All inspection fees collected pursuant to this section 
shall be deposited by the board in a special revenue bookkeeping 
account of the treasury and are appropriated to the board for 
the purpose of compensating contract inspectors for inspections 
performed, for transfer to the general fund of the portion of 
the fee representing inspection administration costs, and for 
making refunds.  
     (d) If the inspector finds that the installation is not in 
compliance with accepted standards of construction for safety to 
life and property as required by section 326.243, the inspector 
shall by written order condemn the installation or noncomplying 
portion thereof, or order service to the installation 
disconnected, and shall send a copy of the order to the board.  
If the installation or the noncomplying part will seriously and 
proximately endanger human life and property, the order of the 
inspector, when approved by the inspector's superior, shall 
require immediate condemnation or disconnection.  In all other 
cases, the order of the inspector shall permit a reasonable 
opportunity for the installation to be brought into compliance 
with accepted standards of construction for safety to life and 
property prior to the effective time established for 
condemnation or disconnection. 
      (e) Copies of each condemnation or disconnection order 
shall be served personally or by mail upon the property owner, 
and the electrical contractor, installer, or special electrician 
making the installation, and other persons as the board by rule 
or regulation may direct.  An aggrieved party may appeal any 
condemnation or disconnection order by filing with the board a 
notice of appeal within ten days after (1) service upon the 
aggrieved party of the condemnation or disconnection order, if 
this service is required, or (2) filing of the order with the 
board, whichever is later.  The appeal shall proceed and the 
order of the inspector shall have the effect the order, by its 
terms, and the rules of the board provides.  The board shall 
adopt rules providing procedures for the conduct of appeals, 
including provisions for the stay of enforcement of the order of 
the inspector pending such appeal when justified by the 
circumstances. 
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.244, subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [EXEMPTIONS FROM INSPECTIONS.] Installations, 
materials, or equipment shall not be subject to inspection under 
sections 326.241 to 326.248: 
    1.  When owned or leased, operated and maintained by any 
employer whose maintenance electricians are exempt from 
licensing under sections 326.241 to 326.248, while performing 
electrical maintenance work only as defined by board rule; or 
    2.  When owned or leased, and operated and maintained by 
any electric, communications or railway utility or telephone 
company in the exercise of its utility or telephone function; 
and 
    (i) are used exclusively for the generations, 
transformation, distribution, transmission, or metering of 
electric current, or the operation of railway signals, or the 
transmission of intelligence, and do not have as a principal 
function the consumption or use of electric current by or for 
the benefit of any person other than such utility or telephone 
company; and 
    (ii) are generally accessible only to employees of such 
utility or telephone company or persons acting under its control 
or direction; and 
     (iii) are not on the load side of the meter; or 
    3.  When used in the street lighting operations of an 
electric utility; or 
    4.  When used as outdoor area lights which are owned and 
operated by an electric utility and which are connected directly 
to its distribution system and located upon the utility's 
distribution poles, and which are generally accessible only to 
employees of such utility or persons acting under its control or 
direction; or 
     5.  When the installation, material, and equipment are 
alarm or communication systems laid out, installed, or 
maintained within residential units not larger than a duplex. 
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 326.245, is 
amended to read: 
    326.245 [MANUFACTURING OF ELECTRICAL APPARATUS; EXEMPT.] 
    Electrical components, apparatus or appliances being 
manufactured within the limits of property which is owned or 
leased by a manufacturer and such manufacturer's production 
employees shall not be covered by Laws 1967, Chapter 602 
sections 326.241 to 326.248.  Installation or repair of 
electrical appliance units, exclusive of except (a) electrical 
wiring to the unit, or (b) original wiring in or on the unit 
installed outside the limits of property which is owned or 
leased by a manufacturer shall not be covered by Laws 1967, 
Chapter 602 sections 326.241, 326.242, and 326.244 to 326.248.  
    Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
326.246, is amended to read: 
    326.246 [CRIMES.] 
    It is a misdemeanor knowingly and willfully to commit, or 
to order, instruct, or direct another to commit, any of the 
following acts: 
    (1) to make a false statement in any license application, 
request for inspection, certificate or other lawfully authorized 
or required form or statement provided by sections 326.241 to 
326.248; 
    (2) to perform electrical work for another without a proper 
license for such work unless the work is exempt from licensing; 
    (3) to fail to file a request for inspection when required; 
    (4) to interfere with, or refuse entry to, an inspector 
lawfully engaged in the performance of his duties; and 
    (5) to violate any lawful statute, rule, or order of the 
board, or any city ordinance which pertains to powers given to 
political subdivisions under section 326.244, subdivision 4. 
    Sec. 12.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 326.248, is 
amended to read: 
    326.248 [CITATION.] 
    Laws 1967, Chapter 602 Sections 326.241 to 326.248 shall be 
known as the Minnesota Electrical Act.  
    Sec. 13.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 1 to 12 are effective the day following their 
final enactment. 
    Approved March 19, 1986