NABCEP Call for comments [RE-wrenches]

Fri Oct 25 01:02:17 PDT 2002

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Will,

Thanks for the research.  Those may turn out to be valuable 
directions to pursue.

For me the question is will they accept (and how to present) the following:

* predominantly self-employed businesses installing 
PV/Wind/Microhydro for homesteaders and residences in 3 states and a 
several foreign countries spread over 18 years (about 45-50 systems 
installed, and 30 or so designed (installed by others).  Perhaps 4+ 
years of 40 hr weeks of actual installations and electrical design.

  * 8 months working for another non-licensed PV/Wind/Hydro contractor 
in WA doing design and installation,

  * 9 months working under a licensed electrician as residential 
apprentice here in CA.

  * 1 year wiring residences for owner-builders  in 3 states - unlicensed.

  * 5 years building high quality electric car conversions (perhaps 1+ 
year of 40 hr weeks)

  * 5 years doing village sized power systems here and abroad (perhaps 
2  years of 40 hr weeks)

Many of those systems will be hard to document now.  Oh yea I also 
got a 1 year certificate in solar engineering in '78 from Evergreen 
State in Olympia, WA.  Not to mention several training courses and 
such (and teaching).

So it's not exactly your straight and narrow path to being an 
electrician.   But I'll give it a go. If I run into them saying my 
experience (or more like documentation of) doesn't match their 
criteria, then I'll really wish there was another way to have my 
experienced recognized in the industry!

And I'm glad you have such strong feelings - especially about shoddy 
system installations!

Cheers,

Jeff C.

>Jeff W. and others:
>
>First of all, thanks for the spirited discussion on the subject.
>
>Secondly, I am totally ignorant on licensing law in other states, so my
>apologies if I have drawn incorrect conclusions about the status in other
>states.
>
>Just as we have all seen shoddy work by contractors, there can be good work
>done by unlicensed contractors.  This may all be mute   for Jeff Wolfe as I
>understand licensing or permitting may not be required in some of the
>jurisdictions in which you work.
>
>Also, one does not have to pull romex for 4 years to get a ticket.  One can
>perform solar electric work for 4 years if one can find the position.  Or
>industrial and commercial, for that mater.
>
>I did research CA contractors law for the few minutes I could spare this
>evening.  There is a provision for a company to hire a person with a
>license to act as a "responsible managing individual."  You could hire
>someone with a license and your company is considered licensed.
>
>A possible extension of this is after four years, you could count the time
>working with the responsible managing individual and sit for the test.  The
>responsible managing individual would need to sign your work declarations,
>so you would want to make this a provision of employment.  This last is
>conjecture on my part, but worth looking into.
>
>It is also possible that you could count work done with licensed
>electricians contracted by you towards work experience.  Check this out.
>Also, some states have amnesty periods where work done without a license,
>if properly documented, could apply towards your ticket.
>
>Lastly, I apologize if I appear rabid on this issue.  My emotions are
>running high in this because just this week I worked on an off grid
>installation that was sh**.  Two local installers have taken advantage of a
>little old lady living in the country.  The system had wires and splices
>hanging in mid air, going through sheet metal without conduit or sleaving,
>you name it.  Then one of the installers helpers came back and did more
>work shoddy behind the bosses back!  These locals took good money from this
>woman for unsafe work, and that makes me angry.  The client is elderly, on
>a fixed income, miles from a fire station and probably has minimal
>insurance.  A fire is a real possibility here.  This is just one reason why
>I feel so strongly on this issue.
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>William Miller
>
>
>__________________________________________________________________
>William Miller
>Miller Power and Communications
>PO Box 50, Santa Margarita, CA 93453
>Voice :805-438-5600		Fax: 805-438-4607	VMail: 805-546-4875
>email: wrmiller at slonet.org
>http://millerpowerandcomm.com
>License No. C-10-773985
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-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff Clearwater
Ecovillage Design Associates - Whole Systems Design
Community and Village Scale Renewable Energy & Water Systems

Cell: 720-480-8455
Office:  800-440-2523 (PIN-7071)
Fax:  720-528-7813
jeffc at ic.org

Council Member - Ecovillage Network of the Americas - http://www.ecovillage.org
Advisory Board - Living Routes - Ecovillage Education - 
http://www.livingroutes.org
Founder:  Ecovillage Research, Development, and Demonstration Program:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~clrwater/RDD/rdd.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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