Service Tech Licensing

Bulletin for the Texas Pool and Spa Industry Education, Testing and Licensing for Electrical Service on Pools & Spas       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ APEC News Electrical Licensing Update Part 1 March, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   in this issue Why do I need this license?- What do I do first? The Test Residential Appliance Installer's CONTRACTOR's License   Texas Pool and Spa Service Businesses-    This an an update on the Texas Residential Appliance Installer's License as it applies to the Swimming Pool and Spa Industry. For a more complete account of the process that we have gone through and the progress that we have made, please go to the APEC website(www.APECTexas.org). The website has previous emails that describe each step of the process as we have gone through them. If you have not read the emails, I strongly suggest that you read the history of this issue. It will help you understand the situation we are in and why the license is set up this way. Look to the right hand side of the website. Why do I need this license?- Residential Appliance Installer's License    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you: 1) work on existing Pools and Spas. 2)  connect wires to pool or spa equipment(other than plugging in a plug). 3) are not a master electrician, Journeyman electrician working under a Master. or an Apprentice electrician working under a master. Then you need this license to do electrical service and maintenance on Pools and Spas.   There is an exemption for warranty work providing that you are replacing identical equipment and that you are certified by the manufacturer. For more information, please go to the www.APECTexas.org website and refer to past emails. Or go to the FAQ on the TDLR website http://www.license.state.tx.us/ .   Residential Appliance Installer Contractor's License If you invoice for electrical work performed on pools and spas- then you will also need a Residential Appliance Installer Contractor's License. This license does dot require a test- however, someone who is licensed must apply their Residential Appliance Installer's License number to the Contractor's License for it to be issued.   For example- #1 If you are a one person company that does pump repairs, etc. you must have a Residential Installer's License AND a Residential Appliance Installer Contractor's License.     #2 If you work for a Pool and spa service company, you will need a Residential Appliance Installer's License. You will not need a Contractor's License- But the company that invoices the customer Must have a  Contractor's License.   #3 If you are a Pool and Spa Service Company owner. If you invoice for electrical work, then you will have to have a contractor's license- and your employees that do the work must have Appliance Installer's License- AND- One of your Licensed employees must agree to have their license number applied to your contractor's license. If that employee leaves your company, you must contact TDLR within 30 days with the license number of the replacement employee. You are not suupposed to do electrical work until the change is made with TDLR. As the owner, you can become licensed as a Residential Appliance Installer and use your license number on the Contractor's License.   #4 If you have subcontracted out the electrical work in the past and invoiced your customer for the work- You can no longer invoice for electrical work unless you are an electrical contractor or a General Contractor. If you have a customer that needs a pump replaced-for example- you cannot offerr to do the work. You can offer to have someone that you trust do the work-but that peerson must be a Residential Appliance Installer and they must have a Residential Appliance Instller Contractor's license and They must invoice the customer. They can pay you a referral fee.   For more information on the Residential Appliance Installers Contractor's License see near the bottom of the page-   Where do I find information?   Hopefully, you find information from APEC helpful. Please be sure that you are signed up for automatic emails. You can sign up for these at the www.APECTexas.org website- you can stop the emails at any time.   Most importantly, you need to find information from the TDLR(Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation) website. http://www.license.state.tx.us/   The TDLR website will provide information that you need.    Testing Centers- PSI offers the exam at 24 Test sites around the state. The schedule and test site information is available on their website listed below. http://candidate.psiexams.com/index.jsp http://candidate.psiexams.com/catalog/fti_agency_license_details.jsp?testid=1688   When do I need this License?   ASAP. Unfortunately, if you are familiar with the origination of this issue, you know that we have been attempting to come into compliance with a 2003 regulation. Please apply for your license As soon as possible. A demonstration of good faith and an effort to comply may help you if you are face to face with an inspector from TDLR. If you are found to not be in compliance, then a typical fine starts at $500.00 per incident per day.     What do I do first?  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First- and right away, please apply for the Texas Appliance Installer's License. 1) Print the form- http://www.license.state.tx.us/electricians/applications/Residential%20Appliance%20Installer.pdf   2) Fill it out and mail the form to TDLR with $35.00 for the license application Fee.           It may take a couple of weeks to get the application back with your         information for taking the test.   3) Buy a softbound copy of the 2008 NEC Code Handbook. This book is black with red and white writing on it. See notes on the book below.   4) Study...You may want to take a preparation class. See below...   5) Contact PSIexams to take the Test- you must make an appointment either online or on the phone.   6) Go rested and ready to take the test.     The Test  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The test has changed dramatically over the last few months-according to reports from people that have taken the test. The test will probably not change much more for the next year. The test is openbook- but the requirements are very specific for the book. You can take the test as many times as you want to- but it is $63.00 each time that you take the test.   Please watch for the next email with more details on the test, preparing for the test and taking the test.   The test is a test over the NEC code. It is NOT a test over your knowledge of pool and spa service work or troubleshooting. Every answer on the test is either taken directly from the NEC code book- often almost word for word- or it is a calculation that you need to make based on Ohm's Law and related formulas.   When you send in your application, you will receive a packet from PSI. PSI administers the exam in 24 exam sites around the state. You can see a list of test sites on the PSI website. http://candidate.psiexams.com/catalog/fti_agency_license_details.jsp?testid=1688# Application and packet- http://candidate.psiexams.com/bulletin/display_bulletin.jsp?ro=yes&actionname=83&bulletinid=350&bulletinurl=.pdf   When you go to take the test- Be sure to show up early. They will need to check you in, take your picture, and ask a few questions. They will not allow a cellphone or most anything into the test center. You will not be able to take in extra paper(except the one sheet that they give you), You will only be allowed to use the pencil that they give you. You may bring a basic calculator-but it must not have a memory. It must not be programable. They have a few calculators that you may be able to use. They will look through your book- although it is an openbook test- if you follow their rules- see the book, below.   Ask for the Electrician's packet. They will have a packet of information for tests for electricians. Most of the packet includes building plans, etc. that you do not need. However, the power wheel with Ohm's law is very helpful for the calculations that you may need to do.   What is on the test? The test is 80 questions plus 5 extra questions- for a total of 85 questions. (This is one of the recent changes- it was 80 with 10 extra questions). The extra questions do not count against you for score or time.  As you are taking the test, when you come to a question that is one of the extra questions, then the computer test clock stops. If you notice that you have been on a question for a few minutes and the clock has not changed- it might be good to note that question number on your scratch paper. Some test preparation classes are suggesting that you can go back to that question while you research another question to save the test clock time. Personally, I found that it is too distracting to try to check the clock that often while I am concentrating on finding answers. Please use the strategy that works best for you.   RESIDENTIAL APPLIANCE INSTALLER Total Questions 80  PassingScore 75  Cost $63 Time Allowed 240 minutes CONTENT OUTLINE Subject Area # of Items Definitions, Calculations, and Theory     12 questions GFCI Protection and Equipment Grounding and Bonding    15 questions  Electrical Wiring Methods and Electrical Materials    10 questions Electrical Equipment and Devices    15 questions Motors      5 questions Electrical Control Devices and Disconnecting Means     5 questions Swimming Pool, Spas and Fountain Equipment    18 questions   The test is a hard test. Please underline and highlight your NEC codebook as you study it.   As you see above, there are only 18 questions specifically about pools and spas. However, many- if not most of the other questions do apply. For example, if you have a question about the proper wire size for a 10kW oven- wouldn't the same information apply to a 10kW spa heater?   Watch for the next email for more specific information about the test.   Residential Appliance Installer Contractors License   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Residential Appliance Installer Contractor's License If you invoice for electrical work performed on pools and spas- then you will also need a Residential Appliance Installer Contractor's License. This license does dot require a test- however, someone who is licensed must apply their Residential Appliance Installer's License number to the Contractor's License for it to be issued.   For example- #1 If you are a one person company that does pump repairs, etc. you must have a Residential Installer's License AND a Residential Appliance Installer Contractor's License.     #2 If you work for a Pool and spa service company, you will need a Residential Appliance Installer's License. You will not need a Contractor's License- But the company that invoices the customer Must have a  Contractor's License.   #3 If you are a Pool and Spa Service Company owner. If you invoice for electrical work, then you will have to have a contractor's license- and your employees that do the work must have Appliance Installer's License- AND- One of your Licensed employees must agree to have their license number applied to your contractor's license. If that employee leaves your company, you must contact TDLR within 30 days with the license number of the replacement employee. You are not suupposed to do electrical work until the change is made with TDLR. As the owner, you can become licensed as a Residential Appliance Installer and use your license number on the Contractor's License.   What is required? 1) Please fill out an application and submit it to TDLR with a check for $115.00( this amount was lowered within the last couple of months.) http://www.license.state.tx.us/electricians/forms/Appliance%20Installer%20Contractor%20App.pdf The application form has the information required by the contractor. They require $300,000/$600,000 liability insurance, for example. TDLR has said that they want the application, even if you don't have your Residential Appliance installer's License, yet. They suggest that if you get the application in the system, then when you have the "technician's" license number, it will be easier and faster to get the Contractor's License issued.       Quick Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.APECTexas.org     Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ phone: 512-334-6449  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                 Quick Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.APECTexas.org     Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ phone: 512-334-6449  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward email his email was sent to info@miraclepoolservice.com by ktucker@texas.net. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe(tm) | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by APEC | 700 Lavaca Street, Suite # 1400 | Austin | TX | 78701                                              Working in Cooperative Relationship           Randa Nelson P.O. Box 864166 Plano, Texas  75086-4166 Phone:   214 707-2650 E-mail:   ntc.apsp@att.net