In the years since the invention of the incandescent lightbulb in 1879, electricity has become a basic necessity for everyday life. Electricians are an important profession throughout the United States, and Kentucky is no exception, especially in bustling metropolitan areas like the Louisville-Jefferson County MSA. That's why you must do everything you can to protect your professional license.
You might be surprised that sanctions can destroy your career as an electrician as quickly as a light switch can turn off a bulb. Luckily, it's never too late to take steps to safeguard your license. Learn how by calling the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or filling out this contact form.
Who Handles Electrician Licenses in Kentucky?
To make and enforce regulations and policies concerning electrical services, the Bluegrass State maintains the Kentucky Department of Professional Licensing and the Electrical Division of the Department of Housing, Buildings, and Construction. Together, they oversee the education, qualification, and discipline of licensed electricians all over Kentucky, dividing them into the following categories.
Journeyman Electrician
As long as they're under the supervision of master electricians or electrical contractors, Kentucky law allows journeyman electricians to provide all kinds of electrical services. You can do general maintenance, installations, repairs, and upgrades for residential, commercial, and industrial electrical systems, machinery, and appliances. Journeyman electricians are sometimes simply called electricians.
To become a journeyman electrician in Kentucky, you must be able to prove that you have any of these sets of qualifications:
- Completion of a four-year apprenticeship program and 576 hours of classroom training.
- Six years of full-time supervised electrician work, verified through written letters furnished by a licensed master electrician or electrical inspector.
- Three years of electrician work and a diploma or associate's degree in electrical technology from a Kentucky community college after 1998.
- A passing score on the journeyman electrician licensing exam.
Master Electrician
Generally, a master electrician is the next step up the vocational ladder for journeymen. They have the expertise necessary to direct and supervise journeymen, in addition to designing, planning, installing, and inspecting electrical systems. Sometimes, they also provide technical support relevant to electrical projects.
On top of all the qualifications required for journeymen, master electricians must provide proof of fulfilling the following requirements:
- Eight years of full-time supervised electrician work, verified through written letters furnished by another master electrician or electrical inspector.
- Six years of full-time electrician work, along with completion of a four-year apprenticeship program and 576 hours of classroom training.
- Five years of electrician work and a diploma or associate's degree in electrical technology from a Kentucky community college after 1998.
- A passing score on the master electrician licensing exam.
Electrical Contractor
The primary difference between a master electrician and an electrical contractor is that the letter can own and run an electrical services business. This includes hiring and managing teams of professional licensees and other employees, as well as obtaining permits and ensuring worker safety. Most electrical contractors are master electricians themselves, but technically, they only need to employ one to legally operate.
The requirements to be an electrical contractor in Kentucky include:
- A passing score on the business and law exam.
- Possessing a Certificate of Liability/Insurance/ACORD.
- Submission of a notarized workers' compensation waiver if you're working independently with no employees.
Electrician License Violations in Kentucky
Every licensed electrician in Kentucky is expected to uphold the state's electrical code of ethics. It encourages a cohesive and universal standard for professionalism, integrity, and quality. You could find yourself under investigation by the Electrical Division for violating the code in any of the following ways.
Not Carrying a License
To assure clients about your legitimacy and credentials, you're required to have your license on your person at every job site. Neglecting to bring it with you is considered punishable in the eyes of the division.
License Misuse
Maybe you do have your license with you, but it's expired, suspended, or revoked. If you try to use it anyway, the division may respond with a heavy hand, often making the sanctions even stricter or more long-lasting than before.
Unauthorized Permit Usage
Electrical projects typically require permits from a county or city building department. Only electrical contractors can legally obtain them, but there are ways to get them illegally. If you're a master or journeyman electrician who got work permits without the contractor's permission or knowledge, the division is likely to sanction you.
Working Without Permits
Just as troublesome as using unauthorized permits is neglecting to get one at all before starting to work. Without the research, code compliance verification, and official acknowledgement that local governments provide in valid permits, an electrical project could go awry and possibly endanger both individuals and communities. The division may punish you harshly for that.
Non-Compliance with Codes
Electricians must be experts in the Kentucky Building Code and the Kentucky Residential Code to guarantee that their work is safe and durable. If you knowingly fail to comply with the codes, the division may sanction you for putting people at risk and/or setting them up for perfectly avoidable electrical problems in the future.
Impersonation
To avoid confusion, facilitate safe, competent, and authorized work, and ensure that both credit and blame go where they're due, you can only present your true self to clients, supervisors, and colleagues. The division expects everyone else under their umbrella to be honest about who they are, too. Pretending to be someone else—or letting an unlicensed person act and work as though they are licensed—is a quick path to severe license sanctions.
Fraud or Deception
Impersonation isn't the only way to deceive or commit fraud. Any dishonest actions related to electrical work are considered an egregious violation of the ethical code. For example, if you make a client believe that there's an electrical problem when there isn't, you would be engaging in fraud or deceit, subjecting yourself to possible sanctions.
Inadequate Supervision
Master electricians and contractors have a responsibility to supervise journeyman electricians and other employees if applicable. This means that the division may hold supervisors accountable for their subordinates' mistakes or illegal activities if subpar training or monitoring had anything to do with them.
Incomplete Work
Clients pay you with the expectation that you will accomplish certain projects in a timely manner. If you take their money but leave your work unfinished, unnecessarily delayed, or missing important parts, you might be considered unreliable, dishonest, or incompetent. The division may impose sanctions on you as a result.
Endangering Others
Electricity is helpful and convenient, but it also has the power to cause terrible damage and harm. Your training should prepare you to perform work that allows everyone to gain all the benefits of electricity without the hazards. To protect your clients and community, you must never knowingly endanger people by allowing existing problems to persist or by producing poor results with your own work. Otherwise, you'll face heavy penalties.
Mental or Physical Disability
Unfortunately, some mental and physical disabilities are known to increase the likelihood that the sufferer will hurt other people. This is especially true when they're handling something as delicate yet dangerous as electricity. Consequently, the division may sanction you for having a clear or documented disability.
Substance Abuse
Drugs and alcohol are designed to alter the brain. Combine that with electricity, which requires mental clarity, focus, coordination, and dexterity to handle safely, and you're risking serious harm to many people, including yourself. If you're so addicted to drugs or alcohol that they affect your work performance, the division may conclude that they have no choice but to discipline you.
License Sanctions in Another State
Perhaps you lived elsewhere before moving to Kentucky and faced disciplinary measures there. The Electrical Division in Kentucky usually recognizes professional license sanctions implemented in other states, so if they find out about yours, they might impose more.
How Does Kentucky Discipline Electrician License Violations?
Understanding the Electrical Division's disciplinary process could help you prepare to combat any case against you. These are the basic steps.
Complaint Review
The division accepts complaints in writing. The first thing they do upon receiving one is to review it and ensure that it's legitimate and credible. If it's not, they'll dismiss it. Otherwise, they'll move forward with the case.
Investigation
The division won't make any decisions about your case until they've conducted a thorough investigation of the complaint. This typically involves interviewing witnesses and victims, evaluating the scene of the complaint (if applicable), and analyzing relevant documents, photographs, videos, and communications. You'll also have a chance to respond to the allegations with your side of the story.
Formal Hearing
Usually, the division makes an initial ruling on your guilt and license sanctions after evaluating the results of the investigation. However, after receiving notice of their decision, you'll have 30 days to refuse their terms and ask for a formal hearing instead. There, the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can advocate for you even more effectively, offering alternative evidence, legal interpretations, and mitigating factors or circumstances that the division should consider.
Adjudication
With the help of the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team, the Electrical Division will either dismiss the case or reduce its sanctions on your license. In the event that disciplinary action is simply unavoidable, you could expect any of the following sanctions.
Written Reprimand or Admonishment
Serving as a record of the division's acknowledgement and disapproval of your violation(s), a written reprimand or admonishment is the lightest punishment you could hope to receive. However, it can still have frustrating consequences. For instance, since reprimands are generally public record, any client or employer who finds out may become less likely to hire you.
Administrative Fines
There are many costs involved in organizing investigations, arranging hearings, and operating the Electrical Division. Your sanction could involve paying administrative fines to cover those costs and then some. Depending on the fine, it could take years to pay off. In the meantime, it could impact your financial stability, prevent you from growing your business, or deter you from enrolling in your top-choice continuing education courses.
Probation
The upside of probation is that you get to keep your electrician license. Unfortunately, it also means that there may be restrictions on what tasks you can perform and when or where you can work. You could have trouble mastering or developing new skills or arranging your life around approved times and places for your jobs.
License Suspension
Maybe the division will let you keep your professional license, but only after you're barred from using it for a while. With a suspension, you would have to find an alternative means of supporting yourself until a certain amount of time has passed and/or you've met specific requirements showing the board that you're ready to work ethically again. It's nice to have your full license back after this ordeal, but in the meantime, you could suffer financially, fall out of practice, and/or develop a glaring gap in your employment history.
License Revocation
In the worst-case scenario, the division may revoke your license altogether. In other words, you wouldn't be allowed to use it ever again. You can try to convince the division to reinstate your license starting roughly a year after the revocation, but you'll be subject to more stringent requirements and/or higher fees. Until then, the gap in your resume could put many jobs out of your reach, and you'd likely struggle financially while trying to work outside your field of expertise.
How Can the Lento Law Firm Help You?
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by trying to advocate for yourself when the odds are against you. How can you stand up to the evidence suggesting your guilt, or to the division's propensity to protect itself by assigning disproportionately harsh penalties?
The answer is that you partner with the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team. With a deep and intricate understanding of electrician license laws and regulations in Kentucky, they're happy to craft a personalized defense strategy that wins over the division and salvages your future. Trust in their experience and the national renown they've spent years earning.
Keep Bringing Electricity to Kentucky
A rewarding and successful career as an electrician will always be available to you in Kentucky if you're willing to fight for your license. Just remember that you don't have to do it alone. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is on your side. To schedule a consultation, call them today at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form.
