Electricians are sticklers for detail, as the slightest mistake or miscalculation can be hazardous for them and the customers they serve. It can be extremely frustrating, then, when a false allegation, or an electrician's own mistake, thrusts them into a high-stakes disciplinary process that jeopardizes their careers.
Your forte is likely replacing faulty wiring and installing circuit breakers, not combating allegations of wrongdoing or dealing with the Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers. Yet, your ability to make a living may be at stake—perhaps indefinitely.
Let the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team lend you our experience and resources. We help professionals avoid discipline and secure favorable agreements when their circumstances call for a deal. We will craft a personalized strategy that reflects your unique situation and desired outcome.
We are not billboard attorneys who handle any and all case types. License defense is what we do. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online to find out how an attorney from our team will conduct the critical defense of your license, career, and reputation.
Electrician Licenses Are Conditional in Hawaii. The Board of Electricians and Plumbers Decides Whether You Get to Keep Yours.
Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 448(E) governs licensing, investigation, and discipline of electricians and plumbers throughout the state. Whether you work as an electrician in Honolulu, Pearl City, Hilo, Waipahu, or elsewhere in the state, these statutes are of imminent concern to you and your career.
This Chapter of the HRS empowers the Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers to oversee licensing issues specific to electricians, including to deny, suspend, and revoke licenses.
As an electrician subject to the rules and decisions of this Board, you must face the fact that:
- The Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers wields its power willingly—a running tally of discipline against licensed professionals, including electricians, shows that Hawaii's licensing boards do take action against electricians
- The Board's decisions may not always be rooted in fairness, as personal disputes, biases, and other factors may play a role in the outcome of a complaint against an electrician
- If you want to avoid career-altering sanctions, you must fight for the outcome you deserve—start by retaining the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team to represent you
It can be difficult to believe that, after years of investment in your career and potentially even years of error-free service, you could be sanctioned for an honest mistake or lapse in judgment, or even totally false or fabricated allegations.
Expect the worst. Under-preparing or underestimating the Board's willingness to sanction even accomplished electricians is the most egregious error you could make. Retain the Lento Law Firm so we can immediately start building a comprehensive, compelling defense on your behalf.
Complaints That Might Lead to Serious Discipline Against an Electrician in Hawaii
The electrical industry should be reserved only for honest, trained, rule-abiding, and skilled professionals—nobody understands better than you. Regulators may take a swift, heavy-handed response to even the slightest inkling of wrongdoing by an electrician, including:
- Working without a valid electrician license or allowing a subordinate to complete electrical work without a license
- Fraud or deception in the acquisition of one's electrician license
- Failing to adhere to the National Electric Code (NEC), industry standards, building codes, or other mandatory guidelines
- Performing work without adequate permitting
- Unethical or fraudulent billing or contractual methods
- Engaging in contractor work without adequate licensure
- Performing electrical work while impaired by alcohol or drugs (including even drugs you are prescribed to take)
- Conviction of a criminal offense that the Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers deems worthy of sanctions
Like anyone, electricians suffer miscommunications, bad days, lapses in judgment, and mistakes. They are not perfect. Electricians can also become victims of unfounded accusations of wrongdoing. The Lento Law Firm helps electricians in any circumstance that may lead to professional sanctions, and we want to help you today.
Actions the Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers Might Take Against Your License
Hawaii regulators require electricians to complete years of training, thousands of hours of experience, and various types of education before they will issue a license. Yet, they may strip you of your ability to practice in a matter of weeks.
If this seems unforgiving and even unfair, you're right. Electricians must brace for the range of disciplinary action the Board can impose, including:
- A formal reprimand
- Probation, which can keep an electrician one wrong move (or misunderstanding) away from severe sanctions
- Mandatory education or retraining
- A fine
- License suspension
- Revocation of your license (which could prove permanent or indefinite)
Our team too often sees electricians and other licensed professionals downplay sanctions from their licensing boards, especially those they consider “minor.” While there are cases in which accepting sanctions makes sense, you should recognize that even a reprimand may adversely affect you and your career.
Here's what we mean. A reprimand, though generally seen as one of the least serious sanctions,is usually part of the public record. If current and prospective employers can see a reprimand, it means that you could be fired, passed over for future jobs or contracts, or both, because of the reprimand—as an electrician, what could be more detrimental than that?
The Reverberations of License Sanctions
Since you know that even the least punitive sanction from the Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers can disrupt your career and life in significant ways, let's examine what those ways may be:
- The ceiling on your career may lower substantially: Reputations matter in a field where the quality of work can be a matter of life and death. If your reputation becomes tarnished by any type of sanction, you may lose professional opportunities and see your career trajectory wane.
- Financial pressure may do what financial pressure does: If lost professional opportunities hurt your earning power, financial pressure may follow. Hawaiians perennially rank among the most debt-saddled populations in the United States, and most have little room for income drop-off.
- Your well-being may suffer: As an electrician's career takes a sanction-related hit and their financial stability starts to teeter, how could they not suffer psychologically?
- Your loved ones may be affected: Many electricians work hard not just to support themselves, but to support their loved ones too. For this reason, sanctions against electricians can take a toll on multiple people.
We share these possibilities not as a scare tactic. The Lento Law Firm sees how professional sanctions reverberate through professionals' personal lives, and we don't want to see you suffer the fallout. Being aware of these potential challenges should motivate you to take your license defense seriously, and to hire us as your advocates.
No matter your accomplishments or how stellar your personal and professional records are, the Board might not hesitate to hit you with devastating sanctions. Let us protect you.
The Disciplinary Process for Electricians in Hawaii
Hawaii takes a fairly uniform approach when licensed professionals are accused of wrongdoing. Regardless of your unique circumstances, the Board's procedures will reflect the general disciplinary procedures for licensed professionals in Hawaii, which are:
Vetting of the Complaint Against the Electrician
A complaint might reach the Board of Electricians and Plumbers in a few ways, including through:
- A complaint from the public
- A complaint from an employer
- A self-report from the electrician
- Notice from a court or regulatory body
Once the Board receives a complaint, it should vet that complaint and dismiss any frivolous or meritless claims.
A Formal Investigation of the Complaint
If the Board believes the complaint falls within its jurisdiction and is worthy of further investigation, it will then assign an investigator. That investigator will likely:
- Interview the party that filed the complaint
- Interview you (as the respondent to the complaint)
- Secure and evaluate all relevant records
- Consult any experts whose insights could help the investigator reach a conclusion
Each investigator has their own process, but you can be fairly certain the investigator will at least speak with you and the complainant. Having the Lento Law Firm guide you through the investigative process could spare you from making one or more costly mistakes.
Review of the Investigator's Findings
You may have the opportunity to review the investigator's findings before they formally submit their report. This is your chance to, as they say, “correct the record,” and we maximize this opportunity for the electricians we represent.
Consent Agreement (If All Parties Agree to a Deal)
Some electricians choose to accept responsibility for alleged wrongdoing, and in doing so, accept certain sanctions from the Board of Electricians and Plumbers. While we are prepared to fight as far as you need us to, an electrician might consider negotiating a deal because:
- They made a mistake they are willing to accept responsibility for
- They feel evidence against them looks bad, and could be perceived at a hearing as proof of their wrongdoing
- They cannot tolerate the risk of potentially harsher sanctions following a hearing
Each electrician has their own goal for their defense, unique tolerance of the disciplinary process, and different perceptions of the facts and evidence. We will advise you honestly, remain willing to fight for you, and ultimately honor your wishes regarding a potential Consent Agreement.
A Hearing
Electricians who choose to fight allegations of wrongdoing, or do not receive settlement terms they can accept, often end up in a hearing. The Lento Law Firm Team:
- Has led many hearings in defense of many licensed professionals
- Prepares thoroughly so we can present the facts, evidence, and arguments as compellingly and succinctly as possible
- Will prepare you for your participation in the hearing process (which may be minimal but critical)
- Uses a variety of strategies and tactics to convince hearing boards that our client deserves a finding of non-responsibility, leniency, or some other target outcome
We also plan for all possible outcomes of a hearing, so we are never caught off guard.
A Decision
The Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers will eventually issue its decision. We hope that decision favors you, but we will be prepared to act quickly if it does not.
An Appeal (When Necessary)
We often avoid appeals by securing dismissals and favorable Consent Agreements for our clients. Hawaii's professional disciplinary proceedings are imperfect, though, and we must sometimes appeal on our clients' behalf. We do so urgently and to the letter of the appeal processes' guidelines.
Some cases involve unique measures and challenges, such as emergency disciplinary action. We will help with any such uncommon aspects of your case.
Hawaii's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) oversees the actions of the Board of Electricians and Plumbers. We will deal directly with DCCA representatives if and when doing so is in your best interests, possibly including if the Board of Electricians and Plumbers handles your case in bad faith.
How the Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Fuses Our Experience with Each Client's Unique Circumstances
We would not offer our representation to electricians if we did not have the utmost confidence in our professional license defense services in Hawaii. When you work with the Lento Law Firm, you get an attorney and support staff that:
- Understands electricians' professional realities and challenges: You are in a highly technical yet nuanced field rife with hazards, complex deadlines, and other trade-specific considerations. We have the baseline knowledge to lead your defense capably, and we willingly rely on industry experts when necessary.
- Has dealt with many professional licensing bodies (and their disciplinary processes): Our attorneys have navigated disciplinary gauntlets of all kinds. Nothing catches us flat-footed, and we prepare knowing how different each disciplinary body can be.
- Mind the smallest details: Every detail matters when resolving professional disciplinary disputes. We don't make mistakes, miss deadlines, or fail to prepare for the littlest thing that could be material to our defense efforts.
- Knows what's at stake, and acts accordingly: Defending an electrician's license is about more than “defending the license.” Livelihoods, reputations, and the roofs over loved ones' heads are often at stake in cases like yours. Our urgency and professionalism reflect the high stakes that our clients face.
Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online. Let's talk more about how we can help you. We practice with pono that Hawaiians appreciate.
