Your electrical license represents years of hard work and investment, but it can be stripped away faster than you built it. One complaint, one allegation, one regulatory action can destroy your career and financial security.
When the North Dakota State Electrical Board (NDSEB or “the Board”) comes after you, the stakes are high. Your license, your business, your reputation, and your family's future are all on the line. You need immediate representation from attorneys who know exactly how these cases work.
The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team has defended electricians across North Dakota against licensing board actions. We know the system and we know how this process works. While other firms dabble in license defense, this is what we do—exclusively.
Don't face the licensing board alone. Call 888-535-3686 now or contact us via our website. Protect the career you worked hard to build.
The Authority of the North Dakota State Electrical Board (NDSEB)
To become an electrician in North Dakota, you must go through the NDSEB. This Board is responsible for:
- Approving, denying, or renewing licenses
- Approving apprentice applications, journeyman licenses, and master licenses
- Administering required journeyman and master exams
- Investigating reports of misconduct or rule violations by licensed electricians
- Managing electrical inspectors throughout the state
- Take civil action against licensees or individuals who have violated laws concerning electrical installations
- Organizing continuing education opportunities for licensed electricians
The Board also maintains a database of all licensed apprentice, journeyman, and master electricians in North Dakota, with the license numbers. Clients can therefore find you and see your license status easily.
It's crucial to remember that the NDSEB isn't your partner or collaborator. It's a regulatory board that won't hesitate to suspend or revoke your license if it finds reason to do so. It has broad discretionary power to interpret what constitutes misconduct, along with resources allowing it to conduct investigations, initiate hearings, and hire legal representation in disputes with licensees.
Staying compliant requires more than just doing good electrical work. You must maintain continuing education requirements, respond promptly to any Board communications, and ensure all paperwork is filed correctly and on time. Even administrative oversights can trigger disciplinary action.
Violations that Lead to Disciplinary Action
As a licensed electrician in North Dakota, you must follow state laws that regulate the electrician profession. These laws apply to apprentices, as well as both journeyman and master electricians. You can have your license denied, suspended, or revoked, or face other penalties like administrative fees, if the Board finds you responsible for any of the following:
- Failing or refusing to maintain minimum standards for electrical work, set out by the National Electrical Code and the NDSEB Laws, Rules, and Wiring Standards
- Any action or reason that would have resulted in a license rejection if the NDSEB had known about it at the time of application
- Gross negligence, incompetency, or misconduct in the practice of the profession
- Misstatement, misrepresentation, or fraud in obtaining the license
- Failing to correct or refusing to correct a non-compliant installation after due notice
- Failing or refusing to make a deposit or acquire public liability insurance when acting as a contractor
- Failing to pay a financial obligation to the NDSEB
- Failing to complete continuing education requirements when applying for license renewal
- Supervising more than three apprentices at once, or failing to maintain constant, direct supervision over an apprentice
- Failing to ensure that all individuals who are or will be performing electrical or power limited work for you have the proper licenses, if you're a contractor
North Dakota's licensing laws are deliberately vague. Terms like "incompetency" and "misconduct” are left undefined, giving the NDSEB virtually unlimited discretion to destroy your career. What seems like acceptable practice today can become grounds for discipline tomorrow, depending on who's sitting on the board and what agenda they're pushing.
The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team has dissected and analyzed North Dakota's electrical licensing regulations and Board procedures. We know exactly when the NDSEB oversteps its bounds, and we know how to stop it. While you've been focused on your career or running your business, we've been studying every statute, every precedent, and every board decision that could impact your case.
When licensing boards like the NDSEB try to expand their power beyond what the law allows, we shut them down. Your electrical license is your livelihood. Don't let bureaucrats with unclear authority take it away.
What Can Happen if You're Guilty
If, after an investigation, the Board finds you responsible for a rule violation, it can take disciplinary action. Examples include:
- Refusal to renew license
- Requirement to re-take the journeyman or master electrician exam
- License suspension
- License revocation
- Administrative fees
A license suspension in North Dakota isn't just a temporary inconvenience; it's financial devastation. The moment your license is suspended, your income stops. Every contract you've signed becomes worthless. Every client relationship you've built is at risk. If you run your own operation, you're looking at a complete business shutdown.
The financial hit is immediate and brutal. But the reputation damage lasts years. Clients start questioning whether you're reliable. Bonding becomes more expensive if you can get it at all. Even after reinstatement, you'll spend years rebuilding trust and proving you're back to stay. Some clients will never return. Some opportunities will be permanently closed to you.
The Lento Law Firm prevents these disasters before they happen. We've kept North Dakota electricians working while fighting their cases. We know exactly how to challenge improper Board actions, negotiate favorable settlements, and minimize disruption to your business operations.
The Disciplinary Process for Accused Electricians in North Dakota
Any violation of the rules for licensed electricians gives the NDSEB the authority to start administrative or civil court proceedings. The Board has a few options when it comes to disciplinary action.
- Cease and desist order: The Board can issue a cease and desist order based on reports received by inspectors, investigation reports, affidavits, witness complaints, or oral testimony given at a board meeting. This order would require the person to stop all work concerning electrical installations immediately.
- Injunction: If someone is doing electrical work without the correct license, the Board can apply to the county for a temporary or permanent injunction. If the court finds that a violation occurred, it can assess the costs for the attorney's fees, court proceedings, and investigation against the defendants.
- Administrative hearing: The Board can ask for a hearing under North Dakota's administrative laws. This process involves filing a complaint, gathering evidence, attending the hearing, and getting a ruling.
In most situations where an electrician is accused of serious misconduct, the Board will resort to the third option, the administrative hearing. Here's a more detailed look at this process.
Complaint
The Board must serve you with a complaint at least 45 days before the hearing takes place. The complaint also has to include a statement with the charges against you and a reference to the statute or rule you've supposedly broken. It should also state what sanction the Board is seeking.
Once the complaint is served, the hearing time and place is set. You must receive notice about the hearing at least 20 days in advance, but if you and the Board agree, you can have it sooner. However, you must wait at least 10 days after the hearing notice if the matter involves the renewal, suspension, or revocation of your license.
You'll also have to reply to the complaint from the NDSEB. The Board must give you between 5-20 days to send your response.
Hearing
Before the hearing begins, there may be a process called discovery. It allows both sides to exchange information, issue subpoenas to call witnesses to the hearing, and issue any protective orders if needed. It's like pre-hearing research that helps both parties prepare and allows you to contact witnesses so they can testify for you.
At the hearing, your attorney will have the opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. Hearings don't have to be in-person, either. They can take place by phone, as long as the participants can at least hear the proceedings. The Board is responsible for creating a record of the hearing.
The officer at the hearing can be anyone, as long as they didn't serve as an investigator, prosecutor, or advocate prior to the hearing.
Ruling
If the hearing officer is the head of the NBSEB or someone they've authorized to preside, the order they issue at the end of the hearing is the final order. They must send notification of this order within 30 days of the hearing.
If the hearing officer wasn't the NBSEB head or someone they've authorized, then there is a recommended finding of fact instead of a final order. Unless the head of the Board changes these recommendations within 60 days, they become a final order. While the NDSEB head is deliberating, you can send a petition to review the recommended order as well.
Reconsideration
If you don't agree with the final order of the hearing, you can file a petition for reconsideration with the Board. The NDSEB could grant or deny this petition. If it's granted, there's a rehearing and then a maximum 30-day wait period for the agency's decision. If the agency doesn't respond to the petition at all within 30 days, it's considered denied.
The administrative hearing process in North Dakota is complex, and without the proper legal knowledge, you may quickly find yourself overwhelmed. Our Professional License Defense Team can navigate it for you, counseling you on the best course of action and ensuring you understand every step.
Why You Need a Professional License Defense Attorney
A complaint against your North Dakota electrician license puts your entire career in immediate jeopardy. The NDSEB doesn't care if you're innocent; they care about maintaining public safety. Their process is generally against you from the start, designed to protect the public, not your livelihood. Even baseless allegations can result in devastating penalties if you don't respond correctly.
The Board will investigate you, prosecute you, and judge you. You need someone fighting exclusively for your interests.
The Lento Law Firm doesn't wait for the board to tell us what happened. We conduct our own investigation, gather our own evidence, and build our own case. While the board looks for reasons to discipline you, we find the facts that clear you.
- We control the narrative. Instead of letting you stumble through board communications, we handle all contact directly. We know which board members respond to which arguments. We know when to negotiate and when to fight.
- We take charge in hearings. Board members expect scared electricians to show up alone and apologize. When you walk in with legal representation, the Board takes you more seriously.
- We don't stop with the NDSEB. If they overstep their authority, we take them to court. We've sued licensing boards across when they've exceeded their legal power.
Every day you wait to defend your license gives the board more time to build their case against you. With our help, you can take a proactive stance on the situation and be prepared to face the Board and protect your career.
Defend Your License with the Lento Law Firm's Help
Our team can help licensed professionals throughout the state of North Dakota, including in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot, and West Fargo. We can build a strong case to defend your license and help you deal with the NDSEB. You shouldn't have to forfeit your career or your business for one error or misunderstanding.
Don't put your future at risk by waiting to see how it'll work out. If you do nothing, you leave the board the option to take whatever action they want against you. With a defense, you can at least try to clear your name.
Call 888-535-3686 or fill out our online form to speak to our Professional License Defense Team about protecting your license.
