As a licensed journeyman or master electrician in Virginia, you have a deep appreciation for how much time and effort it took for you to earn your electrician's license. In addition to hundreds of hours of both classroom and on-the-job training, you've studied for and passed the test required for you to earn your journeyman electrician's license, and, if you hold a master electrician's license, that test as well. You are also aware of the value that your license has – it opens up opportunities for work that are not available if you don't have the required license, and job openings for electricians are projected to increase at more than two-and-a-half times the annual rate through 2033.
This is what makes it so important to pay close attention if someone has filed a complaint against you with Virginia's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. When that happens, the Board for Contractors will review the complaint and may open an investigation into the matter. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help you understand what's happening and will be there to protect your rights and defend you from day one. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or fill out our contact form, and we'll schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your situation and let you know how we can help.
Electrician Licenses in Virginia
As noted above, Virginia's Board for Contractors is responsible for licensing and regulating electricians in the commonwealth. It issues two types of electrician licenses: Journeyman and Master. Each has its own requirements and tests.
To be eligible for a journeyman electrician's license, candidates must have at least four years of practical experience and 240 hours of formal vocational training. They can also have up to seven years of practical experience with lesser amounts of formal training depending on how many years of experience they have. Alternatively, candidates can have an associate degree from a two-year community college or technical school plus two years of practical experience; a bachelor's degree from an accredited college in an “engineering curriculum related to the trade” and one year of practical experience; or ten years of verified practical experience.
To be eligible for a master electrician's license, candidates must have at least one year of experience as a licensed journeyman electrician or ten years of verified practical experience.
Assuming a candidate has the qualifications, they must then pass an examination. There are separate examinations for the journeyman electrician license and for the master electrician license. The journeyman electrician license exam consists of 70 questions, at least 49 of which must be answered correctly to receive a passing grade. The master electrician license exam has 90 questions. At least 63 of them must be answered correctly to pass.
Once licensed, both journeyman and master electricians must complete three hours of continuing education and renew their licenses every three years.
The Board for Contractors
The Board for Contractors operates under Virginia's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. It is the Board for Contractors that issues licenses for journeyman and master electricians, approves continuing education courses, and is responsible for reviewing complaints and disciplining licensees when it finds that misconduct has occurred.
Electricians fall under the Board's authority to license what it refers to as “Tradesmen.” In addition to electricians, the Tradesman category includes licenses for plumbing, HVAC, and Gas Fitting. The Board also licenses other professions, such as Elevator Mechanics, “Certified Accessibility Mechanics,” Backflow Prevention Device workers, Water Well System Providers, and Automatic Fire Sprinkler Inspectors.
The Board also licenses and regulates electrical contractors, and requires an electrical contractor licensee to have and to designate an employee (who may be the owner) who holds a master electrician's license.
Discipline by the Board for Contractors
The Board for Contractors can discipline licensed electricians for a number of different things. These include:
- Committing any fraud in connection with applying for an electrician's license
- Cheating on the licensing exam
- Failing to report when another state has suspended the electrician's license in that state
- Being convicted of a building code violation
- Negligent or incompetent electrical work
- Failing to complete work that the electrician was contracted to perform
- Making misrepresentations or false promises that are “likely to influence, persuade, or induce”
- Allowing an unlicensed contractor to use their license, or helping an unlicensed contractor violate Virginia's licensing requirements
- Bribing or offering to bribe a federal, state, or local governmental employee in an effort to get them to circumvent their job or any law, regulation, or ordinance related to construction
- A conviction of any felony or misdemeanor involving “lying, cheating, or stealing, sexual offense, non-marijuana drug distribution, physical injury, or relating to the practice of the profession”
- Being disciplined by any governing body for work related to their trade
- Failing to comply with Virginia's state building code
- Doing work that requires a license that the electrician does not hold
When the Board receives a complaint against a licensed electrician, its Complaint Analysis & Resolution section will review the complaint to determine whether it accuses the electrician of violating laws or regulations that the Board has the power to discipline for. If it does, the Board may attempt to resolve the matter informally, or it may investigate the matter further.
In some cases, especially where a complaint has been filed by a dissatisfied customer, the Board may offer to conduct Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to see whether it is possible for the complainant and the electrician to reach a mutually-agreeable resolution. This can be a very effective way of resolving matters without a disciplinary investigation or hearing. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help in these cases, both by preparing you for the ADR process and by attending the ADR session with you and assisting with the attempt to resolve the matter in an acceptable way.
Cases that aren't resolved through ADR or other informal means may then proceed to the Investigation section. The Board's investigator will work to obtain evidence regarding the complaint. It's likely that you will be interviewed as part of this, and when that's the case, your attorney can prepare you for the interview and be there when it takes place to help make sure you only answer clear questions that you understand. The investigator may interview other witnesses and gather documents and other information that relates to the issues raised in the complaint.
You're generally expected to cooperate with the investigation process. Working with an experienced member of the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team will help make sure you meet that obligation. Your attorney can act as your point of contact with the Board's investigator and can provide timely and effective responses when the investigator asks for information.
The investigator will prepare a Report of Findings that will be forwarded to the Board. The report will outline the facts that the investigator has found to support any probable violation of Board regulations or laws.
The Board's Adjudication section is responsible for reviewing both complaints referred to it by the Complaint Analysis & Review section and by the Investigations section. When it appears that further action against the license holder is warranted, the Adjudication section is likely to conduct an Informal Fact Finding (IFF) conference.
At the IFF conference, the license holder will have a chance to present information to a presiding officer, who will be a trained staff person, a Board member, or a former Board member. A transcript will be prepared of the IFF conference. At the close of the IFF conference, the presiding officer will make a summary of the proceeding and will recommend whether the licensee should be sanctioned and, if so, what sanctions the Board should issue against the license holder.
The IFF conference is your chance to have your case heard. It is the stage at which you should be prepared to defend yourself against the allegations made against you and to present evidence in your defense. Your attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can appear with you and can work to make sure your rights are respected and that you have a full defense to the allegations made against you.
Not every case goes to an IFF conference. It is possible to waive that step and to submit the matter directly to the Board based on the Report of Findings prepared by the Board's investigator. And in other cases – many cases, actually – the Board will offer to resolve the disciplinary matter with a Consent Order before taking the matter to an IFF conference.
The terms of a Consent Order can often be negotiated, and if you are working with an experienced attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, we will use our experience to work to resolve your disciplinary case in a way that has as little impact on your electrician's license as possible. Consent orders can include an agreement to pay a fine, to take one or more remedial education courses, or to be on probation for a certain period of time. They are public and will be available to anyone who searches your record on the DPOR License Lookup database.
If there is an IFF conference, the results of that will be submitted to the Board for its review at its next meeting. At that meeting, you will have a chance to address the Board – but will not be able to introduce new evidence. You (or your attorney) will be limited to arguing why you disagree (or agree) with the IFF conference summary. If you've entered into a consent order, that order will be before the Board, and you'll have a chance to state whether you still agree to its terms. If you no longer agree to it, then your case will be sent back to the Adjudication section for an IFF conference.
The Board can otherwise vote to accept, reject, or modify the IFF summary. If the IFF summary suggests taking disciplinary action against you, the Board will vote on which violations you have committed. It will then consider any prior disciplinary actions against you. Finally, it will vote on any sanctions to impose on you. These can include fines, probation, suspension, or revocation of your license.
If you've agreed to a consent order, the Board will vote on whether to accept the terms of the order, or reject it and send it to the Adjudication section for an IFF conference.
What to Do if a Complaint is Filed Against You With the Board for Contractors
If you are notified that a complaint has been filed against you with the Board for Contractors, you first need to take it seriously. Many license holders make the mistake of ignoring complaint notices, which means that the person filing the complaint and the Board's Investigation section control all of the information that will be considered when the Board decides how to resolve the matter. In other words, you are essentially at the mercy of the person who made the complaint and the person who is investigating to find evidence to support the complaint.
So the first thing you need to do is to take the complaint seriously. One of the best ways to do this is to work with an experienced professional license defense attorney, someone who regularly helps professionals such as electricians defend their licenses in disciplinary proceedings. Your attorney will make sure you respond in a timely fashion to requests for information. They'll prepare you for any interview or testimony you may be asked to give. They can also investigate the allegations against you and look for evidence that can be used to defend you. And they can use their knowledge of your case and their experience helping other licensees to attempt to negotiate a fair resolution of your case with the Board.
The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team Can Help Protect Your Electrician's License in Virginia
You've worked hard to earn your journeyman or master electrician's license. It's an important credential, vital to your ability to make a living and to your future. If you learn that you're being investigated by the Board for Contractors because someone has filed a complaint against you, it's important that you take effective steps to defend yourself.
The best step you can take in this kind of a difficult situation is to be working with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team. We understand the laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that apply to electrician licenses in Virginia. We regularly help licensed tradespeople all over the country, including those in Virginia, to defend their licenses when they've been accused of misconduct. We know how investigations and hearings work. We are here to protect your rights and to fight for your electrician's license so that you can continue to benefit from the work that your license allows you to do.
If you are a licensed electrician in Virginia facing allegations of misconduct, call the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or fill out our online contact form, and we will get back to you to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys. Your electrician's license is important to your livelihood and your future. Let us help you protect it!
