# Nationwide Contractors Licensing



## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Perfect. All we need. Feds involved some more.


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## FaultCurrent (May 13, 2014)

If you have a license in Nevada, California, Utah or Arizona you can have reciprocity with those other states. 

Get a license in the other states using the reciprocity agreement.

http://www.cslb.ca.gov/Contractors/Applicants/Reciprocity/General_Reciprocity_Information.aspx


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

A national trade license of any kind would work as splendidly as government healthcare.


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## J F Go (Mar 1, 2014)

MTW said:


> A national trade license of any kind would work as splendidly as government healthcare.


And I could keep my own Dr. too, I bet.:vs_laugh:


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

And having a bunch of localities and states that don't reciprocate is stupid too. No license in your state, fine, have statewide licensing, fine, make it reciprocate with other states. Having to take more testing is useless. Local licensing by town or county is even worse.


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

nrp3 said:


> And having a bunch of localities and states that don't reciprocate is stupid too. No license in your state, fine, have statewide licensing, fine, make it reciprocate with other states. Having to take more testing is useless. Local licensing by town or county is even worse.


I agree... There is an NEC.. What does it stand for?

Local amendments are not so different from one end of the country to the other, should be stuff that is readily accessible online, downloadable PDF stating amendments to the NEC.

But... The issue becomes the state to state differences in laws and regulations as far as business operations go... So maybe the answer is a National Journeyman license and a National Contractors license.

Then you do not need to test on the electrical portion, just have state to state amendments/stamps having to do with the business side of things.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

Ours does pretty well reciprocating with other neighboring states. Hopefully we can get more to. Ours hosted a gathering (NERA) National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance this past year and maybe the list will grow. I don't think there's anyone here that couldn't get used to local NEC amendments. Same with the business requirements.


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## active1 (Dec 29, 2009)

FaultCurrent said:


> If you have a license in Nevada, California, Utah or Arizona you can have reciprocity with those other states.
> 
> Get a license in the other states using the reciprocity agreement.
> 
> http://www.cslb.ca.gov/Contractors/Applicants/Reciprocity/General_Reciprocity_Information.aspx


That's partially incorrect.
Cali may accept the NV C2 EC license.
But the NSCB (NV) dose not accept anything electrical from anywhere else.
With Nevada you start the long expensive process from scratch.

http://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/contractor_license_requirements.html#5
"Nevada has limited reciprocal agreements with the states of Arizona, California, and Utah. This agreement applies to the trade examination only. This act of reciprocity does not include any of the plumbing, electrical, or fire protection trades."

With reciprocity there are different levels and restrictions.
Such as there is a reciprocity of proving experience.
You fill out a form that shows you have an accepted license in another jurisdiction and your done proving experience & qualifications.
But you still need to take the new states tests, background checks, etc..
Most require you to hold the other states license for over 1 year to many years such as 7 to show your experience.
There is also a limit many times that does not reciprocate with a license that was obtained by reciprocity.
Sometimes also will not accept if it was gained by a grandfather clause.

For Nevada besides a state electrical contractor license you also need a county license for Southern NV or a Reno License for Northern NV. All 3 licenses are 3 separate applications, processes, and tests with 0 reciprocity. For fire alarm another application and test with the NV state fire marshal. NV solar you got your OSHA test. Be sure to have your OSHA 10 & 30 for your people. Then don't forget to set up a foreign corporation with the secretary of state. The trouble is all the above costs time & money.

A reminder also that work vehicles driving out of state need to have USDOT numbers on them.

For national reciprocity, wont happen in my lifetime.
The IBEW fights to protect the local from an influx of travelers or migrants taking the work. One method is lobbying for more regulation. An example in NV is at 1 time the fire alarm license reciprocated. Reps from the hall lobbied the fire marshal to change it so everyone must prove training and take a closed book test. IMO the test is rigged to keep out outsiders. They were also the ones that lobbied the state to require solar licenses. A JW can send a lot of money on licenses and time at the JATC keeping up with the licenses and certs.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

J F Go said:


> And I could keep my own Dr. too, I bet.:vs_laugh:


Don't forget your plan!


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Switched said:


> I agree... There is an NEC.. What does it stand for?.


It's a book, written by a non-governmental third party. You, yourself, could write "The National.." blah, blah, blah book and it wouldn't make it so.


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## eddy current (Feb 28, 2009)

MTW said:


> A national trade license of any kind would work as splendidly as government healthcare.


We have both up here. My license is good across the country and I have always had heath care for myself and family. Neither runs perfectly but they do work, it’s not impossible.


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

MDShunk said:


> It's a book, written by a non-governmental third party. You, yourself, could write "The National.." blah, blah, blah book and it wouldn't make it so.


I get that.. a third party heavily influenced....

Nonetheless, is there a state that hasn't adopted the NEC? 

Now, granted not every state is on the same code cycle, but from my understanding (correct me if I am wrong) every state has adopted it.

The different licensing between jurisdictions is nothing more than a money grab and fear.

We all on here post crap left and right, questions about code.... That **** doesn't change hardly between jurisdiction, yet licensing does. That's effed up and everyone knows it.


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## Mulder (Sep 11, 2010)

Switched said:


> I get that.. a third party heavily influenced....
> 
> Nonetheless, is there a state that hasn't adopted the NEC?
> 
> ...


Illinois, for one, does not adopt a statewide electrical code. Each municipality can adopt whatever standards they want. I believe there are other states that do the same. Some states may adopt a state wide code but allow municipalities to change the requirements as they see fit. Until Wisconsin adopted a statewide code, requirements varied widely from municipality to municipality.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Switched said:


> The different licensing between jurisdictions is nothing more than a money grab and fear.


Undoubtedly, but if trade licensing should exist that's a state's rights issue.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

MDShunk said:


> Undoubtedly, but if trade licensing should exist that's a state's rights issue.


Trade licensing should not exist.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Switched said:


> I agree... There is an NEC.. What does it stand for?





MDShunk said:


> It's a book, written by a non-governmental third party. You, yourself, could write "The National.." blah, blah, blah book and it wouldn't make it so.





Switched said:


> I get that.. a third party heavily influenced....
> 
> Nonetheless, is there a state that hasn't adopted the NEC?


I guess it's really each state's right to decide who does what in their state, and they love the power and money licensing generates, and local governments love it too. 

But it seems really bogus that when they're all based on the same rule book, reciprocity isn't a given. 

Look at nursing, since they now have a national exam, they now have national reciprocity - I can't see why that wouldn't work for electrical licensing.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

The nursing shortage is what brought about transportable nursing licenses. There's no momentum to make that happen with other licenses. Hell, there's still states that don't require a license. The national nursing license thing was still handled at the state level (as it should be). The states all agreed to a compact (and not all. not my state, for instance). Nothing was done federally.


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## active1 (Dec 29, 2009)

Good luck with the Mayberry Contractors Board, I mean Nevada.
Let me know if you have any questions.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Forty nine states might adopt nationwide electrical reciprocation but you will never see Hawaii do it. Because they don't want you to come. Sorry bout that.


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