Bill Text: TX HB1141 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to an exemption from licensing requirements for certain electrical work.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-26 - Left pending in committee [HB1141 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB1141-Introduced.html

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86R5781 SOS-F
By: King of Uvalde H.B. No. 1141

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exemption from licensing requirements for certain
electrical work.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1305.003(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) the installation of electrical equipment in a
ship, watercraft other than a floating building, railway rolling
stock, aircraft, motor vehicle, or recreational vehicle;
(2) the installation of electrical equipment
underground in a mine and in self-propelled mobile surface mining
machinery and its attendant electrical trailing cable;
(3) the installation of electrical equipment for
generation, transformation, transmission, or distribution of power
used exclusively to operate railway rolling stock or exclusively
for signaling and communications purposes;
(4) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of communications equipment provided by a
telecommunications provider;
(5) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of electrical equipment under the exclusive control of an
electric utility, power generation company as defined by Sections
31.002(1) and (10), Utilities Code, electric cooperative, or
municipally owned utility and used for communications or metering,
or for the generation, control, transformation, transmission, and
distribution of electrical energy, and located:
(A) in a building used exclusively by a utility
or power generation company for those purposes;
(B) outdoors on property owned or leased by the
utility or power generation company;
(C) on public highways, streets, roads, or other
public rights-of-way; or
(D) outdoors by established rights in vaults or
on private property;
(6) work not specifically regulated by a municipal
ordinance that is performed in or on a dwelling by a person who owns
and resides in the dwelling;
(7) work involved in the manufacture of electrical
equipment that includes the on-site and off-site manufacturing,
commissioning, testing, calibrating, coordinating,
troubleshooting, or evaluating of electrical equipment, the
repairing or retrofitting of electrical equipment with components
of the same ampacity, and the maintenance and servicing of
electrical equipment within the equipment's enclosure that is
performed by an authorized employee or authorized representative of
an electrical equipment manufacturer and limited to the type of
products manufactured by the manufacturer;
(8) electrical work if:
(A) the work is performed by a person who does not
engage in electrical work for the public;
(B) the work is performed by a person regularly
employed as a maintenance person or maintenance electrician for a
business; and
(C) the electrical work does not involve the
installation of electrical equipment during new construction as
defined by rules adopted under Chapter 151, Tax Code;
(9) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of electrical equipment or associated wiring under the
exclusive control of a gas utility and used for communications or
metering or for the control, transmission, or distribution of
natural gas;
(10) thoroughfare lighting, traffic signals,
intelligent transportation systems, and telecommunications
controlled by a governmental entity;
(11) electrical connections supplying heating,
ventilation, and cooling and refrigeration equipment, including
any required disconnect exclusively for the equipment, if the
service is performed by a licensed air conditioning and
refrigeration contractor under Chapter 1302;
(12) the design, installation, erection, repair, or
alteration of Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 remote control,
signaling, or power-limited circuits, fire alarm circuits, optical
fiber cables, or communications circuits, including raceways, as
defined by the National Electrical Code, that operate at less than
50 volts and that are not capable of supplying or controlling more
than 50 volt-amperes or 50 watts of power;
(13) landscape irrigation installers, as necessary to
perform the installation and maintenance of irrigation control
systems, and landscapers, as necessary to perform the installation
and maintenance of low-voltage exterior lighting and holiday
lighting excluding any required power source;
(14) electrical work performed at a business that
operates:
(A) a chemical plant, petrochemical plant,
refinery, natural gas plant, natural gas treating plant, pipeline,
or oil and gas exploration and production operation by a person who
works solely for and is employed by that business; or
(B) a chemical plant, petrochemical plant,
refinery, natural gas plant, or natural gas treatment plant by a
person who under a contract of at least 12 months' duration performs
electrical work for that plant and:
(i) the electrical work is not performed
during new construction as defined by rules adopted under Chapter
151, Tax Code; or
(ii) the person is not working for a
contractor that has a principal place of business in another state
or territory of the United States or a foreign country;
(15) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of elevators, escalators, or related equipment, excluding
any required power source, regulated under Chapter 754, Health and
Safety Code;
(16) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of equipment or network facilities provided or utilized by a
cable operator, as that term is defined by 47 U.S.C. Section 522, as
amended;
(17) the location, design, construction, extension,
maintenance, and installation of on-site sewage disposal systems in
accordance with Chapter 366, Health and Safety Code, or an on-site
sewage facility installer licensed under Chapter 37, Water Code;
(18) electrical work performed on a building,
structure, or equipment in agricultural use as defined by Section
11.002, Water Code, other than the processing of an agricultural
commodity;
(19) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of well pumps and equipment in accordance with Chapter 1902;
(20) electrical work required for the construction and
assembly of HUD-code manufactured housing or modular housing and
building units, other than the installation of service entrance
conductors, that is performed by a licensed manufacturer or
installer under Chapter 1201 or 1202, as applicable, if work
performed is within the scope of the license as defined by
applicable statutes and administrative rules;
(21) work performed by a plumber who holds a license or
endorsement or is registered under Chapter 1301 that is necessary
to install, service, maintain, repair, or replace any type of
plumbing fixture or appliance, as described by Section 1301.002(7),
including a water heater, food disposer, garbage disposal, water
softener, dishwashing machine, and clothes washing machine on
existing electrical circuits only;
(22) the maintenance or repair of a residential
appliance by a residential appliance dealer or manufacturer or a
person authorized by a residential appliance dealer or manufacturer
using only components of the same type and ampacity as the original
components; and
(23) the maintenance, alteration, or repair of a
pool-related electrical device by, or pool-related electrical
maintenance performed by, an employee of a municipality on a pool
owned or operated by the municipality.
SECTION 2. Section 1305.003, Occupations Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a design, installation, erection,
repair, or alteration that begins on or after the effective date of
this Act. A design, installation, erection, repair, or alteration
that begins before that date is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.