Bill Text: TX SB1244 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the licensing and regulation of air conditioning and refrigeration contractors and contracting companies; providing penalties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-25 - Returned to Local & Consent Calendars Comm. [SB1244 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB1244-Introduced.html

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82R9052 SLB-F
By: Carona S.B. No. 1244

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility requirements for licenses for certain
air conditioning and refrigeration contractors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1302.255, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1302.255. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. (a) An applicant
for a license under this chapter must:
(1) be at least 18 years old; and
(2) have at least 48 [36] months of practical
experience with the tools of the trade in the preceding six [five]
years:
(A) under the supervision of a licensed air
conditioning and refrigeration contractor;
(B) as an employee of a school district in this
state;
(C) as an employee in an industrial process
plant; or
(D) while serving in the military.
(b) Notwithstanding the requirements of [For purposes of
determining an applicant's practical experience under] Subsection
(a)(2), an applicant may satisfy a portion of the practical
experience requirement as provided by Subsection (c).
(c) An applicant who obtains a degree or diploma or
completes a certification program from an institution of higher
education that holds a certificate of authority issued by the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board, or an equivalent governing
body in another state as approved by the executive director, may
satisfy a portion of the practical experience requirement as
follows:
(1) completing a four-year degree or diploma in air
conditioning technology [engineering], refrigeration technology
[engineering], or mechanical engineering is equivalent to 24 months
[two years] of practical experience [if:
[(1) the degree or diploma is from an institution of
higher education]; [and]
(2) completing a two-year associate's degree, a
two-year diploma, or a two-year certification program primarily
focused on air conditioning and refrigeration-related work is
equivalent to 12 months of practical experience; and
(3) completing a one-year certification program in air
conditioning and refrigeration-related work is equivalent to six
months of practical experience [the institution's program is
approved by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers for the
purpose of licensing engineers].
(d) Every 2,000 hours of on-the-job training in an air
conditioning and refrigeration apprenticeship program registered
with the United States Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship
is equivalent to 12 months of practical experience under Subsection
(a)(2).
(e) Notwithstanding the requirements of Subsection (a)(2),
verified military service in which the person was trained in or
performed air conditioning and refrigeration-related work as part
of the person's military occupational specialty qualifies as
practical experience for purposes of satisfying the 48-month
requirement.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than March 1, 2012, the Texas
Commission of Licensing and Regulation shall adopt rules to
implement Chapter 1302, Occupations Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) Section 1302.255, Occupations Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to an application for an air conditioning and
refrigeration contractor license submitted to the Texas Department
of Licensing and Regulation on or after September 1, 2012. An
application for a license submitted before that date is governed by
the law in effect on the date the application was submitted, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.