construction

“By eliminating that exemption, they would have required all the voltage work to be done by a licensed electrician,” Jen Cohan, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Delaware trade association, said. 

The saga continues, however, as the board of examiners – which falls under the state’s Division of Professional Regulation – discussed at its most recent meeting on Feb. 17, implementing an inspection requirement as part of the installation process for low voltage cabling instead of full licensure.

What exactly the inspection requirement might look like, and why the board began exploring changes to the low voltage work systems in the first place, remain unclear. 

Some low voltage electrical workers and contracting associations told Spotlight Delaware that they did not know why the board was looking at changing the processes for low voltage work, especially when there does not appear to be a problem with those operations in the first place. 

“I don’t know what problem the board is trying to solve,” Dave Sweeney, regional director for the company Advantech Security, which installs various types of low voltage cabling, said. 

Many also pointed to a rumor circulating the electrical industry that the state fire marshal was advocating for the licensing and inspection requirements due to some fire safety concerns that had arisen. 

State Fire Marshal John Rudd, however, said that was a “misconception,” and he had not brought any suggestions to the board of examiners. 

“We haven’t really recommended anything to the board,” Rudd told Spotlight Delaware. “We defer to the board on their recommendations because they are the ones that are in charge of all that stuff.” 

Members of the Board of Electrical Examiners did not respond to Spotlight Delaware’s multiple requests for comment. 

Low voltage work, high voltage debate

Recent discussions of low voltage contract work provided more questions than answers about the board’s goals, and how it intends to move forward with the requirements. 

At the Feb. 17 meeting, board president Karl Segner said the goal of an inspection requirement would be to ensure that low voltage projects are installed properly, and are in line with local and state codes. 

He did not elaborate as to whether there have been incidents of low voltage installation not being up to code, or other safety concerns with low voltage work. 

The Delaware Board of Electrical Examiners code defines low voltage contractors, all of whom are currently exempted from licensing requirements, as people who install wiring for telephone systems, sound systems, cable television systems, closed circuit video systems, satellite dish antennas, and instrumentation and temperature controls. 

To Sweeney, the Advantech director, it functions to “lump” all different types of low voltage workers into one licensing exemption, but trying to create a blanket licensing or inspection requirement for such varied low voltage jobs, he said, does not work. 

“The board is going to have to take a more granular approach and look at specific trades or specific subsets of the low voltage industry,” he said. 

Members of the Board of Examiners said at the meeting that they were not sure whether an inspection would be necessary for every single cable installation, or only for installations of a certain size. 

They also mentioned that creating a new, separate licensing process for low voltage contractors, instead of the previous idea of combining them with electricians’ requirements, could be a possibility.

Some board members mentioned that nearby Cecil County, Md. has required inspections and licenses for low voltage work, which could serve as a model for a similar program in Delaware. 

Cecil County did not respond to Spotlight Delaware’s request for comment about their low voltage work requirements. 

Sweeney, along with two other low voltage contractors, were asked to weigh in on the inspection and licensing discussions at the Feb. 17 meeting. Sweeney said he anticipates continuing to weigh in on the board’s discussions. 

Cohan, with the builders and contractors association, said her group also plans to be involved in discussing ways to implement inspections with the board in the coming months. 

Eddie Lesniczak, vice president of IBEW 313, the state’s electrical workers union, said he too has been following the discussion at recent board meetings, and has concluded there has been a lot of “confusion in the room” about what the board is trying to accomplish. 

Lesniczak said he could see the merits of creating some licensing requirements for low voltage workers, but that those licenses should be entirely different from electricians’ licenses, as they are different crafts. 

He added that the union has been struggling with workers who pretend to be certified electricians or pretend to know how to do low voltage cabling, and then they do installation projects incorrectly, so more verification of electricians’ licenses could be a way to assuage those concerns. 

Amid the confusion about what inspired the low voltage discussion, rumors have circulated that the union encouraged the board of examiners to consider the licensing concept. 

Lesniczak, however, said that is not the case. 

“I’ve seen a lot of people’s comments pop up that the union is behind it,” he said. “We’re not behind this at all. It’s kind of surprising.” 

The GOP weighs in 

Republican state lawmakers have also jumped into the conversation, criticizing the board’s proposals as a regulatory overreach and a detriment to the electrical work industry. 

Senate Minority Whip Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown), who has a background in data cabling work, said he does not understand why there is a conversation surrounding licensing and inspection because there is not a safety or fire risk with such low voltage cabling. 

Pettyjohn added that low voltage cabling is an entirely different field from bigger electrical work, so the requirements must be kept separate. 

“You’re talking about two different types of art,” he said. “And to lump them into one is something that would be devastating to the folks that do that now and drive up costs.” 

House Minority Whip Jeff Spiegelman (R-Clayton) said similarly that there is already a labor shortage in the trades, and adding more steps for electrical workers will only cause more problems, “without really solving anything.” 

The board will continue discussing low voltage inspection requirements at its next meeting on March 4. 

Get Involved:
The Board of Electrical Examiners is scheduled to meet next on Wednesday, March 4, at 8:30 a.m. inside the Cannon Building, located at 861 Silver Lake Blvd in Dover.