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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA013 - Council Action Form dated January 25, 2000 ITEM # DATE: January 25. 2000 SUBJECT: Changes to the Municipal Mechanical Code regarding mechanical contractor licensing as proposed by the Mechanical Code Board of Appeals. BACKGROUND: The Mechanical Code Board of Appeals has been discussing mechanical contractor and journeyman licensing for over two years. There have been a range of viewpoints ranging from no licensing as we currently have in our local ordinance to adopting strict licensing requirements such as our current policy regarding plumbing and electrical licenses. After careful consideration and a great deal of debate and compromise, the Mechanical Code Board of Appeals has proposed a requirement for one person from each mechanical contracting company to obtain a master mechanical license to be able to perform mechanical work in Ames. All other employees of each company would come under the supervision of the mechanical master. The proposed ordinance does not specify that those employees be under direct supervision which the Inspection Staff interprets as being on the same job site. The mechanical board has proposed that journeyman licenses also be issued for those persons who meet minimum requirements but do not qualify for a masters license. The journeyman license would be voluntary at this time. The reason it is included in the proposed ordinance is to allow persons to receive a license based on experience with a mechanical contractor because in the future we may require a licensed journeyman on each job site similar to our current policy on plumbing and electrical licenses. By way of comparison, our current criteria to be a journeyman plumber or journeyman electrician is to verify four (4) years of plumbing or electrical experience and pass a third party proctored exam. To be a master plumber a person must pass a third party proctored exam, and is limited to running a business and taking out permits. A master plumber cannot supervise a job site unless they also have a journeyman plumbing license. A master electrician must have two (2) years of supervisory experience as a journeyman electrician and pass a masters third party proctored exam. The proposed ordinance allows for mechanical licenses to be issued for 45 days after its adoption to those persons who can verify a certain level of experience. A person who can verify six years of experience in the mechanical trade will be issued a master mechanical license and those who verify three years of experience will be issued a journeyman mechanical license. After this 45 day grandfathering period, each person who wants either license must pass a proctored test administered by a third party testing agency approved by the Mechanical Code Board of Appeals. The term for each license is three years except for the first term, which will be four years. This will stagger the terms with plumbing, and electrical licenses to spread the workload over time required of the City Clerk's staff. The proposed ordinance requires a mandatory refresher course prior to renewal of each license. The fees are to be $35 for each mechanical master license per year and $15 for each journeyman license per year with a $25 administration fee per license for the initial issuance. These fees are consistent with plumbing licenses in Ames. This will generate an estimated $6,540 in revenue for the licenses and $2,025 in administrative fees for the first time issuance and has been included into the proposed budget. The additional revenue is not the reason for staff s recommendation of this proposal. The staff believes that mechanical license requirements will maintain and improve competency in the installers and will maintain and improve safety of the citizens and guests in the Ames community. The staff recommends this level of mechanical license as an initial phase. Staff believes that eventually the requirements should be identical to that required for electrical and plumbing licenses to better insure the safety of the Ames citizens since improper gas piping and furnace venting can cause fatalities. Even though the inspection staff is very competent, there are always instances where staff cannot oversee all job sites at all times, so it will give mechanical contractors, inspection staff and citizens a standard level of care. The staff is not proposing any specific time period to further amend these requirements, but will carefully observe the situation and will make additional proposals if and when they become apparent. Staff has already seen a few mechanical contractors spend additional money on training of their employees due to this proposal. A strict policy to require all installers to obtain a license at this time would be detrimental to the local building community due to the fact that there is a substantial labor shortage in the building trades in this area. Therefore, the licensing should be phased in. Attached is a phone survey of surrounding communities on their requirements for mechanical licensing. It is apparent from our phone survey that communities vary on their level of requirements for mechanical licensing. It appears that gas piping licenses are a starting point which then evolves into a shop license, meaning one person from each company is licensed, then to individual licenses with a local exam and finally to licensing where each person doing mechanical work must prove experience and pass a third party proctored exam. The Mechanical Code Board of Appeals unanimously agree with this initial proposal, but have concerns about expanding into more restrictive licensing requirements in the future. They also held a public hearing recently to answer any concerns. There were four persons who attended the public hearing in addition to the board members and all had their questions answered and agreed to this initial step. Three other contractors called inspection staff with questions and were in agreement with the proposal. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Approve the proposed ordinance to amend the mechanical code to require at least one person from each mechanical contracting company to be licensed in order to perform mechanical work in the city of Ames. 2. Deny the request. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION: It is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt Alternative #1 approving the proposed ordinance change to require mechanical contractor licensing for all mechanical work performed in the City of Ames. COUNCIL ACTION: MECHANICAL LICENSING REQUIREMENT SURVEY Waterloo - Journeyman and Masters all required to pass a third party proctored exam. Waterloo even has a local exam requirement for general contractors. Cedar Rapids- Same as Waterloo Cedar Falls - In process of creating mechanical licensing. Proposal to be same as Waterloo. Fort Dodge - Required to have local license. Must pass local exam. Boone - Has mechanical licensing with a local exam requirement. Des Moines - Required shop license (similar to what City of Ames is proposing). Iowa City - Does not have mechanical licensing but does have gas pipe installer license and must pass a third party proctored exam. Marshalltown- Must pass a local exam for gas piping only.