172.00.15 Ark. Code R. 006
The following Rules and Regulations are duly adopted and promulgated by the Career Education and Workforce Development Board pursuant to the authority expressly conferred by the laws of the State of Arkansas in ACT 1289 of 1997 and ACT 1122 of 2015 and transferred to the Arkansas Department of Career Education through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arkansas Department of Labor and the Board of Electrical Examiners. The Department may exercise such powers as are reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of Act 1289 of 1997 and ACT 1122.
The purpose of these Rules and Regulations is to transfer the authority of overseeing the Apprentice Electrician Program from the Arkansas Department of Labor and the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners to the Arkansas Department of Career Education.
The applicant for apprentice electrician shall have the ability and aptitude to master the skills of the electrical trade.
The applicant shall be in such physical condition to perform the work of the electrical trade. An applicant shall not be considered if there is a disability sufficient to impair the safety of him/her or the safety of others on the job. The State and/or Local Apprenticeship Committees may require a statement by a licensed physician stating that the applicant is physically able to perform the duties of the trade if all other requirements have been met.
The Local Apprenticeship Committee must adhere to their USDOL/OA Standards of Apprenticeship in the selection of apprentices.
No person shall engage in work as an Apprentice electrician as defined in ACT 1289 of 1997 unless first registered to do so by the Arkansas Department of Labor and United State Department of Labor/ Office of Apprenticeship, and is enrolled in and attending a OA approved training program.
Information for apprentice electrician registration shall be on an application form supplied by the Arkansas Department of Labor and the application form shall be filled out completely before consideration by the Department of Labor and OA. To establish a record of apprenticeship, every apprentice electrician, shall within thirty (30) days after employment, be registered with the Arkansas Department of Labor, the Local Apprenticeship Committee, and OA. It is the responsibility of the master electrician to require apprentices to register with the Local Apprenticeship Committee. The Board of Electrical Examiners may take action against a master electrician for working an apprentice for over thirty (30) days without being so registered. In the absence of an established Local Apprenticeship Committee, an apprentice shall register directly with the State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee.
All holders of an apprentice registration issued under the provisions of this regulation may apply for renewal annually within thirty (30) days after the expiration date of the registration. The Arkansas Department of Labor may not renew a registration after the thirty (30) day period providing there is sufficient reason for not renewing such registration in the time specified and upon payment of penalties as prescribed by regulations.
The term of apprenticeship shall be a minimum of four (4) years consisting of eight (8) periods of one-thousand (l,000) hours of practical work experience and eight (8) periods of 72 hours each, running concurrently, of related classroom instruction in technical and supplemental subjects related to the trade or as approved by USDOL/OA.
Unless officially excused by the Arkansas Department of Labor, each apprentice upon completion of apprenticeship should make application with the Arkansas Department of Labor for the journeyman electrician examination within sixty (60) days.
EXPERIENCE CREDIT: The applicant must submit a request for experience credit within a sixty (60) day period of time from the date of application, furnish notarized records, affidavits, or bona fide evidence as may be required to substantiate the requested time. Please show all work experience present and past that you wish considered for work experience credit. The work experience must have a start date and end date (to present if current job) so work experience time can be calculated. The description of work experience should be sufficiently detailed to provide a clear understanding of work being performed. This time shall be evaluated by the local apprenticeship committee, if in existence, and approved by the State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee. In the absence of the local committee, credit time shall be evaluated and may be granted by the State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee. The applicant may be required to take an examination to determine credit time requested. Experience credit will only be granted for documented out of state work.
The Board of Electrical Examiners may on its own motion make investigations and conduct hearings or upon a complaint in writing duly signed and certified by the complainant, suspend or revoke any apprentice electrician registration if it has reason to believe that the holder of such registration has violated any provision of these Rules and Regulations or any rule or order prescribed by the Board of Electrical Examiners or has demonstrated incompetency to act as an apprentice electrician.
The use of an apprentice electricians registration to do electrical work other than permitted by the registration shall be grounds for automatic suspension and/or revocation of such registration by the Board of Electrical Examiners providing the registrant is duly notified within thirty (30) days of the violation and pending a full hearing under the Administrative Procedures Regulation of the Arkansas Department of Labor.
The maximum ratio amount of master and journeyman electricians to apprentice electricians shall be three (3) licensed apprentice electricians to one licensed master or journeyman electrician on a single electrical job. Compliance with the U S Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship registered Standards of Apprenticeship must be followed.
Apprentices shall be subject to a probationary period not to exceed one thousand practical work experience hours (one period). During this probationary period, the Local Apprenticeship Committee or Employer may request annulment of the apprenticeship without the formality of a hearing. Credit time may be granted for time served under the probationary period.
The hours of work and working conditions for apprentices shall be the same as for journeyman. The employer shall instruct the apprentice in safe and healthful work practices and shall insure that the apprentice is trained in facilities or other environments that are in compliance with either the Occupational Safety and Health Standards promulgated by the Secretary of Labor under Public Law 91-596, dated December 29, 1970, or state standards that have been found to be equal or exceeding the federal standards.
The apprentice shall, within 30 days of employment, enroll in and attend classes in related subjects at a school or other training facility approved by the State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee for not less than 144 hours per year or as approved by USDOL/OA. The Apprentices shall also take advantage of provided instruction in recognized apprenticeship classes during periods of temporary unemployment. School attendance in all cases shall be obligatory; failure to attend these classes in related instructions may cause the apprentice to be disciplined or his apprenticeship agreement cancelled. Apprentices are to attend school on their own time, and such school attendance shall not be considered as hours worked. The Local Apprenticeship Committee shall not recognize any apprentice with whom they have not signed an apprenticeship agreement or who is not registered with the Arkansas Department of Labor and OA.
The master electrician who sponsors the apprentice is obligated to actually employ the apprentice and shall use every effort to keep the apprentice employed in a reasonably continuous manner and adequately instructed on the job. It shall be the duty of the master electrician who is responsible for the registration of an apprentice to notify in writing the Local Apprenticeship Committee when an apprentice is no longer employed.
The apprentice (and, if a minor, the parent or guardian) shall be required to sign an apprenticeship agreement with the Arkansas Department of Labor and OA, which shall also be signed by the employer and by the Local Apprenticeship Committee.
An apprentice shall make every effort to complete training in accordance with the standards and policies established by these Rules and Regulations. An apprentice who is absent from related instruction class sessions, unless officially excused, shall satisfactorily complete all classroom work missed before being advanced to the next period of training. In case of failure of an apprentice to fulfill the obligation regarding classroom or on the job training without due cause, the Local Apprenticeship Committee shall take the necessary disciplinary action.
The local Apprenticeship Committee may cancel the apprenticeship agreement, and remove for cause an apprentice from the training program at any time for failure to comply with the apprenticeship agreement, or with registered standards.
Before invoking any disciplinary action, the Local Apprenticeship Committee must notify an apprentice to appear before the Local Apprenticeship Committee. If an apprentice fails to appear before the Local Apprenticeship Committee after due notice, disciplinary action may be invoked in accordance with the Local Apprenticeship Committee standards. In the absence of a Local Apprenticeship Committee, the State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee shall function in their stead.
The State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee serves as the appeal board for the Local Apprenticeship Committees and on training standards interpretations. Any person or firm may appeal directly to the State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee for review.
The following schedule of work experience is set forth in approximate hours. The work experience need not be in the precise order listed nor need the hours be continuous in any experience category.
(Blueprint reading; Materials and usage; Conduit bending and installation; Termination of wires to switches and equipment; Pulling wire with and without fish tape; Safety)
(Connecting and setting switches and receptacles; Proper sizing of wires, services, and over current protection; Safety)
(Air conditioning and Heating wiring and controls; Rigid conduit installation; Service entrance installation for large equipment and industrial settings; Safety)
(Checking circuits and equipment for faults; Diagnosing and correcting Voltage and phase problems; Reading schematic wiring diagrams; proper and safe use of all types of volt/ohm meters and other test instruments for electrical troubleshooting and diagnosis; Safety)
(Installation of over current devices; Verification of proper installation and rotation; Selection and sizing of replacement motors; Analyzing and trouble-shooting motor circuits and controls; Installation of emergency generators and controls; Installing pushbuttons, pilot lights, relays, timing devices, and interlocking controls; Safety).
Total Hours ......................................................................................................................... 8000 hrs.
All work done by apprentices as prescribed training shall conform in every respect with the requirements of the state and local codes.
The individual must be a duly licensed master electrician, as prescribed by law, in the State of Arkansas and who signs an employer acceptance agreement with OA to abide by these Rules and Regulations of apprenticeship.
The master electrician or journeyman electrician shall observe the work of an apprentice electrician in person at regular and reasonable intervals. The supervising master or journeyman electrician shall remain within reasonable proximity of the apprentice electrician while work is being done. The proximity of the supervising electrician is reasonable if the apprentice electrician is within line of sight and at the same street address. If the job site is not a single-family residence and requires a contractor's license the supervising electrician must be within the line of sight of the apprentice electrician.
The State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee shall be comprised of the following members:
The State Electrical Apprenticeship Committee shall:
The Local Apprenticeship Committee shall:
If any provision of these Rules and Regulations, or the application hereof to any person is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of these Rules and Regulations which can give effect without the invalid provisions of applications, and to this end the provisions hereto are declared to be severable.
All Rules and Regulations and parts of Rules and Regulations in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
172.00.15 Ark. Code R. 006