SB 565

AN ACT CONCERNING CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR PLUMBERS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 20-334d of the 2006 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) As used in this section:

(1) "Accredited continuing professional education" means any education of an electrician or plumber that is designed to maintain professional competence in the pursuit, practice and standards of electrical work or plumbing and piping work and that is approved by the commissioner and is provided by an organization, institution or agency that is approved by the commissioner;

(2) "Certificate of continuing education" means a document issued to an electrician or plumber by an organization, institution or agency approved by the commissioner that offers accredited continuing professional education, which (A) certifies that an electrician or plumber has satisfactorily completed a specified number of continuing education hours, and (B) bears the name of such organization, institution or agency, the title of the program, the dates during which the program was conducted, the number of continuing education hours satisfactorily completed and the signature of the director of such organization, institution or agency or the signature of the director's authorized agent;

(3) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.

(b) The commissioner, with the advice and assistance of the Electrical Work Board established pursuant to subsection (b) of section 20-331, shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to (1) establish requirements for accredited continuing professional education for electricians licensed pursuant to sections 20-330 to 20-341, inclusive, as amended; (2) establish qualifying criteria for accredited continuing professional education programs and establish qualifying criteria for acceptable certificates of continuing education; and (3) provide for the waiver of required accredited continuing professional education for electricians for good cause.

(c) The commissioner, with the advice and assistance of the Plumbing and Piping Work Board established pursuant to subsection (d) of section 20-331, shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to (1) establish requirements for accredited continuing professional education for plumbers licensed pursuant to sections 20-330 to 20-341, inclusive, as amended, which regulations shall require not more than a total of seven hours of accredited continuing professional education every three years, except in the event of significant changes to the building code, as approved by the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Incorporated, and that relate to plumbing, the commissioner, at such commissioner's discretion, may require more than a total of seven hours of accredited continuing professional education every three years; (2) establish qualifying criteria for accredited continuing professional education programs and establish qualifying criteria for acceptable certificates of continuing education; and (3) provide for the waiver of required accredited continuing professional education for plumbers for good cause.

(d) Any plumber who has served an apprenticeship that included at least seven hundred hours of related classroom instruction shall be exempt from any continuing education requirement established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, any person who has been issued a P-6 or P-7 license pursuant to section 20-334a and the regulations of Connecticut state agencies shall not be required to meet the continuing education requirements established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.

Statement of Purpose:

To limit the number of hours of continuing education for plumbers and to exempt holders of P-6 and P-7 plumbing and piping work licenses from continuing education