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An Act relative to the licensing of sheet metal workers and sheet metal contractors. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the
same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 13 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following section:-
Section 101. There shall be a board of state examiners of sheet metal workers, herein after referred to as the board, which shall consist of 7 members, 1 of whom shall be the commissioner of public health, or his designee, 1 of whom shall be the commissioner of public safety, or his designee and 5 members to be appointed by the governor for a term of 3 years, 2 of whom shall be a journeymen sheet metal workers with at least 10 years of practical experience who are wage earners, 2 of whom shall be sheet metal contractors with at least 10 years of practical experience in the design, fabrication, and installation of air handling systems, including ductwork, and 1 of whom shall be a representative of the public subject to the provisions of section 9B. The governor shall designate the chair of the board and may, at any time, change such designation. Upon the expiration of the term of a member, his successor shall be appointed for a term of 3 years. The governor may also fill any vacancy in the board for the unexpired portion of the term.
Section 102. The board of state examiners of sheet metal workers, herein after referred to as the board, may make such rules or by-laws, as it may deem necessary in the performance of its duties. The board shall have a seal. The board shall annually render to the governor and the general court a report of its proceedings, which shall include an itemized statement of all receipts and expenses of the board for the preceding fiscal year.
Section 103. The board of state examiners of sheet metal workers, hereinafter the board, shall hold at least 4 regular meetings annually. Time, place and notice of all meetings shall be as required by rules or by-laws made by the board. A quorum shall consist of 4 members. In case of vacancy in the office or absence of the chairman the senior member shall perform the duties of the chairman. A written record which shall be open to public inspection shall be kept of all meetings and of the business transacted thereat.
Section 104. The members of the board of state examiners of sheet metal workers, hereinafter the board, shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses reasonably incurred in the performance of official board business. The director of the division of professional licensure upon approval of the board shall, subject to appropriation, appoint an executive secretary who shall devote full time during business hours to the duties of said position and who shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 31.
SECTION 2. Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following 13 sections:-
Section 236. As used in sections 237 through 250, inclusive, the following words shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
“Apprentice”, any person at least 18 years of age who is learning or working at the business of sheet metal work under the direct supervision of a sheet metal contractor or journeyman sheet metal worker and enrolled in a registered, apprentice program approved by the board.
“Examiners”, the board of state examiners of sheet metal workers established pursuant to section 101 of chapter 13.
“Journeyman sheet metal worker”, any person who has completed a 5 year apprentice program who has passed an examination and been issued a license as provided in this chapter.
“Person”, a natural person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity.
“Sheet metal”, manufacturing, fabrication, assembling, handling, erection, installation, dismantling, conditioning, adjustment, alteration, repairing, and servicing of all commercial and industrial air-veyor systems including, but not limited, air handling systems regardless of the material used, including specifically the handling, fabricating, setting, installation, assembling, dismantling, adjustment, alteration, reconditioning, repairing of all ductwork; installation of fans, sheaves, belt guards, dampers, louvers, screens, registers, grilles, diffusers, sound traps, attenuators, mixing boxes, access doors related to air handling systems, breaching, hoods, and any and all appurtenances relating to heating, ventilation, air conditioning and exhaust systems, commercial and industrial architectural sheet metal water shed roof systems, the testing, adjusting, and balancing of all air-handling equipment and ductwork, the fabrication and installation of commercial and industrial kitchen hoods, kitchen vents, bathroom exhaust vents and fans.
“Sheet metal contractor”, a person having a regular place of business in the commonwealth and who, by himself or through a journeyman sheet metal worker in his employ, performs sheet metal work.
Section 237. No person shall engage in the business as journeyman sheet metal worker or as an apprentice sheet metal worker, nor solicit, by sign, listing or any other form of advertisement, work regulated or controlled by this chapter or by any ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation made hereunder, unless he is licensed by the board as provided in this chapter.
The license or certificate of a journeyman sheet metal worker shall at all times be displayed conspicuously within his place of business. Any sign, listing or advertisement of a journeyman sheet metal worker shall contain his designation and license number.
Section 238. Every apprentice shall before starting his apprenticeship file an application, accompanied by the appropriate fee, with the board, requesting that he be issued an apprentice license. Said application shall be made on a form to be furnished by the examiners, and shall require the applicant to state his age, the date on which he is to commence his apprenticeship, the name and address of his employer, and such other information as the board may require. Upon receipt thereof the board shall license said applicant as an apprentice and shall forthwith mail to him a certificate to that effect.
A person may be employed as an apprentice by a journeyman sheet metal worker only. Apprentices shall work under the direct supervision of a journeyman sheet metal worker. A journeyman sheet metal worker may employ one or more apprentices but not more than one apprentice may work under the direct supervision of a journeyman sheet metal worker.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, students in a vocational school accredited by the department of education, under the direct personal supervision of a journeyman sheet metal worker who is certified as an instructor by the division of occupational education in said department, shall be permitted to engage in an on-the-job training program, so-called, on installations approved by the board and conducted in cooperation with such a vocational school. The board may promulgate rules and regulations relative to said on-the-job training program.
Section 239. (a) The board may make rules as they consider proper for the performance of their duties and shall promulgate rules and regulations governing the qualifications of applicants for examination. Upon evidence satisfactory to the board of completion of an apprenticeship program authorized by the board a person may apply for journeyman sheet metal worker license. The board shall examine each applicant for a journeyman sheet metal worker license as to his practical knowledge of sheet metal work. The board shall subject each applicant to a practical test satisfactory to the board, who, if satisfied of his competence, shall issue to him a license as a journeyman sheet metal worker. The board shall hold frequent examinations in the city of Boston, and also at such other convenient places within the commonwealth as they deem necessary. Public notice shall be given of all examinations. Every application for examination shall be in the handwriting of the applicant who shall be notified by the board of the time and place of examination. The board may, without payment of any fee, issue a probationary license in force for 6 months to a person who, having worked as an apprentice, or under a verbal agreement for instruction, for not less than 3 years, presents an application therefore with the signed endorsement of his employer agreeing to be responsible for all work done under the license and to have the licensee, at the expiration of the license, present himself for examination as a journeyman. The board shall grant a credit of 5 per cent to the examination standing of each applicant who is a veteran as defined in clause 43 of section 7 of chapter 4.
(b) Upon submission of an application and the payment of an application fee, the board may issue a journeyman sheet metal worker license to a person who holds a valid license or registration issued by another jurisdiction the licensing standards of which are substantially equivalent to or exceeding the standards of the commonwealth.
Section 240. The board shall annually mail every apprentice sheet metal worker and every licensed journeyman sheet metal worker licensed in the commonwealth a blank application for renewal of said license. Such blanks properly filled out shall be returned to the board by the date specified by said board. After verification of the facts stated on the renewal blanks, the board shall issue a license, which shall expire the following year. Any holder of a license who fails to file a renewal application within 60 days after notification by the board that his license has expired, shall, before again engaging in the practice of sheet metal within the commonwealth, be required to register anew, pay a late fee in addition to said renewal fee and may be required by the board to be re-examined.
Section 241. A journeyman sheet metal worker shall not be issued for a license pursuant to this chapter unless he has a current liability insurance policy including completed operations coverage, which has been issued by an insurance company licensed to do business in the commonwealth, or other type of indemnity against liability providing substantially equivalent coverage, or a bond.
Section 242. A person duly licensed as a journeyman sheet metal worker for no less than 3 years may apply to the board for a certificate of a sheet metal corporation or a certificate of a sheet metal partnership upon payment of a fee and a biennial renewal fee, the amounts of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section 3B of chapter 7 for the filing thereof. A certificate of a sheet metal corporation shall authorize a journeyman sheet metal worker to conduct the sheet metal business as a corporation; provided, however, that in a sheet metal corporation the journeyman sheet metal worker is an officer of the corporation organized under the laws of the commonwealth to engage in the business of sheet metal. A certificate of sheet metal partnership shall authorize a journeyman sheet metal worker to conduct the sheet metal business as a partnership; provided, however, that all partners in a sheet metal partnership are journeyman sheet metal workers.
Section 243. The fee for the journeyman sheet metal worker license and sheet metal worker apprentice or for any annual renewal thereof, and for any examination related thereto, shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration pursuant to section 3B of chapter 7.
Section 244. A licensed journeyman sheet metal worker shall annually, as a condition of license renewal, complete a course of continuing education as determined by the board. The board shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation, administration and enforcement of this section.
Section 245. The board shall be charged with the enforcement of the provisions of sections 237 to 244, inclusive. If any person refuses to obey any decision of the board, the attorney general shall, upon request of the board, file a petition for the enforcement of such decision in equity in the superior court for Suffolk County or for the county in which the defendant resides or has a place of business. After due hearing, the court shall order the enforcement of such decision or any part thereof, if legally and properly made by the board.
Section 246. Whoever violates any provisions of sections 237 to 244, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 3 months, or both.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 101 of chapter 13 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, for a period of one year after the effective date of said section 101 the initial journeyman sheet metal worker appointed to the board of sheet metal workers shall not be required, at the time of their initial appointment, to be a licensed journeyman sheet metal worker pursuant to section 237 of chapter 112 of the General Laws, if they are of good moral character, have been engaged in the practice of journeyperson sheet metal working for compensation for not less than 10 years prior to the effective date of this section; provided, however, that said appointee shall obtain a license as journeyman sheet metal worker with 1 year of his appointment to the board.
SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the board shall issue journeyman sheet metal worker license without examination to an applicant who meets the requirements of sections 237 to 244 of chapter 112 of the General Laws and provides to the board satisfactory evidence that he is and actually has been in the paid professional practice of sheet metal work for 5 out of the last 10 years, preceding the effective date of this act. The board, in its discretion, may waive the education requirements for an applicant if it determines that an applicant's combined professional and education credentials meet the intent of this act.
SECTION 5. Section 4 of this act shall expire on December 31, 2009.