Chapter 121-3 APPLICATION FOR LICENSURE

Rule 121-3-.01 Statewide Electrical Contractor License

(1) Statewide Class I Electrical Contractor licenses are restricted to electrical contracting involving single-phase electrical installations that do not exceed 200 amperes at the service drop or the service lateral. Class II Electrical Contractor licenses are unrestricted.
(2) To obtain a statewide Class I or Class II Electrical Contractor license, a person must be at least 21 years of age, submit a completed application, meet the experience requirements as described in this rule, obtain a minimum score of seventy (70) on the appropriate examination, and pay the fees required by the Board.
(3) An applicant must submit three (3) references on the required form from persons who can attest to the applicant's electrical experience to the satisfaction of the Division. At least one of the three references must be from a licensed electrical contractor who shall include his or her registration number on the form.
(4) Applicants for statewide Electrical Contractor license must document a minimum of 4 years of Primary experience in the electrical field as would be covered by the Georgia Electrical Code or the National Electrical Code.
(a) Primary Experience shall mean working experience gained through the direct installation of electrical systems and directly related activities of a type covered by the National Electrical Code. The public welfare and overall life safety responsibility require that an electrical contractor have actual in-the-field experience and be competent in all phases of electrical work.
(5) Applicants may be credited up to one (1) year of experience based on Secondary Experience or Education. Secondary Experience time will be credited at a rate of fifty percent (50%). (For example, three (3) years of Primary Experience and two (2) years of Secondary Experience would meet the 4 years of required experience.)
(a) Secondary Experience shall mean work or training experience related to electrical contracting work involving electrical systems covered by the National Electrical Code. Examples of Secondary Experience include:
(i) Instruction received on electrical installation, theory, and code by a full-time secondary or post-secondary instructor in an established class at a recognized learning center.
(ii) Inspection of electrical wiring by a full-time municipal or county inspector.
(iii) Electrical engineering design by a registered professional engineer.
(iv) Work performed for a licensed electrical contractor with the applicant having sole responsibility in at least three (3) of the following areas: estimating; project management; scheduling and assigning work; preparing progress charts (CPM or other flow charts); sales and cash flow responsibilities such as budgetary, preparation of pay request, and invoices.
(v) Installation of electrically lighted signs.
(b) Education may be applied toward the experience requirements as follows:
(i) Completion of a 2-year academic diploma program as 2 years of experience.
(ii) Completion of a 2-year academic certificate program offered by a vocational-technical school as 2 years of experience.
(6) Applicants for Class II Licenses must document experience with installations in excess of single phase, 200 amperes systems.
(7) Class I applicants must document experience in at least five (5) of the following, plus item (h), and Class II applicants must document work experience in all of the following areas:
(a) Installation of raceway systems, including pull boxes, junction boxes, conduit bodies and the connections in the system and to cabinets, panelboards, switchboards, and boxes, which meet all Code use and installation requirements.
(b) Installation of conductors, including flexible cords, cables, splices, taps, terminations, bonding jumpers, overcurrent protective devices, and metering devices, in cabinets, panelboards, switchboards, boxes, and conduit, which meet all Code use and installation requirements, such as to sizing, ampacity, and voltage.
(c) Installation of service entrances, metering devices, cabinets, switchboards, service risers and fasteners, overcurrent protective devices, disconnecting means, ground electrodes, main bonding jumpers, and ground fault protectors which all meet Code installation requirements, such as to sizing, rating, clearances, and weatherproofing.
(d) Installation of motors and generators with feeders, branch circuits, overcurrent protective devices, disconnect means, and controllers, all of which meet Code installation requirements, such as sizing, rating, usage, and location.
(e) Installation of switches, disconnects, and controls that supply lighting fixtures, appliances, electrical circuits, controls for heating and air conditioning equipment, and other utilization and general use equipment, according to use and Code installation requirements.
(f) Installation of materials and equipment required for use in special occupancies according to use and Code installation requirements, as defined by Chapter 5 of the National Electrical Code.
(g) Bonding of interior metal piping systems, installation of properly sized equipment grounding conductors, grounding of exposed noncurrent carrying metal parts of electrical equipment, and protection of grounding conductors from physical damage.
(h) Determination of general lighting loads, minimum branch circuits, minimum ampacity of conductors in feeder and branch circuits, maximum allowable conductor fill for raceways, net loads, using specified or optional methods, rates or demand factors, and derating factors given in the Code.
(8) Applicants who can demonstrate six (6) years of electrical contracting experience to the satisfaction of the Division are not required to demonstrate Primary Experience gained through the direct installation of electrical systems.
(a) Applicants shall notify the Division that he or she has the necessary knowledge of technology and related work experience for the license Class for which they are applying.
(b) Education will be credited at a rate of 50%, and no more than two (2) years of experience may be based on Education. (For example, four (4) years of experience and four (4) years of education would meet the required six (6) years of experience.)
(c) Applicants shall provide at least one (1) reference from a licensed architect, professional engineer, or electrical engineer who shall include his or her licensed number on the form and can attest to the applicant's submitted experience.
(9) Nothing in these rules shall be construed to permit the unlicensed practice of Electrical Contracting.

Rule 121-3-.02 Statewide Master and Journeyman Plumber License

(1) Statewide Class I Master Plumber licenses are limited to plumbing involving single-family dwellings and one-level dwellings designed for not more than two families and commercial structures not to exceed 10,000 square feet in area. Statewide Class II Master Plumber licenses are unrestricted.
(2) To obtain a statewide Class I or Class II Master Plumber or a statewide Journeyman Plumber license, a person must submit a completed application, meet the experience requirement, obtain a minimum score of seventy (70) on the appropriate examination, and pay the required fees.
(3) An applicant must provide the names of three (3) persons who are licensed as plumbers and can attest to the applicant's plumbing experience to the satisfaction of the Division. For Class I, at least one (1) of the three (3) references must be a licensed Master Plumber. For Class II, at least two (2) references must be from licensed Master Plumbers.
(4) Applicants for statewide Master Plumber license must document a minimum of five (5) years of experience in plumbing work as would be covered by items of the Georgia State Plumbing Code, with at least two (2) of the five (5) years being licensed as a Journeyman Plumber. Applicants for Class II Master Plumber license must also document experience in commercial or industrial plumbing.
(5) Applicants for statewide Journeyman Plumbers license must document a minimum of one (1) year of experience in plumbing work as would be covered by items of the Georgia State Plumbing Code. Such experience may be Primary or Secondary experience as defined in this section.
(6) Primary Experience shall mean working experience gained through the direct installation of plumbing systems and directly related activities of a type that would be covered by the Georgia State Plumbing Code and under the supervision of a licensed Master Plumber. Examples of Primary Experience include installation of plumbing pipes and fixtures by a plumbing contractor, Master Plumber, Journeyman Plumber, plumbing foreman, plumbing superintendent, a military plumber with a rank of at least a 3rd class petty officer or E-4 noncommissioned officer.
(7) Secondary Experience shall mean work experience gained while engaged in work or training related to the installation of plumbing and directly related activities that would be covered by the Georgia State Plumbing Code. Examples of Secondary Experience include:
(a) Plumbing work performed by a maintenance employee of a county water department or public works department.
(b) Inspection of plumbing by a full-time municipal or county inspector.

Rule 121-3-.03 Applicant Review Course

(1) Any applicant for conditioned air contractor, electrical contractor, master plumber, or journeyman plumber license who takes and fails the examination twice after July 1, 1989, must submit documentation of completion of a review course before being scheduled for a third examination. The review course must meet the qualifications under board Rule . The documentation of completion must include:
(a) the name of the school;
(b) the course title;
(c) the name and license number of the instructor if the course was conducted by other than a college or postsecondary technical school;
(d) the topics covered by the course;
(e) the number of instruction hours; and
(f) the date of completion.

Rule 121-3-.04 Conditioned Air Contractor License

(1) Class I Conditioned Air Contractor licenses are restricted to conditioned air contracting involving conditioned air systems or equipment not exceeding 175,000 BTU of heating and 60,000 BTU of cooling, and Class II licenses are unrestricted. For classifying systems, each complete system in a single installation is to be considered an individual job.
(2) To obtain a Class I (Restricted) or Class II (Non-restricted) Conditioned Air Contractor license, a person must submit a completed application, meet the prerequisite experience requirement, obtain a minimum score of seventy (70) on the appropriate examination, and pay all fees required by the Board.
(3) An applicant must submit three (3) references on the required form from persons who can attest to the applicant's conditioned air experience to the satisfaction of the Division. References must be from an Architect, Professional Engineer, Inspector, or licensed Conditioned Air Contractor who shall include his or her registration or license number on the form.
(4) Applicants must document a minimum of four (4) years of experience for Class I and five (5) years for Class II in conditioned air work of a type covered by the Georgia Heating and Air Conditioning Code, regardless of whether such Code applied to the work in the area or at the time such work was performed by the applicant. Applicants for Class II licenses must document experience with installations of conditioned air systems that exceed 175,000 BTU (net) of heating and 60,000 BTU of cooling.
(5) "Experience" shall mean working experience gained through the direct installation of and responsibility for conditioned air systems and directly related activities of a type covered by the Georgia Heating and Air Conditioning Code (regardless of whether such Code was in effect in the area or at the time the applicant gained such experience.
(a) Experience for Class I shall consist of two (2) years of residential installation experience as a lead mechanic, one year as a service technician, evidence of having an E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Agency) certification, one year of residential supervisory experience, and a completion of a Board-approved heat loss and gain and duct design course.
(b) Experience for Class II shall consist of two (2) years of installation as a lead mechanic with at least one of the years being commercial only, one year as a service technician or service supervisor evidence of having an E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Agency) certification, two years of commercial supervisory experience and a Board-approved heat loss and gain and duct design course.
(6) Education may be applied toward the experience requirements as follows:
(a) completion of a technical school diploma program in engineering or engineering technology may be credited as no more than two (2) years of experience;
(b) completion of a vocational-technical school certificate program may be credited as no more than one (1) year of experience.
(7) All classifications of Conditioned Air Contractor work experience, unless specifically listed in the examples provided in this rule, shall be made by the Board. Such classifications of experience by the Board shall be final except that, within the Board's sole discretion, an applicant may be allowed to appear before the Board to explain such experience.

Rule 121-3-.05 Display of Business Registration Number

Effective December 1, 2021, any business performing conditioned air contracting shall display, as set forth below, the business registration number.

(a) The business registration number is the license number of the qualifying licensee, including the prefix CN or CR preceded by "GA. REG." For example, a licensee holding the license number "CN-555123" would display "GA. REG. CN-555123" as outlined (2), (3), and (4) below.
(b) If a licensee no longer qualifies a business to perform conditioned air contracting, the business shall cease conditioned air contracting until a licensee qualifies the business and all displays of the registration number are changed to include the license number of the new qualifying licensee.
(c) All commercial vehicles used by Conditioned Air Contractors exclusively in the daily operation of their business shall have prominently displayed thereon the business registration number. This number shall be legibly and visibly displayed on both sides of the vehicle in characters at least two inches high.
(d) Any advertisements for conditioned air contracting work covered by these Rules which appear in telephone yellow pages other than a standard listing, in a newspaper, or in printed matter proposing to perform services which is distributed to the public shall have prominently and legibly displayed therein the business registration number.
(e) All invoices and proposal forms used for conditioned air contracting shall have prominently and legibly displayed thereon the business registration number.

Rule 121-3-.06 Statewide Low-Voltage Contractor License

(1) Statewide Class LV-A low-voltage contractor licenses are restricted to alarm and general system low-voltage contracting. Statewide Class LV-T low voltage contractors licenses are restricted to telecommunication and general system low-voltage contracting. Statewide Class LV-G low voltage contractor licenses are restricted to general system low-voltage contracting. Statewide Class LV-U low-voltage licenses are unrestricted.
(2) General low-voltage systems mean any electrical systems, other than alarm or telecommunication systems, involving low-voltage wiring, as defined in Code Section 43-14-2(10.3), including, but not limited to stand-alone intercom systems and call alert systems (audio or visual); distribution wiring for alarm systems and telecommunications systems including local area network systems; sound systems; public address systems; the low voltage side of energy management systems; antenna systems and satellite dish systems, except CATV systems that are exempted in Code Section 43-14-13(i); irrigation system wiring; and low voltage lighting.
(3) To obtain a statewide Class LV-A, Class LV-T, Class LV-U, or Class LV-G contractor license, a person must submit a completed application, meet the prerequisite experience requirements, obtain a score of seventy (70) on the appropriate examination, and pay the required fees.
(4) To qualify to take the examination, applicants for statewide low-voltage contractor license must have a minimum of one (1) year of experience in low-voltage wiring in the license category for which the applicant is applying. Completion of courses in electronics through a school of engineering technology or a technical trade school will be credited as experience equivalent to the actual instructional time up to a maximum of six (6) months.