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Bill would accept some out‑of‑state experience for electrical-inspector qualifications; cities and unions split
Summary
Senate Bill 5265 would allow certain out-of-state electrical experience to count toward the minimum requirements for electrical inspectors in Washington. City building officials and local governments supported the change to expand the candidate pool; union witnesses opposed it, arguing Washington standards and local labor pools should be used.
Senate Bill 5265 would expand the kinds of experience that qualify a person to be an electrical inspector in Washington to include certain out‑of‑state journey‑level experience after licensure in another state.
Committee staff summarized the bill as an expansion of minimum inspector qualifications to broaden the candidate pool. Jarrett Sackstaff explained that to qualify an individual may hold a journeyman electrician certificate and have eight years of experience in the trade, with four years occurring after obtaining a journeyman license from another state electrical licensing authority. Staff said the preliminary fiscal note showed no fiscal impact.
City officials from Vancouver said the change would help recruit inspectors for large redevelopment projects in border and metro areas. Sri Thirunagari, building official for the city of Vancouver, told the committee that recent waterfront investments drew on talent from the Portland metro area and expanded recognition of out-of-state experience would help meet inspection demand. John Kendall, lead electrical inspector for Vancouver, said recruiting journey-level electricians to become inspectors has been difficult and that widening the candidate pool to include metro-area electricians would be beneficial.
Labor-union witnesses strongly opposed the bill as drafted. Matthew Heffner, executive director of the Certified Electrical Workers of Washington, and IBEW representatives argued Washington has worked to maintain high standards for inspectors and that a pool of qualified local journeyperson electricians is available. They said recent slowdowns in the industry mean experienced local electricians are seeking work and that the bill could reduce standards without added benefit to workers.
Committee members asked staff and witnesses questions about whether the change would lower standards, how local city inspection programs interact with L&I and L&I’s ability to match applicants with openings. Supporters said it is not an across-the-board waiver but a clarification that out-of-state journeyman experience can count toward the existing experience thresholds. Opponents requested stronger assurances that out-of-state credentials meet Washington’s training and code knowledge standards.
No formal committee action occurred at the hearing.
