Electrical contractors board placed with HVAC agency under interagency agreement after prior contractor management; board says transition cleared backlog

The Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors told the Joint Sunset Committee it transferred administrative operations to an interagency agreement with the state Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Board on June 1 to resolve problems inherited from prior management arrangements.

Jeff Beecroft, acting executive director for the two boards, said the electrical board previously had been managed by a contractor and had only one employee at the time of the transfer. The interagency agreement now has the electrical board paying the heating and air board $14,500 a month for services; the electrical board has since hired additional compliance and office staff and the two boards are working to publish corrected rules. Beecroft said one week of deposits of approximately $132,000 that had not been deposited earlier were handled promptly after the transfer.

Committee members thanked the HVAC board for taking on the administrative responsibility and asked whether operating costs would rise when the electrical board stands up its own independent office. Beecroft said staffing and compliance costs will likely increase if the electrical board establishes separate office space and staff, but there were no immediate plans to raise license fees.

Board members said proposed rules were filed August 20 and would be published at the end of the month; the board also faces a separate Board of Adjustment claim related to the previous management contractor that requires encumbering funds.