ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area CA-Certification Floundering Statistics

We received the same letter as "E57" did (the one he posted recently).


My Primary question would be:
Since most of my Tech. Studies have been done by "Self-Study" methods, will independent studies still qualify for Continued Edu-mication Credits?
(how would one prove of this, other than presenting text books, etc., or going on a tech. information Bore-A-Thon!?).

Scott 35

I Florida you can use online services like Red Vector for CEUs. That is basically self study. You get several paragraphs to read and then take a little quiz. I burned out 8 hours of CEUs in about an hour and a half last year but I really just took the quizzes. It was moldy old stuff.

Trumpy, that letter is the ONLY official correspondence that I have seen. That 2003 Newsletter from the CSLB shows up quarterly in the form of junkmail, if at all. And if you look at it, it's not exactly screaming pertinance. The CSLB has no hand in this law.

To my knowledge that letter is the first time the DAS, a department that has no real contact with the trade, has done what they should have done from the beginning, get all of our addresses from the CSLB and send a letter in mass mailing. Something that every bonding, insurance, tool, and office supply company seems to be able to do with a data-base available from the CSLB with the names, addresses, and phone numbers of every contractor in the state.

Otherwise over the years, it has been by word of mouth, generated from things like this. Mired in political content from day one, it was the only real information about this for a long time. So political that we can barely touch the topic here....

constructionweblinks

The Union

Merit associations

In the early days, mostly things like this...

And an organization called FLAC, who's web site does not seem to be up any longer, and one of my own that I have been asked not to link to here from ECN due to political content. (Which I am OK with... As I rather enjoy the non-political ideas of this site.) Anyway my point was, that until recently, the only way you may have known about it was from the newsletters of organizations and associations that not everyone is privy to, and have thier own agendas. Then word of mouth after that. But NOTHING OFFICIAL from the agency of our government running this fiasco to the masses. Even until recently, the website of thiers, that everyone has been guiding people to for official information has been lacking a lot of real information, and for many things, still is. Like enforcement, the coninuing edjucation requirement, and the fact that even the many postponements are published elsewhere first...

I guess we will have to wait for information from Sandsnow's "Mole"......

I received the same "Reminder"

How in the heck can you send a "Reminder" when there was never any notice sent in the first place? I've never received anything as an EC previously and as a Cert Electrician, I've heard absolutely nothing since my card came in the mail > 3 yrs ago

Another thing that I noticed is that to get info or even contact info, you must go to the DAS website. Does that mean that you must have an internet connection and web abilities to be an EC?? I know guys that don't even know how to turn a computer on and off.

Scott, they also for some time had a phone number to call for information (a voicemail recording), that also refered you to the website.... But the only way to get that phone number was from the website, only to be reffered to the website again. It had the same recording for years.

(415)703-4917
It has been only slightly modified, it still reffers you to the website. (Spainish option, and some detial about what you might owe in money.) But offers another number to call (415)703-4919, and you can leave a message, I doubt anyone has ever recieved a return call from it about any question they might have had. It's a black hole.........

Or you can do what I did on a few occassions, (If you're in town, e-mail me I tell you a good place to park.) Show up in person at thier office, and harrass the secretary for information, who at first reffers you to the website, but will then be very forthcoming in the fact that they have no idea about some of the many things still to be covered.

Or: (I have had some luck with this too)
Call or write thier main office.

San Francisco operational services
455 Golden Gate Avenue, 10th floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 703-4920
(415) 703-5477 (fax)

Or for that matter any of thier other offices.... http://www.dir.ca.gov/DAS/das_offices.htm

But I warn you now, any information that you do get, may be sparse, misleading, or inaccurate. Because they just don't know.... (That is after you get past them refferring you to the website.) Truthfully, and I don't think it is just my sole opinion anymore, they have no clue what they are doing. I used to think that the lack of information was part of the conspiracy, (It still might be* ) but really, these people are idiots, and they are toying with our futures.

* At this point anyone without an application in before Dec 30,2005, has to become an Electrician Trainee, at the cost of ~$500 a semester for several years, or go back to being an apprentice in an approved program, for COMMERCIAL WORK ONLY. General Journeyman

But you still have time to limit yourself, possibly for good, to residential only, as a "Residential Journeyman". Otherwise you would have to become an "ET", or apprentice, to do commercial work.

IMO you are an Electrician, or you are not! This division of Commercial / Residential is bogus. (The difference lays in the customer, and depending on local codes, the material, not the skill.) I could say more but would enter politics specific only to San Francisco, from what I understand.



[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 06-18-2006).]

This late notice, but it is on the website. It doesn't have a direct link from the Elect. Cert. Page.

Informational meeting DAS's electrician certification unit
Date June 19, 2006
Time 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Place California State Building
28 Civic Center Plaza
Santa Ana, CA
Room – 850

It was under the DAS meeting schedule.
http://www.dir.ca.gov/DAS/DASMeetings.html#ce

It would have been nice to see a notice on the elect. cert. page, but that would make too much sense. My "mole" told me about it, but I was out of town all weekend.

To e57:
You guys know everything I know.

To Scott 35:
While self study courses are valid, they should not be permitted for the entire quantity of hours required. Just my opinion. In spite of all the State "stuff" that has happened with this program, the continuing education remains the one good thing that can come from this regulation or law. I think the self-study thing could be circumvented by too many people.

I know someone who does on-line coursework, (Creates and Teaches that is) for U of Pheonix. (It's now or was reffered to as "distance learning"?) And getting an idea of how that operated, vs some of the other stuff I have heard about that type of course work, it could work? The same person taught me a little about "Just-in-time-knowledge". A concept of creating bite-sized lesson plans for specific tasks. I have been trying it over the last few years and it seems to work. But thats a different topic....


However, we are talking about the notoriously slow to act DAS of the State of California. Although continuing education is mandated by the legislation, (The labor code portion) the regulation protion of enacting any of it is anyones guess right now. They have to go back to the Legislature to modify the Labor Code, but they do not for any regulation, they could re-write them tomorrow. (Not that I expect them to act that quickly) What I am trying to say is that it all subject to radical change at thier whim. And all of that is subject to the DAS, and these people, the CAC .

It took them a few years to write tests, and rewrite them, and about 5 years to write 2 curriculums, one for Residential, and Commercial. (Cant find them on-line anymore - first incarnations were sparse) Not to mention the fact that they spent the better part of the last six years trying to get rid of apprenticeship programs, community colleges and technical schools that they deemed unworthy, I doubt on-line education will be thier thing..... Although many got to keep thier programs, I doubt they will allow training to be provided by some of the many fly-by-night "Get-your-license" type schools out there. (Which I think is a good thing)

So, I'll wager several postponements at the last minute over the next few years, before the final word on this.

Note that the words "Educational Provider" are capitolized here , in the same way they are here . You know, in that "Party of the First Part" method......

My mole reports:
The update of the test to the 2002 NEC is in the works, shooting for the fall of this year.

Hopefully the renewal issue will get put onto the agenda. Once it's on the agenda, it stays there until resolved. There are people involved who are pushing for the renewal and continuing education to be firmed up.

Enforcement. This will probably have to go back to the legislature. Since nothing was written into the reg's and no one wants to do it, someone will have to be mandated to do it. There is a rumor of some GC's writing a requirement for certified electricians into their contracts. Unsubstantiated, but hard to believe all the same. Likely it is on Public money jobs

"The update of the test to the 2002 NEC is in the works, shooting for the fall of this year."

About a year late.....

If they plan to test using the 2002 NEC, maybe they'll change this too.

From the "California Code of Regulations Title 8, Chapter 2, Subchapter IV, 290.1 Definitions":


That should take a few years and a few more meetings in fancy hotels