May 24, 2000

All telecommunications contractors must register soon

TUMWATER -- The state Department of Labor and Industries is warning anyone currently installing or maintaining telecommunications systems that they need to be licensed as an electrical contractor or registered with L&I as a general or telecommunications/cabling specialty contractor by June 8.

If those who are not licensed don’t register or obtain a license by the deadline, they cannot be "grandfathered in" and must meet all the testing requirements of a new telecommunications law passed by the 2000 Legislature.

State law has long required any contractor doing telecommunications installation or maintenance -- generally involving data cabling -- to be registered as a general or specialty contractor with L&I. But the telecommunications law will require all telecommunications contractors to become licensed specifically for this kind of work. They also must obtain a permit and inspection for any major telecommunications work they perform.

A test now being developed by L&I in collaboration with the telecommunications industry and a national testing agency will be designed to accurately judge whether a person knows how to safely install and maintain telecommunications equipment.

The Legislature passed the telecommunications law because unsafe installations were found to be a problem in the state’s rapidly expanding telecommunications industry. The law will require that telecommunications contractors be insured and bonded and licensed with L&I. They must also appoint a telecommunications administrator who has been certified by L&I