General. (1) The minimum passing score on any examination or examination section is seventy percent. If examination is requested to be administered by the department, an application is required and the examination must be successfully completed within one year of application or the individual must submit a new application for exam including all appropriate fees.
(2) All examinations are open book.
(a) Candidates may use:
(i) Any original copyrighted material;
(ii) A silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator that is not designed for preprogrammed electrical calculations;
(iii) Copies of chapter
19.28 RCW and this chapter; or
(iv) A foreign language dictionary that does not contain definitions.
(b) Candidates may not use:
(i) Copies of copyrighted material;
(ii) Copies of internet publications, except for RCWs or WACs;
(iii) Personal notes; or
(iv) A personal computing device of any type other than the calculator in (a)(ii) of this subsection.
(3) Administrator, master electrician, and electrician examinations may consist of multiple sections. All sections must be successfully completed within a one-year examination period after beginning the examination. Within the one-year examination period, the candidate does not have to retake any sections successfully completed within the examination period. If all sections are not successfully completed within the one-year period, the candidate must begin a new examination period and retake all sections.
Special accommodations for examination. (4) An applicant for an examination who, due to a specific physical, mental, or sensory impairment, requires special accommodation in examination procedures, may submit a written request to the chief electrical inspector for the specific accommodation needed.
(a) The applicant must also submit to the department a signed and notarized release, authorizing the specifically identified physician or other specialist to discuss the matter with the department representative. The applicant must also submit an individualized written opinion from a physician or other appropriate specialist:
(i) Verifying the existence of a specific physical, mental, or sensory impairment;
(ii) Stating whether special accommodation is needed for a specific examination;
(iii) Stating what special accommodation is necessary; and
(iv) Stating if extra time for an examination is necessary and if so, how much time is required. The maximum allowance for extra time is double the normal time allowed.
(b) The written request for special accommodation and individualized written opinion must be submitted to the department at least six weeks in advance of the examination date and must be accompanied by a completed application and fees as described in WAC
296-46B-909.
(c) Only readers and interpreters provided from the administrative office of the courts and/or approved by the department may be used for reading or interpreting the examination. The applicant will be required to bear all costs associated with providing any reading or interpretive services used for an examination.
(d) Applicants who pass the examination with the assistance of a reader or interpreter will be issued a certificate with the following printed restriction: "Requires reading supervision for product usage." A competent reader or interpreter must be present on any job site where a person with this restriction is performing electrical work as described in chapter
19.28 RCW.
Applicants who pass the examination with the assistance of a mechanical device (e.g., magnifier, etc.) will be issued a certificate with the following printed restriction: "Requires mechanical reading assistance for product usage." Appropriate mechanical reading assistance must be present on any job site where a person with this restriction is performing electrical work as described in chapter
19.28 RCW.
If a candidate successfully retakes the examination without the assistance of a reader or translator, a new certificate will be issued without the restriction.
(5) Applicants who wish to use a foreign language dictionary during an examination must obtain approval at the examination site prior to the examination. Only dictionaries without definitions will be approved for use.
Failed examination appeal procedures. (6) Any candidate who takes an examination and does not pass the examination may request a review of the examination.
(a) The department will not modify examination results unless the candidate presents clear and convincing evidence of error in the grading of the examination.
(b) The department will not consider any challenge to examination grading unless the total of the potentially revised score would result in a passing score.
(7) The procedure for requesting an informal review of examination results is as follows:
(a) The request must be made in writing to the chief electrical inspector and must be received within twenty days of the date of the examination and must request a rescore of the examination. The written request must include the appropriate fees for examination review described in WAC
296-46B-909.
(b) The following procedures apply to a review of the results of the examination:
(i) The candidate will be allowed one hour to review their examination.
(ii) The candidate must identify the challenged questions of the examination and must state the specific reason(s) why the results should be modified with multiple published reference material supporting the candidate's position.
(iii) Within fifteen days of the candidate's review, the department will review the examination and candidate's justification and notify the candidate in writing of the department's decision.
Subjects included in administrator certificate, or master electrician, journeyman, or specialty electrician competency examinations. (8) The following subjects are among those that may be included in the examination for an administrator certificate or electrician certificate of competency. The list is not exclusive. The examination may also contain subjects not on the list.
(a) For general administrators, master journeyman, and journeyman electricians:
AC - Generator; 3-phase; meters; characteristics of; power in AC circuits (power factor); mathematics of AC circuits.
Administration - Chapter
19.28 RCW and this chapter.
Air conditioning - Basic.
Blueprints - Surveys and plot plans; floor plans; service and feeders; electrical symbols; elevation views; plan views.
Building wire.
Cable trays.
Calculations.
Capacitive reactance.
Capacitor - Types; in series and parallel.
Circuits - Series; parallel; combination; basic; branch; outside branch circuits; calculations.
Conductor - Voltage drop (line loss); grounded.
Conduit - Wiring methods.
DC - Generator; motors; construction of motors; meters.
Definitions - Electrical.
Electrical units.
Electron theory.
Fastening devices.
Fire alarms - Introduction to; initiating circuits.
Fuses.
Generation - Electrical principles of.
Grounding.
Incandescent lights.
Inductance - Introduction to; reactance.
Insulation - Of wire.
Mathematics - Square root; vectors; figuring percentages.
Motors/controls - Motors vs. generators/CEMF; single phase; capacitor; repulsion; shaded pole; basic principles of AC motors.
Ohm's Law.
Power.
Power factor - AC circuits; correction of; problems.
Rectifiers.
Resistance - Of wire.
Rigging.
Safety - Electrical shock.
Services.
3-wire system.
Tools.
Transformers - Principles of; types; single-phase; 3-phase connections.
Voltage polarity across a load.
Wiring methods - Conduit; general.
Wiring systems - Less than 600 volts; 480/277 volts; single-and 3-phase delta or wye; distribution systems over 600 volts.
| Note: | The general administrator, master journeyman, and journeyman electrician examinations may also include the subjects listed below for specialty electrician examinations. |
(b) For specialty administrators, master specialty and specialty electricians, the following subjects are among those that may be included in the examination. Examination subjects are restricted to those subjects related to the scope of work of the specialty described in WAC
296-46B-920. The list is not exclusive. The examination may also contain subjects not on the list.
AC - Meters.
Administration - Chapter
19.28 RCW and this chapter.
Appliance circuits or controls.
Blueprints - Floor plans; service and feeders.
Cables - Wiring methods.
Calculations.
Circuits - Series; parallel; combination; basic; outside branch.
Conductor - Voltage drop (line loss); grounded; aluminum or copper.
Conduit - Wiring methods.
Electrical signs, circuits, controls, or services.
Electrical units.
First aid.
Fuses.
General lighting.
Grounding of conductors.
Insulation of wire.
Limited energy circuits or systems.
Maintenance of electrical systems.
Mathematics - Figuring percentage.
Motor circuits, controls, feeders, or services.
Ohm's Law.
Overcurrent protection.
Resistance of wire.
Safety - Electrical shock.
Services.
Sizes of building wire.
3-wire system.
Tools.
Transformer - Ratios; single-phase/3-phase connections.
Failing an administrator certificate exam or electrician certificate of competency examination. (9) Anyone failing an administrator or electrician competency examination may retake the examination by making arrangements with the testing agency and paying the retesting fee.
(10) If the individual makes a failing score, the individual must wait two weeks before being eligible to retest.
(11) If the individual fails an electrician examination or a part of an administrator or master electrician examination three times within a one-year period, the individual must wait three months to retake the failed portion of the examination.
(12) Anyone failing an electrician competency examination may continue to work in the electrical trade if they have a valid electrical training certificate and work under the direct supervision of a certified journeyman or specialty electrician in the proper ratio, per RCW
19.28.161.
Cheating on an examination. (13) Anyone found cheating on an examination, attempting to bribe a proctor or other agent involved in administering an examination, or using inappropriate materials/equipment during an examination will be required to wait at least eleven months before being allowed to reexamine. All such reexaminations will be administered by the department in Tumwater, Washington and the candidate will be required to apply and schedule for the examination with the chief electrical inspector.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 19.28.006, 19.28.010, 19.28.031, 19.28.041, 19.28.061, 19.28.101, 19.28.131, 19.28.161, 19.28.171, 19.28.191, 19.28.201, 19.28.211, 19.28.241, 19.28.251, 19.28.281, 19.28.311, 19.28.321, 19.28.400, 19.28.420, 19.28.490, 19.28.551. 09-20-032, § 296-46B-960, filed 9/29/09, effective 10/31/09; 08-24-048, § 296-46B-960, filed 11/25/08, effective 12/31/08; 06-24-041, § 296-46B-960, filed 11/30/06, effective 12/31/06; 06-05-028, § 296-46B-960, filed 2/7/06, effective 5/1/06; 05-10-024, § 296-46B-960, filed 4/26/05, effective 6/30/05. Statutory Authority: RCW 19.28.006, 19.28.010, 19.28.031, 19.28.041, 19.28.061, 19.28.101, 19.28.131, 19.28.161, 19.28.171, 19.28.191, 19.28.201, 19.28.211, 19.28.241, 19.28.251, 19.28.271, 19.28.311, 19.28.321, 19.28.400, 19.28.420, 19.28.490, 19.28.551, 2002 c 249, chapters 34.05 and 19.28 RCW. 03-09-111, § 296-46B-960, filed 4/22/03, effective 4/22/03.]