Asbestos Rule and Qualifying Experience

The source of experience credit will get ‘tested’ in applying and must pass examination! I knuckle-down on another compelling question that will help resolve any ‘asbestos’ issues you may have, and be a knock on ‘opportunity’s’ door…

Q:  I had spoken with you a couple of weeks ago regarding purchasing a Plumbing business.  You informed me in order for me to qualify the license, I would be required to document at least four years of experience.  With my college education hopefully allowing for two years of credit towards that, we concluded I would likely only need to show another two years of experience.  I wasn’t positive I would be able to support my experience (although I do have plenty of plumbing experience) and you mentioned how sometimes in these buy/sell agreements, the seller agrees to stay on the license until I gain enough experience to replace him.  I proposed this to the bank, but one of their stipulations in order to qualify for the business loan is I, myself, hold the license.

I just spoke with the contractor I worked with for several years in the past and he has agreed to fill out the forms and support my experience in any way necessary to fulfill the requirements for me to sit for the exams.  He had a CA General Building license during the time I gained industry experience (on and off from 2014-2017), however he moved to Florida and let his CA license expire.  Is he still okay to sign for me, or will the fact that his license is not current as of today raise a red flag?  And given what I’ve told you today, do you believe I will qualify 

for the exams?

A:  First, the person who signs off on your experience does not need to be currently actively licensed in California.

As to whether or not you will qualify, in my opinion you still have several “red flags” that will likely come up. The one which concerns me the most is even though you worked with the General Contractor, you weren’t an actual employee of his, so your work would be considered self-employed.  Self-employed experience is the most difficult form of experience to get the CSLB to recognize, as it’s difficult to verify.  You will likely have to provide additional documentation such as permits you pulled for the plumbing work, contracts, etc.  We’ve seen the CSLB give an applicant 1/3 credit of the time they are claiming, and we’ve seen them give applicants no credit if they cannot produce additional documentation. 

Q:  I have a question about the “C-22” (Asbestos Abatement) classification.  Is it required that you hold a certain classification first before you can obtain the “C-22”?  I’ve heard you have to have the “A” (General Engineering) first, and I’ve also heard that you must have the “B” (General Building) classification before you can apply to add the “C-22”.

A:  Neither of those is correct.  While you do need to hold certain classifications first before you obtain the Asbestos certification, you do not need to even have a Contractor’s license in place in order to obtain the “C-22”.  The “C-22” is its own classification.  There are other requirements to qualify for the “C-22”, so if you, or anyone else, want more information please feel free to contact our office.