No matter our age or experience, taking an exam still sends ‘chills’ up your back! For this NV contractor I find a ‘cool’ way to meet their goal. I share some insight on reciprocity from state to state, and help another contractor understand the license options on an unexpected departure…
Q: Our company has a “C-21” (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) license in Nevada. Our qualifying party left the company recently and we are on the hunt within our organization to find someone to take over as the Qualifier. One of our employees previously held a “C-21B” contractor’s license for his previous company. Will that work for us to designate him and he would not be required to take exams?
A: The full “C-21”has a different trade exam than the “C-21B” alone, therefore if you wanted him to qualify the full “C-21”, he would be required to obtain references certifying his experience in the other sub-categories of the “C-21” (refrigeration, sheet, boilers, and industrial piping), and pass the “C-21” exam. If your company doesn’t need the other sub-categories and only does air conditioning work, you can use him as the Qualifier and when applying to add him, request that the NSCB “downgrade” your license from a “C-21” to a “C-21B”.
Q: I have what I think is probably a silly question: do contractor’s licenses translate from State to State? For example, if we have an employee who has an AZ license, can we use that license in CA?
A: I am only familiar with CA, NV, and AZ. There is a reciprocal agreement between the three that can make it easier to obtain a license, however contractor’s licenses are not automatically recognized from State to State. Each State has their own requirements, so you are required to go through the licensing process in each State.
Q: Our current Qualifier is wanting to be removed from our license and one of our Officers is planning to take over as Responsible Managing Officer (RMO) on the license. However, we had originally applied for the license a year and a half ago with that Officer as the Qualifier and the CSLB rejected her experience. Since we were in a hurry to obtain the license, rather than have her gather the requested items, we hired our current Qualifier, who was already licensed. With the understanding now that it may take several months for our Officer to go through the approval process, we are considering hiring another licensed contractor in the meantime. How should we proceed?
A: That’s up to you. Once your current Qualifier disassociates, you have an automatic 90 days to replace him. If you submit the application for your Officer to become the Qualifier and the approval and testing process is looking like it’s going to take more than 90 days, you can request a one-time 90-day extension. Six months is usually ample time to complete the replacement process. However, if you want to play it completely safe, you can hire another licensed contractor to act as the Qualifier in the interim. For this option, you would need to complete the process of putting the already licensed Qualifier on your license, and then once complete, submit the application for your Officer to take over.