Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

H-2281.1
                                 HOUSE BILL 2412
     State of Washington         68th Legislature      2024 Regular Session
     By Representatives Schmidt, Berry, Timmons, Fitzgibbon, Street, and
     Bergquist
     Read first time 01/17/24.   Referred to Committee on Labor & Workplace
     Standards.
      AN ACT Relating to making technical corrections to plumbing
  supervision and trainee hours reporting; amending RCW 18.106.070; and
  reenacting and amending RCW 18.106.010.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1. RCW 18.106.010 and 2021 c 65 s 15 are each reenacted and
 amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Advisory board" means the state advisory board of plumbers.
     (2) "Department" means the department of labor and industries.
     (3) "Director" means the director of department of labor and
 industries.
     (4) "Journey level plumber" means any person who has been issued
 a certificate of competency by the department of labor and industries
 as provided in this chapter.
     (5) "Like-in-kind" means having similar characteristics such as
 plumbing size, type, and function, and being in the same location.
     (6) "Medical gas piping" means oxygen, nitrous oxide, high
 pressure nitrogen, medical compressed air, and other medical gas or
 equipment, including but not limited to medical vacuum systems.
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     (7) "Medical gas piping installer" means a journey level plumber
 who has been issued a medical gas piping installer endorsement.
     (8) "Plumber trainee" or "trainee" means any person who has been
 issued a plumbing training certificate under this chapter but has not
 been issued an appropriate certificate of competency for work being
 performed. A trainee may perform plumbing work if that person is
 under the appropriate level of supervision.
     (9) "Plumbing" means that craft involved in installing, altering,
 repairing and renovating potable water systems, liquid waste systems,
 and medical gas piping systems within a building as defined by the
 plumbing code as adopted and amended by the state building code
 council, and includes all piping, fixtures, pumps, and plumbing
 appurtenances that are used for rainwater catchment and reclaimed
 water systems within a building.
     (10) "Plumbing contractor" means any person, corporate or
 otherwise, who engages in, or offers or advertises to engage in, any
 plumbing work covered by the provisions of this chapter by way of
 trade or business, or any person, corporate or otherwise, who employs
 anyone, or offers or advertises to employ anyone, to engage in any
 plumbing work as defined in this section. The plumbing contractor is
 responsible for ensuring the plumbing business is operated in
 accordance with rules adopted under this chapter.
     (11) "Residential service plumber" means anyone who has been
 issued a certificate of competency limited to performing residential
 service plumbing in an existing residential structure.
     (a) In single-family dwellings and duplexes only, a residential
 service plumber may service, repair, or replace previously existing
 fixtures, piping, and fittings that are outside the interior wall or
 above the floor, often, but not necessarily in a like-in-kind manner.
 In any residential structure, a residential service plumber may
 perform plumbing work as needed to perform drain cleaning and may
 perform leak repairs on any pipe, fitting, or fixture from the leak
 to the next serviceable connection.
     (b) A residential service plumber may directly supervise plumber
 trainees provided the trainees have been supervised by an appropriate
 journey level or specialty plumber for the trainees' first two
 thousand hours of training.
     (c) A residential service plumber may not perform plumbing for
 new construction of any kind.
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     (12) "Residential structures" means single-family dwellings,
 duplexes, and multiunit buildings that do not exceed three stories.
     (13) "((Service)) Residential service plumbing" means plumbing
 work in ((which)) residential structures where previously existing
 fixtures, fittings, and piping ((is)) are repaired or replaced often,
 but not necessarily((,)) in a like-in-kind manner, or plumbing work
 being performed as necessary for drain cleaning.
     (14) "Specialty plumber" means anyone who has been issued a
 specialty certificate of competency limited to:
     (a) Installation, maintenance, and repair of the plumbing of
 single-family dwellings, duplexes, and apartment buildings that do
 not exceed three stories;
     (b) Maintenance and repair of backflow prevention assemblies; or
     (c)   A   domestic   water   pumping   system  consisting   of   the
 installation,    maintenance,   and   repair   of the    pressurization,
 treatment, and filtration components of a domestic water system
 consisting of: One or more pumps; pressure, storage, and other tanks;
 filtration and treatment equipment; if appropriate, a pitless
 adapter;   along   with   valves,   transducers,  and   other   plumbing
 components that:
     (i) Are used to acquire, treat, store, or move water suitable for
 either drinking or other domestic purposes, including irrigation, to:
 (A) A single-family dwelling, duplex, or other similar place of
 residence; (B) a public water system, as defined in RCW 70A.120.020
 and as limited under RCW 70A.120.040; or (C) a farm owned and
 operated by a person whose primary residence is located within thirty
 miles of any part of the farm;
     (ii) Are located within the interior space, including but not
 limited to an attic, basement, crawl space, or garage, of a
 residential structure, which space is separated from the living area
 of the residence by a lockable entrance and fixed walls, ceiling, or
 floor;
     (iii) If located within the interior space of a residential
 structure, are connected to a plumbing distribution system supplied
 and installed into the interior space by either: (A) A person who,
 pursuant to RCW 18.106.070 or 18.106.090, possesses a valid temporary
 permit or certificate of competency as a journey level plumber,
 specialty plumber, or trainee, as defined in this chapter; or (B) a
 person exempt from the requirement to obtain a certified plumber to
 do such plumbing work under RCW 18.106.150.
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      (15) "Unsatisfied final judgment" means a judgment or final tax
  warrant that has not been satisfied either through payment, court-
  approved settlement, discharge in bankruptcy, or assignment under RCW
  19.72.070.
     Sec. 2. RCW 18.106.070 and 2020 c 153 s 10 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) The department shall issue a certificate of competency to all
 applicants who have passed the examination and have paid the fee for
 the certificate. The certificate may include a photograph of the
 holder. The certificate shall bear the date of issuance, and be
 renewed every three years, upon application, on or before the
 birthdate of the holder. The department shall renew a certificate of
 competency if the applicant: (a) Pays the renewal fee assessed by the
 department; and (b) during the past three years has completed twenty-
 four hours of continuing education approved by the department with
 the advice of the advisory board, including four hours related to
 electrical safety. For holders of the specialty plumber certificate
 under RCW 18.106.010(14)(c), the continuing education may comprise
 both electrical and plumbing education with a minimum of twelve of
 the required twenty-four hours of continuing education in plumbing.
 If a person fails to renew the certificate by the renewal date, he or
 she must pay a doubled fee. If the person does not renew the
 certificate within ninety days of the renewal date, he or she must
 retake the examination and pay the examination fee.
     The journey level plumber, specialty plumber, and residential
 service plumber certificates of competency, the medical gas piping
 installer endorsement, and the temporary permit provided for in this
 chapter grant the holder the right to engage in the work of plumbing
 as a journey level plumber, specialty plumber, residential service
 plumber, or medical gas piping installer, in accordance with their
 provisions throughout the state and within any of its political
 subdivisions on any job or any employment without additional proof of
 competency or any other license or permit or fee to engage in the
 work. This section does not preclude employees from adhering to a
 union security clause in any employment where such a requirement
 exists.
     (2) A person who is indentured to an apprenticeship program
 approved under chapter 49.04 RCW for the plumbing construction trade
 or who is learning the plumbing construction trade may work in the
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 plumbing construction trade if supervised by a certified journey
 level plumber or a certified specialty plumber in that plumber's
 specialty. All apprentices and individuals learning the plumbing
 construction trade shall obtain a plumbing training certificate from
 the department. The certificate shall authorize the holder to learn
 the plumbing construction trade while under the direct supervision of
 a journey level plumber or a specialty plumber working in his or her
 specialty. The certificate may include a photograph of the holder.
 The holder of the plumbing training certificate shall renew the
 certificate annually. At the time of renewal, the holder shall
 provide the department with an accurate list of the holder's
 employers in the plumbing construction industry for the previous year
 and the number of hours worked for each employer. ((Failure to
 provide plumbing hours worked for each employer is a violation of
 this chapter, subject to an infraction under RCW 18.106.320, and must
 result in nonrenewal of the trainee certificate.)) A fee shall be
 charged for the issuance or renewal of the certificate. The
 department shall set the fee by rule. The fee shall cover but not
 exceed the cost of administering and enforcing the trainee
 certification and supervision requirements of this chapter.
     (3)(a) Trainee supervision shall consist of a trainee being on
 ((the same)) a jobsite and under the control of either a journey
 level plumber, residential service plumber, or an appropriate
 specialty plumber who has an applicable certificate of competency
 issued under this chapter. ((Either)) Subject to the ratio of
 trainees in subsection (4) of this section, either a journey level
 plumber, residential service plumber, or an appropriate specialty
 plumber shall be:
     (i) On the same jobsite as the trainee for a minimum of seventy-
 five percent of each working day unless otherwise provided in this
 chapter((.)); or
     (ii) Available via mobile phone or similar device in a manner
 that allows both audio and visual direction to the trainee from the
 supervising plumber. Remote trainee supervision using these types of
 technology is only permitted in cases that meet the following
 criteria:
     (A) The trainee has more than two thousand hours of training;
     (B) The supervising plumber is no more than forty miles from the
 jobsite; and
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     (C) The scope of work on the trainee's jobsite is residential
 service plumbing in a residential structure.
     (b) An individual who has a current training certificate and who
 has successfully completed or is currently enrolled in an approved
 apprenticeship program or in a technical school program in the
 plumbing construction trade in a school approved by the workforce
 training and education coordinating board, may work without direct
 on-site supervision during the last six months of meeting the
 practical experience requirements of this chapter.
     (4)(a) Until December 31, ((2025)) 2028, the ratio of trainees to
 certified journey level, residential service, or specialty plumbers
 working on a jobsite must be:
     (i) Not more than three trainees, each working on ((any one)) a
 separate residential structure jobsite performing residential service
 plumbing for every certified specialty plumber or journey level
 plumber working as a specialty plumber;
     (ii) Not more than one trainee working on any one jobsite for
 every certified journey level plumber working as a journey level
 plumber; ((and))
     (iii) Not more than one trainee working on any one jobsite for
 every certified residential service plumber; and
     (iv) Not more than three trainees working on a residential
 construction jobsite performing plumbing installation for every
 certified specialty plumber or journey level plumber working as a
 specialty plumber.
     (b) After December 31, ((2025)) 2028, not more than two trainees
 may work on any residential structure jobsite for every certified
 specialty plumber or journey level plumber working as a specialty
 plumber.
     (5) An individual who has a current training certificate and who
 has successfully completed or is currently enrolled in a medical gas
 piping installer training course approved by the department may work
 on medical gas piping systems if the individual is under the direct
 supervision of a certified medical gas piping installer who holds a
 medical gas piping installer endorsement one hundred percent of a
 working day on a one-to-one ratio.
     (6) The training to become a certified plumber must include not
 less than sixteen hours of classroom training established by the
 director with the advice of the advisory board. The classroom
 training must include, but not be limited to, electrical wiring
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 safety, grounding, bonding, and other related items plumbers need to
 know to work under this chapter.
     (7) All persons who are certified plumbers before January 1,
 2003, are deemed to have received the classroom training required in
 subsection (6) of this section.
     (8)(a) The department shall instruct the advisory board of
 plumbers to convene a subgroup that includes the statewide
 association representing plumbing, heating, and cooling contractors;
 the union representing plumbers and pipefitters; the association
 representing plumbing contractors who employ union plumbers and
 pipefitters; and other directly affected stakeholders after the
 completion of the 2023 legislative session, the ((2024)) 2027
 legislative session, and every three years thereafter.
     (b) The work group shall evaluate the effects that the trainee
 ratio changes have had on the industry, including public safety and
 industry response to public demand for plumbing services. The work
 group shall determine a sustainable plan for maintaining sufficient
 numbers of plumbers and trainees within the plumbing workforce to
 safely meet the needs of the public. The report is due to the
 standing labor committees of the legislature before December 1st of
 each year that the work group convenes. The work group shall conclude
 on receipt of the report by the legislature. Within current funding
 appropriated to the department, the department must reimburse each
 member of the work group in accordance with the provisions of RCW
 43.03.050 and 43.03.060 for each day in which the member is actually
 engaged in attendance of meetings of the advisory board.
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Statutes affected: 
Original Bill: 18.106.070