SB 5265 was amended in Committee, limiting the new permissions granted in the bill.

Journey level electricians with out-of-state experience may only qualify as an electrical inspector in Washington if licensed in a state with a reciprocal licensing agreement with Washington.

The amendment was adopted to ensure a high quality of electrical work performed in Washington but limits the pool from which out-of-state electrician’s may be selected and authorized to work here at a time when cities are struggling to employ sufficient electrical inspectors.

The bill passed off the Senate floor by a near-unanimous vote.

Date to remember

SB 5265 is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on Wednesday, March 19 at 8 am.

Electrical inspector qualifications expanded in bill resulting from city stakeholder work

January 31, 2025

A bill from Sen. Curtis King (R–Yakima) expands the state’s qualifications criteria for electrical inspectors to allow for out-of-state experience. SB 5265 allows individuals to qualify as an electrical inspector in Washington if they have a journey level electrician certificate issued by L&I and eight years of experience in the electrical construction trade installing and maintaining electrical wiring and equipment, four years of which occurred after obtaining a journey level electrician license or certificate from another state electrical licensing authority.

The bill follows from last year’s SB 6089, also from Sen. King, which created more rigorous standards for electricians to qualify as journey level inspectors. AWC provided feedback to the bill sponsor, expressing concern that the new requirements would create challenges for cities to find, hire, and perform electrical inspections.  In response, SB 6089 directed the Department of Labor and Industries and AWC to work with cities that issue their own electrical permits and perform their own electrical inspections to identify appropriate pathways to qualify as an electrical inspector. View AWC’s coverage of that bill here.

A stakeholder group, including nine cities and AWC staff, met during the 2024 interim and collaborated in identifying potential solutions to the problem. The results can be found in the group’s brief report to the Legislature; recommendations from the report are captured in SB 5265.

AWC supports the bill.

Dates to remember

SB 5265 is scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on Monday, February 3 at 10:30 am.

The bill is scheduled for executive session in the same committee on Friday, February 7 at 8 am.