LICENSE AND BOND UNDER ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS' LICENSE LAW

LICENSE AND BOND UNDER ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS' LICENSE LAW.

Any person, firm, or corporation whose electrical operations are confined to their private plants or holdings is not required to obtain a license and furnish a bond under chapter 169, Laws of 1935.

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                                                                  January 9, 1952

Honorable A. M. Johnson,Director
Department of Labor & Industries
Olympia, Washington                                                                                                Cite as:  AGO 51-53 No. 207

Attention:  !ttJohn C. Hewitt, Chief Electrical Inspector

Dear Sir:

            We are in receipt of your letter of October 22, 1951, wherein you requested an opinion of this office upon the following:

            Do business firms such as Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, Rayonier, Inc., Pictsweet, etc., and others throughout the state which employ their own electrician and confine their electrical operations to their private plants or holdings come under the scope of the Electrical Contractor's License Law?

            Our conclusion may be summarized as follows:

            Any person, firm, or corporation whose electrical operations are confined to their private plants or holdings is not required to obtain a license and furnish a bond under chapter 169, Laws of 1935.

                                                                     ANALYSIS

            Section 11 of chapter 169, Laws of 1935, provides in part:

             [[Orig. Op. Page 2]]

            "No license under the provisions of this act shall be required from any person, firm, corporation or municipal corporation because of work in connection with the installation and/or maintenance of lines or wires for transmission of electricity * * *, or for the work of installing, maintaining or repairing wires, apparatus or appliances used in their business, or in making or distributing electricity, upon the property owned or operated and managed by them; or for the work of installing and repairing ignition or lighting systems for motor vehicles, or as exempted by section 1."  (Emphasis supplied).

            It is clear from the provisions of the act set forth above that it was the intention of the legislature to exclude from the act any person, firm or corporation who hired its own electricians for the purpose of installing and maintaining the electrical equipment on its own property, and was not otherwise engaged in the electrical business.

            It is accordingly our opinion that such firms as Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, Rayonier, Inc., Pictsweet and others similarly situated are not required to have a license or furnish a bond under chapter 169, Laws of 1935.

Very truly yours,

SMITH TROY
Attorney General

BERNARD A. JOHNSON
Assistant Attorney General