It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows
SECTION 1. Sections 5-20-17 and 5-20-25 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-20 entitled "Plumbers" are hereby amended to read as follows:
5-20-17. Qualifications of journeyperson -- Application fee. -- No application for a journeyperson's license shall be filed by the department of health nor shall any applicant be permitted to take the examination for a license as a journeyperson plumber, unless:
(1) The application is accompanied by an application fee of fifty dollars ($50.00);
{DEL (2) The applicant is a citizen or legal resident of the United
States; and DEL}
{DEL (3) DEL} {ADD (2) ADD} The applicant shall have possessed for at least
four (4) years prior to the filing of the application a certificate of
registration in full force and effect from the department of health of
the state specifying that person as a registered apprentice plumber
and the application of that applicant is accompanied with an affidavit
or affidavits of his or her employer or former employers or other
reasonably satisfactory evidence showing that the applicant has been
actually engaged in plumbing work as an apprentice plumber in the
{DEL state DEL} {ADD state of Rhode Island for eight thousand (8,000) hours of
on the job training ADD} during {DEL those four (4) years DEL} which shall include
the successful completion of {DEL one hundred forty-four (144) DEL} {ADD three
hundred (300) ADD} hours of {ADD related ADD} instruction {DEL per year DEL} at {DEL an
accredited DEL} training program {ADD accredited by the department of
health ADD} or the application is accompanied with an affidavit or other
reasonably satisfactory evidence showing that the applicant has been a
registered student in a recognized college, university, or trade
school and has pursued a course of plumbing or sanitary engineering
for at least two (2) academic years, or is the recipient of an
associate degree in either plumbing or sanitary engineering, and has
thereafter been registered by the department of health as an
apprentice plumber for at least two (2) years and {ADD at all times while
being ADD} employed as a registered apprentice plumber by a duly licensed
master plumber in this state for a period of two (2) years or the
application is accompanied by an affidavit or other reasonably
satisfactory evidence showing that the applicant possesses a
certificate of license, issued under the laws of another state,
{ADD provided that the requirements are the same as the state ADD}
specifying that person as a journeyperson plumber. {ADD The records of
the hours of on the job training and the hours of related instruction
should be maintained in a mutually responsible manner, through a joint
effort on the part of the master plumber and the apprentice. ADD} The
completed application is to be filed with the department at least
thirty (30) days prior to the examination date.
5-20-25. Registration of apprentices. -- Any person who has
agreed to work {ADD a minimum of eight thousand (8,000) hours over a
period of time of not less than ADD} {DEL four (4) years DEL} {ADD five (5) years ADD} under the direct
supervision and instruction of a master plumber or journeyman plumber
as an apprentice to learn the plumbing business, and that agreement is
approved by the division of professional regulation, shall be
registered {ADD for an initial period of five (5) years ADD} by the director
of the department of health and shall have issued to him or her upon
the payment of a fee of {DEL five dollars ($5.00) DEL} {ADD fifty dollars
($50.00) ADD} , a certificate showing that person to be a registered
apprentice. Every person who continues to work as an apprentice
{ADD after the initial five (5) years registration ADD} shall be required to
register again as an apprentice and pay the fee {DEL of five dollars
($5.00) yearly DEL} .
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 1998.
