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State of Minnesota Board of Electricity December 8, 1995 Mr. Peter Kluegel Building Official City of Lino Lakes 1189 Main Street Lino Lakes, MN 55014 Dear Mr. Kluegel: This will acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 4, 1995 notifying the Board that the City of Lino Lakes has adopted City Ordinance No. 18-95 and will provide its own electrical inspection service effective December 18, 1995. The Board has no means to honor your request to transfer Requests for Electrical Inspection or inspection fees to the city, and cannot lawfully do so. When a city establishes or terminates its own electrical inspection program, the entity who issued a Request for Electrical inspection or electrical permit retains responsibility for inspection of the covered installation. However, where a Request for Electrical Inspection was filed with the Board and no electrical work was performed on that installation prior to December 18, 1995, the Board will, upon request of the person who filed the Request for Electrical Inspection, refund the inspection fee to that person, and the city may then require that person to file a permit with the city. Please be aware that the following provisions of City Ordinance 18-95 conflict with Minnesota Statutes and therefore appear to be invalid: Subdivision 3a: This subdivision would prohibit master electricians lawfully employed to do electrical work on thier employer's premises from filing electrical permits with the city. Minnesota Statutes, section 326.242, subdivision 1, provides that a person licensed as Class A Master electrician (and other employees under the master's supervision) may pet form electrical work for the person's employer on property owned or leased by the employer. Subdivision 3b: The provision of this subdivision relevant to home owners which provides that "permits shall be granted only to - a bona fide owner of single family residential property - who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the electrical inspector that he has sufficient knowledge to perform the required electrical work" is tantamount to requiring home owners to be licensed (by having the inspector determine their qualifications) and is therefore more restrictive that the statutes. Political subdivisions have no authority to establish electrical licensing requirements. This requirement would also seem to be unacceptably vague, in that the inspector will have authority to judge the installer's qualifications without any criteria for conducting an examination, thereby assuring unequal treatment of individual applicants. We understand the frustrations in dealing with do-it-yourself jobs, but the remedy the city is seeking could only be achieved through changes in the state law. 1821 University Ave • Ste S-128 • St. Paul, MN 55104-2993 • (612) 642-0800 • Fax (612) 642-0441 • TDD 297-5353 Metro or (800) 627-3529 Greater Minnesota