Welcome to the inaugural edition of On the Level, the TDLR newsletter for Texas building trades. I’m Brian Francis, Executive Director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The purpose of our newsletter is to reach out to you, our licensees in the building trades, so that we can share important information unique to your profession and let you know how important you are to our agency and our mission: to earn the trust of Texans every day by providing innovative regulatory solutions for our licensees and those they serve.

Serving you with consistency, transparency, and efficiency is our goal each and every day at TDLR. Some of you have been TDLR licensees for as long as I’ve been with the agency (since 1999), or even longer, and you’ve seen us grow from a small agency with a handful of programs to become the state’s main occupational licensing agency, now with 39 programs. Along the way, our building trades programs have been at the core of the important work we do to protect public health and safety.

As your industries and trades have grown with the success of Texas—the best place in America to start and own your own business—so too have our responsibilities grown as a state agency charged with licensing and regulating these vital professions. I’m proud of the work we have done over the years to automate the services we provide, lower your licensing and renewal fees, and streamline regulations whenever and wherever possible. There’s a lot more work to do together on all these fronts, and I want you to know that no matter how much we take on as an agency, our primary goal will always be to serve you, our customer, and help you on your path to success.

We hope you will find the information here useful and informative. We will keep trying to find new ways to help you stay informed about important changes, trends, new laws and rules, outreach efforts, and anything else that may impact your livelihood and profession here in Texas.

Please feel free to reach out to me or my staff any time at OnTheLevel@tdlr.texas.gov if you have ideas or suggestions for how we can improve the services we provide to you and to the people of Texas.

Yours in Service,

Brian E. Francis 

1. A commercial kitchen installed in a trailer is covered by the National Electrical Code (NEC). True or False?
2. Except for freight elevators, the unlocking zone for elevators shall extend from the landing floor level to a point not less than ____ nor more than ____.
3. What does TAS mean?
4. Is experience in Animal Control acceptable for registration as a Code Enforcement Officer?
5. Are Mold Assessors exempt from licensure requirements in the areas covered by the Governor’s Disaster Declaration?
6. Is an Air Conditioning Contractor’s License required to offer to install a 3-ton “Mini-Split” Ductless AC System?
7. Heating boilers used to heat buildings that are exclusively for residential use and that have accommodations for not more than _________ families are exempt by Texas Law.

The Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act requires TDLR to adopt the revised National Electrical Code (NEC) as the electrical code for the state of Texas. In 2020, TDLR will adopt the 2020 NEC as the electrical code for the state of Texas and establish it as the "minimum standard" for all electrical work in Texas covered by the act. The proposed effective date will be September 1, 2020.

Chapter 1305.201 of the Act gives municipalities the authority to make local amendments to the 202 NEC. However, any proposal to amend these standards should be done in accordance with NEC 90.4, which stipulates "the authority having jurisdiction may waive specific requirements in this Code or permit alternative methods where it is assured that equivalent objectives can be achieved by establishing and maintaining effective safety."

Also beginning September 1, 2020, all examinations for state electrical licenses will be based on the 2020 NEC. The state electrical exams are available through PSI, who contracts with TDLR to develop, maintain, and administer the state electrician licensing examinations. It is very important for license candidates to review the Candidate Information Bulletin (CIB), which contains detailed information regarding the examinations and is vital to understanding the process.

If you have questions about the NEC, contact TDLR's Chief Electrical Inspector Jerry Daniel at jerry.daniel@tdlr.texas.gov or Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector Larry Reichle at larry.reichle@tdlr.texas.gov

The TDLR Boiler Program currently regulates approximately 53,500 boilers statewide. When many people think about a boiler, they think it is creating steam for use in the industrial field or at dry cleaners.

However, the majority of the boilers regulated by TDLR are being used to heat water used for domestic applications (such as school gym bathrooms and showers, school kitchens, apartment complexes, hotels, local businesses and even swimming pools and spas. Boilers can also be used to heat those same buildings. All residential homes have a boiler, commonly known as a hot water heater, but they are exempt from regulation by TDLR.  In short, any appliance that heats water in a business may be a boiler and subject to regulation by TDLR.

For all new equipment installations, building owners, architects, and general contractors need to ask their code-related elevator/escalator questions before the job starts. Asking questions after the installation is complete will not only result in equipment down time, but could result in costly expenditures for required equipment modifications. Please contact TDLR with any concerns or questions before you start work to ensure that you easily and painlessly pass your acceptance inspection. Call us at 1-800-803-9202

“Don’t risk your equipment failing its Acceptance Inspection because of non-compliance. Get the answers before the job starts.”

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation oversees 39 licensing programs. Of those, 31 programs have an advisory board or committee responsible for providing important technical knowledge and industry expertise and giving the Commission and TDLR staff real-world insight. The board members may include licensees, representatives from regulated businesses and industries, public members and other professionals. 

TDLR currently has the following Advisory Board vacancies: 

• Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors Advisory Board (2) vacancies;
• Electrical Safety and Licensing Advisory Board (2) vacancies;
• Registered Sanitarian Advisory Committee (2) vacancies;

Advisory board members are appointed by the chairman of the Texas Commission on Licensing and Regulation. There is no financial compensation for appointees, however those selected to serve enjoy great satisfaction in knowing the significance of their participation and their impact on the professions they serve. 

Advisory Board meetings are held approximately 1-2 times a year, depending on statutory requirements and the discretion of the Executive Director and the Commission Chair. The meetings are held in our North Campus Office located at 1106 Clayton Lane, Suite 125E, Austin, TX.  It’s important to note that if selected to serve on one of our boards, an applicant must attend meetings when scheduled, without a quorum we cannot conduct business, i.e., rule review, penalty matrix, criminal conviction guidelines, etc. 

Find full vacancy descriptions here. please go to the following link.

If you’re interested in becoming a member of an advisory board or committee, please complete an on-line application.  If you have any questions about the board application process, please contact the Office of Strategic Communication. 

Texas has been working to improve accessibility for 50 years. The Texas Architectural Barriers Act (TABA) actually precedes the federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and was passed in 1969 as Article 678g, Vernon's Civil Statutes. Throughout the years, the law has been amended to enhance accessibility in Texas. Since June 1994, TABA has required newly built or substantially renovated construction projects to be accessible for persons with disabilities. To implement this groundbreaking state law, TDLR developed the Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS) for use when construction occurs. Although the TAS is based upon the ADA Standards for Accessible Design, TDLR does not administer or enforce the federally-regulated ADA.  nbsp;

All publicly funded, commercial and public accommodation construction projects subject to the Act must comply with the TAS.  However, projects of $50,000 or more have the additional requirement of registration, review, and inspection by a TDLR Registered Accessibility Specialist (RAS). A construction project may be anything from replacement of door hardward in an office to the complete construction of a new building. 

Any questions may be directed to the TDLR Elimination of Architectural Barriers Program at: 512-539-5669 or techinfo@tdlr.texas.gov

The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Program has a new Program and Compliance Chief. Bill Weatherly was the general manager of Wattinger Service Company, a Commercial AC & Plumbing Company – Union Labor (Local 286) in Austin from 1997 to 2018.  He’s also a former member of the Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Advisory Board.

Before that, he was Senior Sales Executive for The Trane Company, Inc, Building Services Manager for Johnson Controls/Austin TX (1986-1994), and Senior Sales Engineer for Johnson Controls/Dallas TX (1979-1986). Bill served in the United States Navy as Petty Officer 2nd Class from 1970-1975 (USS Tripoli LPH-10 / USS California CGN-36).

TDLR has revised and updated the three (3) Mold licensing examinations that were originally transferred from the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in 2017. These exams are required for licensure as a Mold Assessment Technician, Mold Assessment Consultant, and Mold Remediation Contractor. You will find a more detailed description of each exam, along with an extensive new reference list, in the Candidate Information Bulletin at: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/mld/mldexam.htm#CIB.

ACR Registered Technicians with at least two years of experience can now advance to become state Certified Technicians. An examination is required before the certification is issued. The required experience must have been gained either under supervision of a Texas-licensed air conditioning and refrigeration contractor or as a part of U.S. military service. For information on the required examination, please see: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/acr/acrexam.htm. 

You can file a complaint online for most TDLR programs at the following link: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/complaints/

You will be asked to choose whether you are filing a complaint against a licensed or an unlicensed person or business. If you are unsure about whether the person or business holds a TDLR license, use the unlicensed link.

 If your complaint does not allege a violation of the law or rules or does not include enough information for TDLR to investigate the allegations, TDLR will not open a complaint. If you want to receive information about the status or progress of your complaint, you must provide your name and contact information when you submit the complaint.

Read more about TDLR's complaint investigation and resolution process.

The disaster proclamation for Hurricane Harvey is still in effect; Governor Abbott has been renewing it on a monthly basis. You can find the Governor’s renewal proclamations at: https://gov.texas.gov/news/category/proclamation. 

TDLR has implemented numerous program adjustments, including exemptions, waivers, and expedited application processing, to assist communities in recovering from this disaster. For details, please see: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/harveyresponse.htm. 

These smoke alarms can have a misaligned internal switch causing the alarms to not activate properly, posing a risk of failure to alert consumers to a fire. Recall information.

WARNING! If you have one of these boilers, you could be in danger! Recall information. TDLR recommends all boiler owners, installers, operators, and inspectors and anyone interested in the boiler program read the full text of this recall notice. Recall information: https://go.usa.gov/xPGRZ

1. True

90.2 Scope.

(A) Covered. This Code covers the installation and removal of electrical conductors, equipment, and raceways; signaling and communications conductors, equipment, and raceways; and optical fiber cables and raceways for the following: (3) Installations of conductors and equipment that connect to the supply of electricity

2. 75 mm (3 inches); 175 mm (7 inches). This is a new change within the ASME A17.1-2016 (more specifically, Section 1.3)

3. Texas Accessibility Standards – the minimum requirements for accessibility on construction projects in the state of Texas.

4. No. It does not meet the requirements in the law. Animal control officer training is a separate profession from code enforcement, which is regulated by DSHS.  

5. No. Only Mold Remediators are exempt.

6. Yes. This is often misunderstood. There is an exemption in the Air Conditioning statutes (Sec. 1302.058) for "portable" or "self-contained" ductless AC units with capacity of three tons or less, i.e., "window units"; however, "mini-splits" are neither "portable" nor "self-contained."

7. Four (4)