Thank you for reading this issue of On The Level. You'll find a lot of useful information here, no matter which TDLR license you hold. 

I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that our TDLR staffers are an excellent resource for any technical questions you may have. Please don't hesitate to contact us using our webform if you need any information. Your email will be promptly routed to the Regulatory Program Management staffer who can best assist you.

Texas continues to add jobs at a record-breaking pace, and I know that our TDLR licensees and small businesses are a large part of that economic engine. We appreciate everything you do to help move Texas forward. Stay safe!

Regards, 

Mike Arismendez Jr.

Executive Director

The 88th Texas Legislature Regular Session came to a close on Monday, May 29. As you may have heard, the governor immediately called legislators back for a special session on border security and property taxes. Fortunately for TDLR, we don’t anticipate any TDLR-related issues to be discussed during the special session (or sessions if more are to follow) but we had plenty to keep us busy in the regular session.

The biggest impact to the agency is that the budget will provide funding for TDLR to purchase a new, modernized licensing system to replace the six different systems we use today. This will provide an extremely powerful, positive and up-to-date experience for all our licensees as we will eventually be able to migrate away from paper-based forms and clunky old user interfaces. A new modern system will also greatly enhance online security and data protection, which benefits everyone. But most importantly, you’ll be able to apply or renew a license faster and easier than you can today. Stay tuned for more updates on this front.

Here’s the outcome on industrial trade-related bills that have been signed by Governor Abbott and their effective dates – click on the blue link to go to the Texas Legislature Online page for that bill and see the complete text (“enrolled” version):

• HB 1859 by Schaefer, relating to the regulation of air conditioning and refrigeration contracting, including eligibility for an air conditioning and refrigeration technician registration or certification. HB 1859 seeks to help increase the number of HVAC technicians in Texas by removing barriers and creating an opportunity for high school students or community college students to receive HVAC certification. Effective 9/1/23.
• SB 1213 by Zaffirini, relating to establishing the Mold Assessment and Remediation Advisory Board at TDLR. SB 1213 will establish an 11-member advisory board to advise TDLR and the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation on issues affecting mold assessment and remediation, and giving us access to the valuable expertise and perspectives of mold assessors and remediators. Effective 5/29/23, members appointed no later than 12/1/23.
• SB 1802 by Springer, relating to administrative procedures in the architectural barriers program at the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. This bill will create consistency with our enabling law and enhance our existing authority to enforce the laws relating to the elimination of architectural barriers. Effective 9/1/23.
• HB 1391 by Schaefer, relating to the regulation of electricians, including the requirements to obtain a residential wireman license. Like HB 1859, HB 1391 seeks to address the shortage of electricians in Texas by removing barriers and creating opportunity for high school or community college students to receive a residential wireman license after taking the required classes, practical components, and passing the licensing examination. Effective 9/1/23.
• HB 2024 by Leach, relating to statutes of limitation and repose for certain claims arising out of residential construction. HB 2024 establishes new limitations periods for bringing suit for damages arising out of the design, construction, or repair of certain residential construction to require a person to bring suit for damages for certain claims not later than 10 years after completion. However, if the contractor being sued has provided a written warranty for a minimum of one year for workmanship and materials, two years for plumbing, electrical, heating and air-conditioning systems, and six years for major structural components, then a suit must be brought no later than six years after completion of the project. Effective 6/9/23.
• HB 3744 by Goldman, relating to the regulation of water well drillers and water well pump installers. This is a statutory cleanup bill to update outdated language. Effective 9/1/23.
• SB 1746 by Perry, relating to an exemption from the requirement to obtain a permit from a groundwater conservation district for certain temporary water wells. SB 1746 provides for an exemption from groundwater conservation district permitting requirements for a temporary well that is to be used to supply water for a rig engaged in drilling a groundwater production well. Effective 9/1/23.

Be sure to check out the 88th Texas Legislature webpage to see the complete list of bills related to TDLR that passed this session.

One of the Elimination of Architectural Barriers program’s most frequently asked questions is, “Is there training available to help me understand the requirements of the Architectural Barriers Act and the Texas Accessibility Standards?”

The answer: the Texas Accessibility Academy.

The Academy is a two-day comprehensive study of the Texas Architectural Barriers Act (TABA), Architectural Barriers Administrative Rules, and the 2012 Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS). Attendees also receive general information about how the TABA and TAS relate to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

The Academy includes a PowerPoint presentation and question and answer sessions that cover the Rules and Law, Definitions, TAS Scoping and Technical Sections, and how to Apply and Understand the TAS. PDFs of the PowerPoint presentation are available on our Academy web page at www.tdlr.texas.gov/ab/taa.htm.

TDLR presents the Academy in conjunction with BPI (Building Professional Institute) sessions or Accessibility Professionals Association (APA) meetings. Please check the BPI website or APA website for the next available date and location. The Academy is offered as a live webinar and an in-person class along with additional BPI classes that may be of interest. The next BPI session is the North Texas BPI in Irving, TX July 24-27, 2023.

In addition, you can make a request for TDLR to teach subjects such as upcoming changes to the Architectural Barriers program, comparison to TABA versus ADA, or specific accessibility requirements from the TAS for other groups, such as professional design organizations or cities.  TDLR can do these trainings virtually or in person.

If you have questions about the Academy or other training requests, you can contact Techinfo at techinfo@tdlr.texas.gov.

TDLR is working on updates to Chapter 68, the Elimination of Architectural Barriers Administrative Rules. The revised rules will incorporate new standards, such as electric vehicle charging stations and outdoor recreation areas and clarify existing standards.

During the review process, TDLR accepted public comments on the proposed changes and received many helpful suggestions that we incorporated into the new rules. The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation is expected to consider the revisions in a meeting later this year.

Do you need a verification of your license? You can do that online! Find the link on the right-hand side of your profession's program webpage.

Reminder: Most licensees can renew online using a credit card instead of mailing in a paper form and a check whenever possible, as online renewals are automated and processed within a week of receipt.

Applicants for new licenses should check the TDLR website to see whether their license type allows for original applications to be submitted online. If so, they should apply online and submit documents electronically to help speed up the licensing process.

The location of the duct system can have a significant impact on the overall performance of the system—both the utility use and the ability to provide comfort.

The energy loss from the ducts for forced air heating and cooling systems can be significant, depending on the location of the ducts, and how well the ducts are sealed against air leakage. Though it is conceptually easy to imagine sealed duct systems, tight duct systems are unfortunately all too rare—duct leakage values of 20 percent of system flow are common.

In many houses, the distribution duct work is located either in a vented crawlspace or in a vented attic —effectively outdoors. With the ducts located outside of the thermal envelope of the home, any leakage and conductive losses from the duct work is lost directly to the outside. Even worse, whenever air is leaking out or the ducts due to the system running, air is coming into the house to replace the lost air—resulting in forced air leakage whenever your furnace or air conditioner runs.

Moving the duct work and air handlers inside the thermal enclosure can be used to help prevent this energy loss to the exterior. Alternately, the thermal enclosure can be extended to include areas such as crawlspaces and attic as part of the conditioned space of the house.

In general, the placement of the mechanical equipment will depend on the design of the house.

• For houses with conditioned crawlspaces and basements, it is often logical to place the air handler or furnace in those locations.
• For slab-on-grade designs or elevated floors, available space can become a limitation. In these cases, unvented conditioned and semi-conditioned attics provide for a convenient location for the mechanical equipment and ducts.

Otherwise, the equipment and/or ducts can be located in a dropped ceiling or in closets.

Consideration for space requirements for the mechanical equipment should be made early in the design.

• The air handling unit is located in an unvented, conditioned attic; the attic insulation is located at or above the roof deck.
• Low efficiency appliances that are prone to spillage or backdrafting are not recommended in this type of application; heat pumps, heat pump water heaters or sealed combustion furnaces and water heaters should be used.
• A hot water-to-air in an air handling unit can be used to replace the gas furnace/heat exchanger. The coil can be connected to a sealed combustion (or power vented) water heater located within the conditioned space.
• Ductwork is not located in exterior walls.

Reference: www.BuildingScience.com

The Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act require the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to adopt the revised National Electrical Code (NEC) as the electrical code for the state of Texas. In 2023, TDLR will adopt the 2023 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, 2023.

Chapter 1305.201 of the Act provides municipalities the authority to make local amendments to the 2023 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."

Any non-exempt electrical work started on or after September 1, 2023, must be installed in accordance with the 2023 NEC.

To clarify: the “start” of electrical work is the day the electrician begins installing electrical materials or equipment within the residential or commercial building structure. Inside the corporate limits of a municipality, must abide by city permitting requirements and adhere to any local code amendments.

Also, beginning September 1, 2023, all examinations for state electrical licenses will be based on the 2023 NEC.

The state electrical exams are available through PSI, which 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.

Questions? Contact TDLR.

TDLR will now have a Mold Assessment and Remediation Advisory Board, thanks to Senate Bill 1213, which was signed by the Governor on May 29, 2023.

The 11-member board will consist of:

• three members who are license Mold Assessment Consultants,
• three licensed who are license Mold Remediation Contractors,
• two members who are building contractors principally engaged in home construction and who are members of a statewide building trade association,
• one member who is a representative of the insurance industry,
• one member who is a representative of an accredited mold training provider, and
• one member who represents the public.

Board members will assist the department with understanding technical mold program matters, standards or performance and work practices.

The Board will be in place no later than December 1, 2023.

Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) applicants must provide verification of having obtained at least one year of full-time experience in the field of code enforcement. 

"Full-time experience" is defined as employment, self-employment, or independent contracting in the field of code enforcement where the regularly assigned duties include code enforcement for a minimum of 32 hours per week. 

City or municipality Code Enforcement Officer applicants who live and work in rural areas can gain experience in one of two ways:

1. An applicant can register as a Code Enforcement Officer in Training (CIT) and a city or municipality can recruit a licensed Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) in a neighboring city or municipality to supervise the CIT for one year and sign off on experience. The CIT will then be eligible to become a CEO; or,
2. The applicant can use any other title other than CEO or CIT (example: Compliance Officer, Ordinance inspector) and work for one year under a different title without a license. The City Manager or the supervisor can then sign off on the one year of experience.

For more information, contact the Code Enforcement Program via our webform. 

Congratulations are in order for Roland Brown, former Vice President of Design and Development of design-build modular construction firm Ramtech Building Systems of Mansfield, Texas.

Brown was inducted into the Modular Building Institute’s Hall of Fame at the 2023 MBI World of Modular Conference held earlier this year in Las Vegas. He was honored for his contributions as both an innovative designer of modular buildings for the public and private sectors, as well as his career-long efforts in shepherding and helping to define the building codes in support of the commercial modular construction industry.

Over the course of his career, Brown was known for his ability to analytically solve problems and develop the structural design solutions required to meet the numerous challenges required to construct complex modular building projects.

Many of these innovative and unique designs went on to make significant contributions to the technical evolution of the commercial modular building industry, including:

• the development of a system consisting of steel-trussed frames with panelized roof and wall panels;
• Type II building designs utilizing steel deck horizontal diaphragms and light gauge shear walls to allow for large open areas without columns; and,
• Ramtech’s award winning slab-on-grade permanent modular construction process, a grade-level permanent modular building approach which allows for the modular sections to be set and attached directly onto a conventional concrete slab foundation.

Brown was the first modular building industry representative to become the presiding officer for the Texas Industrialized Building Code Council, the advisory board to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation on issues related to the regulation of the industrialized housing and commercial modular building industries. 

In the January 2023 On The Level, we discussed Rule 65.206, which requires that carbon monoxide detectors be installed in all boiler rooms equipped with (new installation) equipment that can produce carbon monoxide (CO).

Enforcement of this rule began on Sept. 1, 2020.

TDLR has since approved some Requests for Variance in situations where boiler shutdown can result in a substantial financial loss to stakeholders. The conditions for approving the variances require additional measures to be taken to ensure that protection from boiler emissions is maintained within boiler rooms.

Conditions for granting a variance include:

• A 24-hour monitoring system installed in conjunction with the CO detector. The monitoring system shall alert owner/operator(s) of presence of Carbon Monoxide, thereby allowing corrective action to avoid boiler shutdown.
• With the remote monitoring system installed, the CO detector may send an alarm to the owner/operator at 50 ppm and shall disable the boiler burners at 200 ppm.

To request a variance such as allowed above, you must complete and submit TDLR form BLR210N to boilers@tdlr.texas.gov or you may make the request via the TDLR online permit portal.

Robby D. Troutt, the Texas Chief Boiler Inspector, was elected chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors (NBBI) in May, 2021.

NBBI is a nonprofit organization whose members are the jurisdictional chief inspectors of the US and Canada that regulate boilers and/or pressure vessels.

1. What should you do if the elevator you are using stops?
2.  Who teaches the Texas Accessibility Academy?
3. When pulling a deep vacuum on a refrigeration system, which of the following two factors are of more importance in achieving the desired vacuum in the shortest amount of time? (a) The free air CFM rating of the vacuum pump, or (b) the total length and diameter of hoses along with the internal diameters of the fittings the vacuum is being achieved through?
4.  What is changing for electricians in 2023? What date does the change take effect?
5. Other than visual verification, what other senses can assist you in determining that mold is present? (a) feeling (b) smell or (c) hearing
6. How many Code Enforcement Officers in Training can a supervised license Code Enforcement Officer supervise at one time? (a) 1 (b) 2 or (c) 3
7. What is the maximum height a porch landing can be above grade before guardrails are required?
8. Texas Boiler Rule 65.206 (a) (1) requires the carbon monoxide detector and boiler(s) shall be interlocked to disable the burners.  What methods of interlock are allowed in order to meet this requirement?

Unless otherwise noted, all advisory board meetings are held via videoconference. You can view live broadcasts or archived meetings in TDLR's YouTube channel. Meeting notices, agendas and staff reports are posted on the TDLR meetings page.

Please file a complaint with TDLR alleging unlicensed practice if you have evidence that a person or business with a revoked license is continuing to advertise or perform services that require a license in Texas.

HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT- You can file a complaint online for most TDLR programs. 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.

Although TDLR accepts anonymous complaints, you must provide your name and contact information when you submit the complaint if you want to receive information about the status or progress of your complaint.

Please note that 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.

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