Motion would impose uniform electrical wiring code

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A proposal before state lawmakers would prevent cities, towns and villages from adopting local electrical-wiring codes that are more restrictive than the state’s.

Elsewhere, a different proposal would also prevent a worker from having to get a state-issue electrician license if he were:

• Installing or repairing a private on-site wastewater treatment system and doing nothing more than working on a buried conductor going from the device box to a nearby disconnecting point

• Or, installing or repairing a pump for a well and were doing nothing more than working on a buried conductor going from the device box to a nearby disconnecting point

Both proposals were included in a larger motion taken up Thursday by lawmakers who sit on the state’s budget committee. Because the proposals were introduced by the Republicans who control that committee, their chances of approval are strong.

Yet, before they can become law, they still must cross at least a couple of other hurdles. Namely, they still must be passed by the full Legislature and signed by Gov. Scott Walker.

The proposal concerning electrical wiring codes would require local ordinances to confirm strictly with standards promulgated by the state’s Department of Safety and Professional Services. Cities, villages and towns are now allowed to adopt rules that are stricter than those standards, but would no longer be were the motion passed as part of the state budget.

If approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor, all of the proposed changes would take effect July 1, 2016.

Elsewhere, the same motion would eliminate various councils that provide advice on the codes that regulate the work performed by trades workers. Among the councils that would be eliminated would be:

• the Automatic Fire Sprinkler System Contractors and Journeymen Council;
• the Multifamily Dwelling Code Council; and
• the Labor and Management Council within the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.