ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR LICENSE LAW: There is a well-established need to regulate electrical contractors. Historically, regulation is enacted when people working in a trade have the potential to harm others. The more people who might be harmed, the more need for regulation. The population of Dutchess County is approaching 300,000. Electricity is dangerous. It starts about 40,000 fires each year and kills some 350 people. Bad work or mistakes involving electricity is a hazard, not just for the person doing the work, but for the public at large. A law requiring electricians to earn a license to be in business as electrical contractors by proving their competence and insisting that they are insured will give the people of Dutchess County assurances that they will get safety, good work, good value and the protection of liability insurance when they hire an electrical contractor Our towns and villages will benefit from the establishment of an informational pool where questions, conflicts, and help in enforcement of regulations can be centralized. Further, consumers will have the possibility to make things right when electrical projects go wrong. Right now, without a license law, consumers can't be sure of which electricians they can trust or of what they can do if things go wrong... Move is on to license electrical contractors By Anthony Farmer Poughkeepsie Journal A plan to license electrical contractors is being revived, more than four years after it fizzled out before the Dutchess County Legislature. The proposed law has the support of a number of independent electrical contractors in the county and a group of unionized electricians. Proponents say the law will protect consumers from poor workmanship, ensuring that electrical contractors performing work in the county are qualified. ''A lot of people don't realize the shoddiness of the work out there,'' said Rich Parente, president of the Dutchess County Electrical Contractors Association. ''It's amazing more people aren't harmed by it.'' The county Legislature plans to vote in January on a measure requesting the state approve legislation allowing the county to establish a board to license master electricians. If the state grants permission, the county would then have to approve the licensing law. In Dutchess, only the cities of Poughkeepsie and Beacon require electrical contractors to be licensed. Putnam, Westchester, Greene and Rockland counties all have countywide licensing laws. Besides the county electrical contractors association, a representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 363 spoke in favor of the plan. A seven-member electrical licensing board would be appointed to oversee implementation and enforcement of the law. Under the law proposed for Dutchess: - All electricians in the county would be required to either be licensed as master electricians, or work for one. - Applicants would have at least seven years experience in the field and pass a written examination, to qualify for a license. - The license would cost $500 a year. - Contractors with licenses issued by the cities of Beacon or Poughkeepsie, or those who can prove they've been in business and competently doing work for the past 11 years, would not have to take the exam to acquire a county license. Benefit cited Tim Sickles, the Town of Poughkeepsie building inspector, noted his town requires plumbers to be licensed, but not electricians. He said the county law would have a positive effect. ''The licensing, especially the minimum requirements of this law, will improve the quality of work that will be done,'' Sickles said. Legislator Robert Clearwater, R-Hyde Park, said there's no need to institute licensing for other tradesmen in the county. If a plumber isn't qualified, the worst that can happen is your basement gets flooded, he said. ''If an electrician is not qualified ... what can they do?,'' said Clearwater, a sponsor of the measure and a union electrician. ''I don't know, burn down your house?'' Anthony Farmer can be reached at apfarmer@poughkeepsiejournal.com