An electrician who attempted to help another company get started in Florida was disciplined by the Florida Electrical Contractor Licensing Board for serving as an electrician in a name other than the one for which he was licensed.
For 10 years, an experienced electrician operated as a qualifying agent for his company, Academy Electric, Inc. While still operating that company, the electrician started doing work for another company, Rescue Me Electrician, LLC, as an employee. Rescue Me Electrician is not a licensed electrical contractor in Florida, and the electrician testified at his hearing before the ECLB that he knew this and but accepted a position with them anyway to help them establish their business in Florida.
After Hurricane Wilma, the electrician was sent to a homeowner’s damaged residence by Rescue Me Electrician to evaluate a prospective project and provide a quote. The ultimate contract that resulted from the quote listed the parties as the homeowner and Rescue Me Electrical, LLC DBA Academy Electric. The electricians license number and Rescue Me Electrician, LLC appeared at the top of the contract, and the electrician accepted the deposit under the contract on behalf of Rescue Me Electrician.
Work began, but soon stalled due to a disagreement over changes to the scope of work and who should pay for those changes. In the middle of this, Rescue Me Electrician, LLC terminated the electrician’s employment. Rescue Me Electrician never returned to the homeowner’s property, and ultimately the homeowner hired another company to complete the electrical work. The homeowner then filed a complaint with the DBPR against Rescue Me Electrician.
The DBPR ultimately charged the electrician with two violations of Florida’s licensing laws. First, the DBPR charged the electrician with violating 489.533(2)(l), Florida Statutes, which prohibits
Acting in the capacity of a contractor under any certificate or registration issued hereunder except in the name of the certificateholder or registrant as set forth on the issued certificate or registration or in accordance with the personnel of the certificateholder or registrant as set forth in the application for the certificate or registration or as later changed as provided in this part.
The DBPR ultimately found that the electrician did violate this statute because he allowed his license to be used on Rescue Me Electrician’s contract and several other business documents and signed documents for Rescue Me Electrician when he was going to be performing the work.
The DBPR also charged the electrician with violating 489.533(2)(p), Florida Statutes, which prohibits
Abandoning a project which the contractor is engaged in or is under contractual obligation to perform. A project is to be considered abandoned after 90 days if the contractor terminates the project without just cause or without proper notification to the prospective owner, including the reason for termination, or fails to perform work without just cause for 90 consecutive days.
The DBPR did not find that there was sufficient evidence against the electrician to sustain this charge. Specifically, the DBPR found that the homeowner hired another contractor only five days after the relationship between Rescue Me Electrician and the homeowner terminated, and therefore the 90-day abandonment period had not occurred.
In total, the electrician was fined $500.00. The DBPR noted that his 17 year record with no disciplinary proceedings was a factor in providing a minimal penalty.
There are two key takeaways from this decision. First, electricians needs to limit their work to their company. If they are going to perform work for another company, then they need to ensure that company is properly licensed, or they need to properly qualify that second company.
Second, electricians should be wary about doing work for new companies that are not properly licensed. The DBPR regulates licensed contractors and many times, it is the licenseholder who will bear the brunt of the penalties, even though it was another company that started or was initially in charge of the work.