Irrigation systems installers exempted from power limited technician licensure.

A bill for an act

relating to labor and industry; exempting irrigation systems installers from power

limited technician licensure; amending Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement,

section 326B.33, subdivision 21.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 326B.33, subdivision 21, is

amended to read:

Subd. 21.

Exemptions from licensing.

(a) An individual who is a maintenance electrician

is not required to hold or obtain a license under sections
326B.31
to
326B.399
if:

(1) the individual is engaged in the maintenance and repair of electrical equipment,

apparatus, and facilities that are owned or leased by the individual's employer and that are

located within the limits of property operated, maintained, and either owned or leased by

the individual's employer;

(2) the individual is supervised by:

(i) the responsible master electrician for a contractor who has contracted with the

individual's employer to provide services for which a contractor's license is required; or

(ii) a licensed master electrician, a licensed maintenance electrician, an electrical engineer,

or, if the maintenance and repair work is limited to technology circuits or systems work, a

licensed power limited technician; and

(3) the individual's employer has on file with the commissioner a current certificate of

responsible person, signed by the responsible master electrician of the contractor, the licensed

master electrician, the licensed maintenance electrician, the electrical engineer, or the

licensed power limited technician, and stating that the person signing the certificate is

responsible for ensuring that the maintenance and repair work performed by the employer's

employees complies with the Minnesota Electrical Act and the rules adopted under that act.

The employer must pay a filing fee to file a certificate of responsible person with the

commissioner. The certificate shall expire two years from the date of filing. In order to

maintain a current certificate of responsible person, the employer must resubmit a certificate

of responsible person, with a filing fee, no later than two years from the date of the previous

submittal.

(b) Employees of a licensed electrical or technology systems contractor or other employer

where provided with supervision by a master electrician in accordance with subdivision 1,

or power limited technician in accordance with subdivision 7, paragraph (a), clause (1), are

not required to hold a license under sections
326B.31
to
326B.399
for the planning, laying

out, installing, altering, and repairing of technology circuits or systems except planning,

laying out, or installing:

(1) in other than residential dwellings, class 2 or class 3 remote control circuits that

control circuits or systems other than class 2 or class 3, except circuits that interconnect

these systems through communication, alarm, and security systems are exempted from this

paragraph;

(2) class 2 or class 3 circuits in electrical cabinets, enclosures, or devices containing

physically unprotected circuits other than class 2 or class 3;

(3) class 4 circuits or systems; or

(4) technology circuits or systems in hazardous classified locations as covered by the

National Electrical Code.

(c) Companies and their employees that plan, lay out, install, alter, or repair class 2 and

class 3 remote control wiring associated with plug or cord and plug connected appliances

other than security or fire alarm systems installed in a residential dwelling are not required

to hold a license under sections
326B.31
to
326B.399
.

(d) Heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration contractors and their

employees are not required to hold or obtain a license under sections
326B.31
to
326B.399

when performing heating, ventilating, air conditioning, or refrigeration work as described

in section
326B.38
.

(e) Employees of any electrical, communications, or railway utility, cable communications

company as defined in section
238.02
, or a telephone company as defined under section

237.01
or its employees, or of any independent contractor performing work on behalf of

any such utility, cable communications company, or telephone company, shall not be required

to hold a license under sections
326B.31
to
326B.399
:

(1) while performing work on installations, materials, or equipment which are owned

or leased, and operated and maintained by such utility, cable communications company, or

telephone company in the exercise of its utility, antenna, or telephone function, and which:

(i) are used exclusively for the generation, transformation, distribution, transmission, or

metering of electric current, or the operation of railway signals, or the transmission of

intelligence and do not have as a principal function the consumption or use of electric current

or provided service by or for the benefit of any person other than such utility, cable

communications company, or telephone company;

(ii) are generally accessible only to employees of such utility, cable communications

company, or telephone company or persons acting under its control or direction; and

(iii) are not on the load side of the service point or point of entrance for communication

systems;

(2) while performing work on installations, materials, or equipment which are a part of

the street lighting operations of such utility; or

(3) while installing or performing work on outdoor area lights which are directly

connected to a utility's distribution system and located upon the utility's distribution poles,

and which are generally accessible only to employees of such utility or persons acting under

its control or direction.

(f) An individual who physically performs electrical work on a residential dwelling that

is located on a property the individual owns and actually occupies as a residence or owns

and will occupy as a residence upon completion of its construction is not required to hold

or obtain a license under sections
326B.31
to
326B.399
if the residential dwelling has a

separate electrical utility service not shared with any other residential dwelling.

(g) Companies and their employees licensed under section
326B.164
shall not be required

to hold or obtain a license under sections
326B.31
to
326B.399
while performing elevator

work.

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(h) An individual who is engaged in the installation, repair, or maintenance of landscape

irrigation systems is not required to hold or obtain a license under subdivision 7. For purposes

of this section, "Landscape irrigation system" means all pumps, lines, or sprinkler heads

that have a sole purpose of irrigating landscape plants or grass.

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