Gentlemen,

I've started this thread to open discussion on what "should" be the requirements to be considered a Journeyman Electrician.

Here are my thoughts:

A Journeyman Electrician should have the ability to take what is required in the code and then apply it in the field.

I realize this is fairly simplistic, but in general our job as journeymen is fairly simplistic.

In Pinellas county where I took my journeyman exam around 1979 the requirements at the time were to have at least 4 years working in the trade verified by licensed electrical contractors.
In addition there was a three part exam.
1.NEC code questions.
2. calculations-VD,ohms law,etc
3. Practical trade questions- take up on a i/2 bender,Identify several componets and devices.Wire a 3way,stop start station.

In Hillsborough county they did not have a requirement but they had two terms used.
1. Journeyman- A person such as above.
2. Mechanic- Same as above but in addition had more experience and abilities.

From the past 2 companies that I have worked for, they have generally reversed the mechanic and the journeyman. A mechanic was the guy that wasn't quite up to par to be considered journeyman. For example, great with pipe not so good with circuitry.

I've got the application for the hillsborough County test that I plan on taking this year and it requires 12,000 hours or 8,000 hours plus passing a 4 year apprenticeship.

Attached is the curriculum I helped develop for the Electrical Council of Florida Apprenticeship Program here in SW Florida. The state approved this curriculum.

This education plus about 8,000 hours of OJT qualifies one to sit for the j-man exam in most counties.

Oh okay,then you are dealing with Dave Thomas?
Next time you see him, tell him hello for me.

It is funny that when I started in this trade.
Nobody talked about the IAEI.
When you called in for a inspection on certain days the building department stated, they are at a inspectors meeting.
And a journeyman's card was a mysterious thing.
Since only a few jurisdictions required it where I worked.
At the time it was pinellas and polk county.
And I only knew that the foreman on some jobs had one.
When I finally took the exam it was because the contractors I applied to for work stated that they would pay me more per hour.

Many years later, I see this as a benefit to everyone involved.

So I never figured out why the resistance to adopt a state wide license.

I started out in Central Florida and the area required two years verifiable experience to take the Bock exam. A journeyman was required on ALL commercial sites and the inspector would ask to see a license when he came on the job - the guy with a license was not always the foreman... When I went to work as an Electrical Inspector for Seminole County around 1982, I regularly did this and would run the electricians off the job if there was no journeyman... until they revised things at the state level.