Agenda - Council Work Session - 08/25/2009

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~ 4=-) 443 Lafayette Road N. St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 www.dli.mn.gov www.electricity.state.mn.us MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & INDUSTRY (651) 284-5064 1-S00-DIAL-DLI Fax: (651) 284-5743 TTY: (651) 297-4198 August 12, 2009 . Michael Kaehler, Building Official City of Ramsey 7550 Sunwood Drive NW Ramsey, MN 55303 Dear Mr. Kaehler: Thank you for the phone call. It's my understanding that the City of Ramsey is considering local electri.cal inspections. Following is an overview of the statutory requirements for municipal inspection areas and some informational items that highlight the benefits of having the Department of labor and Industry 1 continue to provicje electrical inspection service in the City of Ramsey. For discussion purposes and for the sake of simplicity, political subdivision, municipality, village, city, town, or county are synonymous and will have the same meaning throughout this document where these terms relate to Minnesota Statute section 326B.36, subdivision 4. ~ · The original Board of Electricity was established by the legislature in 1899 to license electricians in populated areas to ensure safe electrical installations. The agency known as the Board of Electricity was consolidated into the Construction Codes and Licensing Division (CClD) of the Department of labor and Industry (DLI) in 2005 along with plumbing, building, high pressure piping, boilers, and other units. · Licensing has been administered statewide since 1937 and electrical inspections have been performed statewide since 1951. · The department's advisory electrical board is comprised of eleven members appointed by the Governor. The board composition includes various electrical industry groups and the general public. · CClD's Electrical Inspection unit and associated electrical licensing unit are self-funded with inspection fees and licensing fees. The unit does not appropriate any money from the legislature. In addition to DLI staff attorneys, the Attorney General's office provides additional legal counsel. · There are no direct costs to any of the counties, cities or towns in which the department provides electrical inspection service. The department is responsible for all costs for inspection fee collection, Request for Electrical Inspection certificate (permit) processing, inspection program and license program oversight, investigative and enforcement activities, complaint resolution and numerous other responsibilities. . As of May 2009, CClD has partnered with CRW Systems to implement. a new comprehensive technology solution that will be used to manage geographical information, projects, plan reviews, permits, enforcement cases, licensing, and other information for building, electrical, plumbing, elevator, boiler, high pressure piping, and other CClD functions. CClD staff, inspectors, contractors, the public and others will have access to permit, project, licensing, and enforcement information via the Internet. Contractors and homeowners will be able to file permits online and pay inspection fees with a credit card. The new system is tentatively scheduled to be implemented in November 2009. . The department is responsible for collecting, escrowing, and processing inspection fees and processing Request for Electrical Inspection certificates (permits). Only until such time that electrical inspections have been successfully completed are contract inspectors allowed to bill the department for their services. The department retains a small percentage of the fees to offset the costs of administering the statewide electrical inspection program. This unique system provides an incentive for contract inspectors to make timely and thorough electrical inspections. The department also ensures that inspection fee shortages are collected from installers and that 1 Effective May 16, 2005, the Board of Electricity and five other construction codes and licensing agencies were merged into the Department of Labor and Industry - please visit www.dli.mn.gov for more information.