O.C.G.A. § 43-14-8 (2019)
Licensing required for electrical, plumbing, or conditioned air contracting; businesses conducted by partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations; applications; review courses
(a)(1) No person shall engage in the electrical contracting business as an electrical contractor unless such person has a valid license from the Division of Electrical Contractors and a certificate of competency, if such certificates are issued by the division pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 43-14-6. (2) A person who is not licensed as an electrical contractor or who does not have a certificate of competency, if such certificates are issued by the division pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 43-14-6, or both as may be applicable, shall be prohibited from advertising in any manner that such person is in the business or profession of electrical contracting unless the work is performed by a licensed electrical contractor.
(b)(1) No person shall engage in the business of plumbing as a master plumber unless such person has a valid license from the Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers. (2) No person shall engage in the business of plumbing as a journeyman plumber unless such person has a valid license from the Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers. (3) A person who does not have a valid license from the Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers shall be prohibited from advertising in any manner that such person is in the business or profession of plumbing as a master plumber or journeyman plumber unless such person is licensed by the Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers and unless the work is performed by a licensed plumber. (c)(1) No person shall engage in the business of conditioned air contracting as a conditioned air contractor unless such person has a valid license from the Division of Conditioned Air Contractors. (2) A person who is not licensed as a conditioned air contractor shall be prohibited from advertising in any manner that such person is in the business or profession of a conditioned air contractor unless the work is performed by a licensed conditioned air contractor. (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, prior to and including September 30, 1983, the following persons, desiring to qualify under the provisions stated in this subsection, shall be issued a state-wide license without restriction by the appropriate division of the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, provided that such individual submits proper application and pays or has paid the required fees and is not otherwise in violation of this chapter: (1) Any individual holding a license issued by the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, prior to the effective date of this chapter; (2) Any individual holding a license issued by the State Board of Electrical Contractors, the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing Contractors, or the State Board of Warm Air Heating Contractors; (3) Any individual holding a license to engage in such vocation issued to him or her by any governing authority of any political subdivision; and (4) Any individual who has successfully and efficiently engaged in such vocation in a local jurisdiction, which did not issue local licenses, for a period of at least two consecutive years immediately prior to the time of application. To prove that he or she has successfully engaged in said vocation, the individual shall only be required to give evidence
of three successful jobs completed over such period. Such applicant shall swear before a notary public that such evidence is true and accurate prior to its submission to the division. (e) The decision of the division as to the necessity of taking the examination or as to the qualifications of applicants taking the required examination shall, in the absence of fraud, be conclusive. All individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, or corporations desiring to engage in such vocation after September 30, 1983, shall take the examination and qualify under this chapter before engaging in such vocation or business, including such vocation at the local level. (f) No partnership, limited liability company, or corporation shall have the right to engage in the business of electrical contracting unless there is regularly connected with such partnership, limited liability company, or corporation a person or persons actually engaged in the performance of such business on a full-time basis who have valid licenses issued to them as provided for in this chapter. (g) No partnership, limited liability company, or corporation shall have the right to engage in the business of plumbing unless there is regularly connected with such partnership, limited liability company, or corporation a person or persons actually engaged in the performance of such business on a full-time basis who have valid licenses for master plumbers issued to them as provided in this chapter. (h) No partnership, limited liability company, or corporation shall have the right to engage in the business of conditioned air contracting unless there is regularly connected with such partnership, limited liability company, or corporation a person or persons actually engaged in the performance of such business on a full-time basis who have valid licenses issued to them as provided for in this chapter; provided, however, that partners, officers, and employees of the individual who fulfilled the licensing requirements shall continue to be authorized to engage in the business of conditioned air contracting under a license which was valid at the time of the licensee’s death for a period of 90 days following the date of such death. (i) It shall be the duty of all partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations qualified under this chapter to notify the appropriate division immediately of the severance of connection with such partnership, limited liability company, or corporation of any person or persons upon whom such qualification rested. (j) All applicants for examinations and licenses provided for by this chapter and all applicants for renewal of licenses under this chapter shall be required to fill out a form which shall be provided by each division, showing whether or not the applicant is an individual, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation and, if a partner491
ship, limited liability company, or corporation, the names and addresses of the partners or members or the names and addresses of the officers, when and where formed or incorporated, and such other information as the board or each division may require. All forms of applications for renewal of licenses shall also show whether or not the applicant, if it is a partnership, limited liability company, or corporation, still has connected with it a duly qualified person holding a license issued by the division. (k) The board shall notify each local governing authority of the provisions of this chapter relating to licensure, especially the provisions of subsection (d) of this Code section. The board shall notify such governing authorities that after September 30, 1983, any person desiring a license to engage in a profession covered by this chapter shall be required to pass an examination as provided in this chapter. (l) Any applicant for licensure standing the examination on and after July 1, 1989, who fails the examination for licensure twice after such date shall be required to present satisfactory evidence to the appropriate division that the applicant has completed a board approved review course before such applicant will be admitted to a third examination. If such applicant fails the examination a third time, the applicant shall not be required to complete additional board approved review courses prior to taking subsequent examinations.
History
Ga. L. 1949, p. 1622, §§ 4-6; Ga. L. 1968, p. 308, §§ 4-6; Ga. L. 1971, p. 583, § 10; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1299, § 9; Ga. L. 1981, p. 1703, § 3; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 43; Ga. L. 1983, p. 424, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1617, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 123, § 29; Ga. L. 2001, p. 883, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 419, § 2; Ga. L. 2019, p. 462, § 4-2/SB 214; Ga. L. 2021, p. 922, § 43/HB 497; Ga. L. 2022, p. 766, § 1/HB 342.
The 2021 amendment, effective May 10, 2021, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “showing” for “which form shall show” in the middle of the first sentence of subsection (j). The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, added paragraph (b)(3).
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Constitutionality. - Former subparagraph (e)(2)(A) of O.C.G.A. § 43-14-8 was unconstitutional insofar as it denied to formerly locally licensed plumbers the rights extended to formerly state-licensed plumbers. Waller v. State Constr. Indus. Licensing Bd., 250 Ga. 529, 299 S.E.2d 554, 1983 Ga. LEXIS 557 (1983) (decided prior to 1983 amendment). Electrical work performed as personal favor at homeowners’ request and on temporary basis did not come
within the meaning of “electrical contracting” in O.C.G.A. § 43-14-2(6) so as to require a license under O.C.G.A. § 43-148(a). Echols v. Quality Mechanical, Inc., 177 Ga. App. 870, 341 S.E.2d 328, 1986 Ga. App. LEXIS 1546 (1986). No subcontractor’s lien permitted. - Because a subcontractor did not actually comply with O.C.G.A. § 43-14-8(f) as the evidence indicated that a Georgialicensed electrician with whom the subcontractor affiliated itself through an al-
leged joint venture only presented electrical contracting licenses when permits for the work were applied for and took no action to inspect others’ electrical work or to verify that the work complied with the applicable codes, the subcontractor could not enforce the subcontract with the contractor, could not recover in quantum meruit under O.C.G.A. § 9-2-7 as the express contract violated public policy, and could not file a subcontractor’s lien under O.C.G.A. §§ 44-14-361.1 and 44-14-367. JR Construction/Electric, LLC v. Ordner Constr. Co., 294 Ga. App. 453, 669 S.E.2d 224, 2008 Ga. App. LEXIS 1214 (2008).
Unlicensed contractor could not recover against homeowner. - Contractor’s suit against a homeowner seeking over $33,000 for remodeling services was subject to summary judgment; the contract was void and unenforceable under O.C.G.A. § 43-41-17(b) because the contract provided for electrical and plumbing work and the contractor did not have licenses for electrical and plumbing work as required by O.C.G.A. § 43-14-8. Restor-It, Inc. v. Beck, 352 Ga. App. 613, 835 S.E.2d 398, 2019 Ga. App. LEXIS 605 (2019).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Qualification for license under grandfather clause. - Person must have submitted a completed application by September 30, 1983, in order to qualify for a license under the grandfather clause found in O.C.G.A. § 43-14-8(d), and the submission of an application not evidencing the right to be “grandfathered” would not indefinitely preserve the right for licensure under such clause. 1992 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U92-12. No exemptions for liquefied petroleum licenses. - Persons licensed pursuant to the Liquefied Petroleum Safety Act of Georgia, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-260 et seq., who install, repair, or service conditioned air equipment are not exempt from the requirement of holding a license as a conditioned air contractor under O.C.G.A. § 43-14-8. 1994 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 94-2. Persons licensed as water well contractors by the Water Well Standards
Advisory Council are not required to hold licenses as electrical or plumbing contractors when, in the course of constructing water wells, the people make certain electrical and plumbing connections at the well site which are incidental to the trade for which the people have been licensed. 1981 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U81-45. Licensed individual may not qualify more than one partnership company or corporation. 1963-65 Ga. Op. Att’y Gen. 775. Utility not subjected to licensure requirements. - Electric utility’s installation of outside electrical lighting fixtures which are attached to or incorporated into non-exempt buildings or structures and which are an integral part of the electrical system of such utility would not subject the utility to the licensure requirements of O.C.G.A. § 43-148(f). 1992 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 92-29.