The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 26 : Professions and Occupations

Chapter 039 : Plumbers and Plumbing

Subchapter 002 : PLUMBER'S EXAMINING BOARD

• § 2181. Plumber’s Examining Board; membership; powers

  (a) Creation. The Plumber’s Examining Board, within the Department of Public Safety, shall consist of five members, one of whom shall be the Commissioner of Public Safety or designee and one of whom shall represent the Commissioner of Health or designee. The remaining three members shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. One of the appointive members shall be a master plumber, one shall be a journey plumber, and one shall be a public member not associated with the plumbing or heating trades.

  (b) General authority. The Board shall have authority to examine and license master plumbers and journeyman plumbers and specialists and shall have the right to make reasonable rules.

  (c) Disciplinary actions. Upon notice to the affected person and after a hearing, the Board may refuse to issue a license or may suspend or revoke a license or may take other disciplinary action against a licensee for any of the following reasons:

  (1) fraud or deceit in obtaining a license;

  (2) gross negligence, incompetency, misrepresentation, or misconduct by a licensee;

  (3) violation by a licensee of the rules of the Department of Health, the Department of Public Safety, or the Board;

  (4) failure to comply with a written notice issued under section 2173, 2174, or 2175 of this title.

  (d) Military credentials. The Board may evaluate specific military credentials to determine equivalency to credentials within its jurisdiction. The determinations shall be adopted through written policy that shall be posted on the Board’s website.

  (e) Foreign credential verification.

  (1) The Commissioner shall adopt rules in consultation with the Board that prescribe a process for the Commissioner to assess the equivalence of an applicant’s professional credentials earned outside the United States as compared to State licensing requirements for plumbers.

  (2) Any determination of equivalence by the Commissioner under this subsection shall be in consultation with the Board, recorded in the applicant’s licensing file, and binding upon the Board.

  (3) In administering this subsection, the Board may rely upon third-party credential verification services. The cost of such services shall be paid by the applicant.

  (f) Continuing education; sunset review.

  (1) Not less than once every five years, the Board shall review plumbers’ continuing education or other continuing competency requirements. The review results shall be in writing and address the following:

  (A) the renewal requirements of the profession;

  (B) the renewal requirements in other jurisdictions, particularly in the Northeast region;

  (C) the cost of the renewal requirements for the profession’s licensees;

  (D) an analysis of the utility and effectiveness of the renewal requirements with respect to public protection; and

  (E) recommendations to the Commissioner on whether the continuing education or other continuing competency requirements should be modified.

  (2) The Commissioner shall respond to the Board within 45 days of its submitted review results. The Commissioner may require the Board to reduce, modify, or otherwise change the renewal requirements, including by proposing any necessary amendments to statute or rule. (Added 1959, No. 215, § 7, eff. June 2, 1959; amended 1969, No. 84, § 2, eff. April 18, 1969; 1973, No. 267 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1979, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1993, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 2005, No. 8, § 14, eff. April 25, 2005; 2019, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 20, eff. April 1, 2021; 2019, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), § 37, eff. July 1, 2021.)