§ 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.)