BOARD OF EXAMINERS CONSIDERS ADDING TRADE TO LICENSING LAW

Fearing a new trades licensing ordinance might put some contractors out of work, a city board Wednesday discussed the possibility of adding another construction trade to the licensing requirements.

The Board of Examiners, which is ironing out details of the licensing law and how best it should be applied, suggested a separate license be granted to drainlayers.

Rick Murray, Cape Girardeau's supervisor of inspection services, said about a dozen drainlayers have applied for licensing since the law went into effect this year.

Drainlayers previously were licensed separately from other contractors, but the new licensing law eliminated the category in lieu of an overall plumbers license. Other trades subject to licensing include mechanical installers, which also includes pipefitters, electrical contractors and building contractors.

Leonard Jansen of Jaymac Equipment and an alternate member of the Board of Examiners said that without a separate category drainlayers would have to be licensed plumbers or work under one in order to do drain work.

"A lot of them don't have the experience or qualifications to be plumbers, yet they're already licensed as drainlayers," he said. "Why was that category eliminated in the first place? You need a separate license for drainlayers."

Board member Ralph Flori said the new ordinance wasn't designed to "put anybody out of business," but without a separate category some self-employed drainlayers could be put out of work.

"I think we need to have a drainlayer license," Flori said.

But Murray and board chairman Tom Mogelnicki explained that the City Council would have to amend the ordinance, which could take two months for final approval.

"There's first, second and third reading of the ordinance, plus a 10-day notification of the hearing, so it's going to take some time," said Murray.

Flori suggested that Murray talk with City Attorney Warren Wells to see if anything could be done to speed the process. The board Wednesday took no formal action to recommend the change.

City Planner Kent Bratton said the city staff will research the various drainlayers applying for a license to determine which ones either qualify to take the plumber's test or who work for a licensed plumber.

"A drainlayer working under the direct supervision of a licensed plumber doesn't have a problem," he said. "There may not be that many instances of a conflict."

In other business the board established guidelines for licensing qualifications and testing. Until the guidelines are formally adopted, only plumbers and gasfitters already subject to licensing will fall under current testing requirements.

Eventually, license applications will be provided to the board seven days prior to its meeting on the first Wednesday of each month. Qualified applicants will then be able to take a test at the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School on a day to be determined.

Mogelnicki and board member Roy Halbert also reported to the board information they received at a national home show they attended recently. One of the seminars at the show was on contractor licensing.

Both board members said everyone they talked with about the issue said cities with licensing requirements all shared one thing. "Everyone I talked to, the first major requirement they had was proof of insurance," said Mogelnicki.

A minimum liability insurance requirement that initially was in Cape Girardeau's licensing law was eliminated by the City Council after a number of contractors complained.

Halbert said cities also had common problems to iron out before their licensing procedures began to run smoothly.

"Every one of them had problems to start with, so hopefully we can learn from them and avoid some of those problems," he said.