STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

JUAN M. REYNES, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 84-1955

)

DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ) REGULATION, ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS' ) LICENSING BOARD, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a formal hearing was conducted in this case in Tallahassee, Florida, on October 12, 1984, before Michael M. Parrish, a duly designated Hearing Officer of the Division of Administrative Hearings.

Appearances for the parties were as follows:

For Petitioner: Mr. Juan M. Reynes, pro se

336 West 16 Street Hialeah, Florida 33010

For Respondent: Arthur Wallberg, Esquire

Assistant Attorney General Room 1601, The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32301

At the hearing the Petitioner testified on his own behalf and offered 14 exhibits, all of which were received in evidence. The Petitioner did not present the testimony of any other witnesses. The Respondent presented the testimony of Mr. Ernest Isaac, Jr., Chairman of the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board. The Respondent did not offer any exhibits, but did request that the Hearing Officer take official notice of the applicable statutes and rules.

Subsequent to the hearing, both parties filed proposed findings of fact, proposed conclusions of law, and proposed recommendations which have been given careful consideration in the formulation of this Recommended Order. To the extent that the findings of fact proposed by the parties are not included in the findings of fact in this Recommended Order, the proposed findings are rejected as being irrelevant, immaterial, unsupported by competent substantial evidence, or contrary to the greater weight of the evidence.

ISSUE

The Petitioner has applied to take the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board licensure examination and the Board proposes to deny the Petitioner's application on the ground that the Petitioner does not fully meet the experience requirements which are prerequisites to taking the examination. The parties

stipulated that the Petitioner has satisfied one-half of the experience requirement pursuant to Rule 21GG-5.03(2), Florida Administrative Code, by reason of his having a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Miami. Thus, the central issue in this case is whether the Petitioner's professional and business experience constitutes one and one-half years "proven experience in the trade as an electrical contractor or in a responsible management position with an electrical contractor." See Section 2489.521, Fla. Stat., Rule 2100-5.03(1), F.A.C.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Based on the testimony of the witnesses, the exhibits received in evidence, and the stipulations of the parties, I make the following findings of fact.

1. Mr. Juan M. Reynes has applied to the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board (hereinafter referred to as "the Board") to take the licensure examination for certification as an electrical contractor. Mr. Reynes' application was denied because the Board concluded that he had failed to demonstrate the experience required by Section 2489.521, Florida Statutes, as interpreted by Rule 21GG-5.03, Florida Administrative Code.

   
   

2. Mr. Reynes is originally from Cuba, where his father ran an electrical contracting company. When Mr. Reynes was a teenager he began working in his father's business in 1949. He worked in a number of capacities, including work as an apprentice to an electrical engineer. Thereafter Mr. Reynes studied electrical engineering at the University of Havana and received a degree in electrical engineering during the middle or late 1950's. Thereafter, Mr. Reynes was licensed as an electrical engineer in Cuba.

   
   

3. Following receipt of his degree and license as an electrical engineer, Mr. Reynes continued to work for his father's electrical contracting company from 1958 until sometime in 1962. During the period from 1958 to 1962, Mr. Reynes was involved in all aspects of the management of his father's electrical contracting company. His involvement in the management of the business included such things as signing contracts for the company, locating new business for the company, obtaining the necessary permits, dealing with the supply houses, and keeping the necessary employee records.

   
   

4. In Cuba a license to practice electrical engineering also authorized the licensee to engage in the business of electrical contracting. The permitting procedure in Cuba was one in which permission to construct was obtained by having the appropriate government officials sign the blue prints. It was necessary to have an electrical engineer degree in order to submit blue prints for government approval.

   
   

5. At the time Mr. Reynes was working as a licensed electrical engineer with his father's company there were laws in Cuba similar to Florida's worker's compensation laws and unemployment compensation laws. Workers in Cuba were also guaranteed certain other benefits such as guaranteed vacation days and sick leave. It was necessary to keep records regarding each employee. At the time Cuba did not have any laws similar to the Social Security laws in this country. When Mr. Reynes was studying for his electrical engineering degree in Cuba, his course work included studying the law of contracts.

6. Thereafter Mr. Reynes spent a number of years in jail in Cuba as a political prisoner. Following his release from jail, from October of 1970 until January 1972 Mr. Reynes worked on some extensive electrical construction projects for Alfa Romeo in Cuba. After finishing that project, Mr. Reynes was able to obtain permission to leave Cuba and move to Spain.

   
   

7. All of the electrical construction projects that Mr. Reynes was involved in within Cuba were built pursuant to the latest available edition of the North American National Electric Code.

   
   

8. In Spain, Mr. Reynes did some work in the fields of electronics and electrical engineering. He left Spain and came to the United States. In the United States he has worked for a lot of companies in a variety of positions related to one aspect or another of electricity, but most of that experience is not relevant to the experience requirements for taking the electrical contractor's certification examination.

   
   

9. While working in the United States, Mr. Reynes studied electrical engineering at the University of Miami and received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in May of 1981. He graduated cum laude as a result of receiving high grades, which he was able to do while also working full time to support himself and his family. In October of 1981, he took the licensure examination for professional engineer and passed it the first time he took it. Since February of 1982, he has been licensed as a professional engineer by the Board of Professional Engineers of the State of Florida.

   
   

10. Since being licensed as a professional engineer, Mr. Reynes has owned and operated his own electrical engineering business. He has worked as an engineering consultant for several general contractors and electrical contractors, but he has not been in a responsible management position with an electrical contractor since coming to the United States, nor has he pulled any building permits for electrical construction in the United States. However, in working for electrical contractors, he has done such things as calculate the total number of man hours required for projects, calculate the total cost of supplies for projects, and supervised the actual construction of projects.

    
    

11. In the operation of his own business Mr. Reynes has one full-time employee and two part-time employees. In the operation of his own business he has become familiar with such matters as preparation of payroll and the necessary deductions, the Internal Revenue Service requirements for businesses, worker's compensation insurance, and unemployment compensation insurance.

    
    

12. An important part of the experience required by the applicable statute and rule is experience in the business activities aspect of electrical contracting. These activities include such things as payroll, insurance, bonding, worker's compensation, unemployment compensation, contract, and building laws.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

    Based on the foregoing findings of fact and the applicable statutes, rules, and legal principles, I make the following conclusions of law.

    
    

13. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the subject of and the parties to this case.

14. Rule 21GG-5.03, Florida Administrative Code, reads as follows in pertinent part:

    
    

    1. All applicants must show that their proposed qualifying agent (in the case of a sole proprietorship the applicant himself) has three (3) years proven experience in the trade as an electrical contractor or

       in a responsible management position with an electrical contractor.

       * * *

    2. A qualifying agent who is a recipient of a degree in engineering or a related field from an accredited four (24) year college

       or university may substitute his educational background for one and one-half (1 1/2) years of experience in the trade as an electrical contractor, provided that he directs the college or university he attended to forward a copy of his transcript to the Department.

    3. A qualifying agent who submits proof that he has been licensed as a professional engineer in this state, or in a state which has licensing standards substantially similar to the standards of this state, for the past six (6) years preceding his application, may substitute this professional experience for the requisite three (3) years of skill, know- ledge and experience in the trade as an electrical contractor.

       
       

15. Pursuant to subsection (3) of Rule 21GG-5.03, if Mr. Reynes continues to be licensed as a professional engineer he will be eligible to take the electrical contractor's certification examination in February of 1988 without submitting proof of any experience in the electrical contracting business.

    
    

16. Pursuant to subsection (2) of Rule 21GG-5.03, Mr. Reynes may substitute his educational background for one and one-half years of the three years of experience required by subsection (1) of Rule 21GG-5.03. Accordingly, Mr. Reynes is only required to establish one and one-half years of experience as an electrical contractor or in a responsible management position with an electrical contractor.

    
    

17. Mr. Reynes has proved that while he was in Cuba he had more than one and one-half years of experience as an electrical contractor or in a responsible management position with an electrical contractor. Mr. Reynes' experience in Cuba is sufficient to meet the applicable statutory and rule requirements for several reasons. First, nothing in Section 2489.521, Florida Statutes, or in Rule 21GG-5.03, Florida Administrative Code, requires that experience in the trade be obtained in the State of Florida or in any other specified geographic territory. Second, the technical or scientific aspects of Mr. Reynes' experience in Cuba are substantially identical to the type of experience he would have received if he had been working in the United States, because all of his electrical construction work in Cuba was constructed pursuant to the same National Electric Code that was in effect in this country. Third, although the Cuban laws affecting the business aspects of electrical contracting are different from the laws in this country affecting the business aspects of

electrical contracting, the business skills which are necessary to successfully comply with one system of governmental regulation are the same types of skills which are necessary to comply with the regulations of another system of government. Thus, Mr. Reynes' business experience in Cuba should stand him in good stead in this country. Further, since Mr. Reynes has been operating his own business in this state he has obtained at least one and one-half years of experience in such things as preparation of payroll and the necessary deductions, the Internal Revenue Service requirements for businesses, worker's compensation insurance, and unemployment compensation insurance.

RECOMMENDATION

On the basis of all of the foregoing it is recommended that the Electrical Contractor's Licensing Board issue a Final Order concluding that Mr. Reynes is eligible to take the next electrical contractors' certification examination.

DONE and ORDERED this 29th of November 1984, at Tallahassee, Florida.

MICHAEL M. PARRISH

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

FILED with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 29th day of November 1984.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Juan M. Reynes,

336 W. 16th Street Hialeah, Florida 33010

Arthur Wallberg, Esquire Assistant Attorney General Room 1601

The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 323301

Allen R. Smith, Jr.

Executive Director

Florida Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board

130 N. Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 84-001955

Orders for Case No: 84-001955