License required for Energy Efficiency Work.

Texas Law Makers propose Energy Audits be undertaken by License contr.

Posted on 2013-03-21 06:35:54

Texas Law makers have taken a leadership role with so called energy efficiency experts by proposing these experts hold a Texas Contractors License. There are many companies / Institutions with offices outside Texas that are influencing the HVAC industry adversely to the detriment of the customer. Imagine having individuals with no technicial experiment charging home owners hundreds of dollars for service they have no business being involved with.

Home owners are flooded with information from magazines and over nite consulting compaines with no Technical or Engineering knowledge and unspecting customers are unable to determine if the information is real or fiction. To say to a home owner their air-conditioner needs replacing at costs ranging from $5000.00 to $14,000 because of effeciency without the means of determining effeciency upgrade is unacceptable.

We need language to include a means of proving efficiency prior and concluding any efficiency upgrade that costs more than $500.00.

BPI provides a very informative program for energy auditing. This program should work well for License HVAC contractors.

Below is the content of the proposed leglisation. I encourage all License contractors to express their support for the bill.

Texas Bill Regulating Energy Auditing Work
Public comments accepted until March 26 hearing held in Austin 

Texas, March 21, 2013 - Texas Senate's Committee on Business and Commerce held a hearing on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 on legislation that would regulate and narrowly restrict the definition of Energy Efficiency Professionals. Texas Senate Bill 617 and companion House Bill 1522 would require that energy auditors be licensed as HVAC contractors if they include HVAC equipment in their audit inspections, recommendations and reports.  The sponsoring Senator's office indicates virtually no objections have been raised to this legislation.  Minutes from yesterday's meeting may be found at the website for Senate Committee Meetings for Business and Commerce.

Under the proposed legislation, state-licensed Energy Efficiency Professionals would be required to "obtain a certification through an applicable training and certification program accredited by a state or national regulating body".

BPI certifications would not be recognized as an applicable HVAC certification program under the current wording of the legislation, effectively barring BPI certified professionals from conducting energy audits and developing scopes of work for energy upgrades that include HVAC measures, unless also licensed as an HVAC contractor.
These bills have been developed with assistance by Texas HERO and ACCA Texas.

To read the two bills, click on the hyperlinks below.

Senate Bill SB 617
Sponsored by Senator John J. Carona: District 16
http://www.carona.senate.state.tx.us/

House Bill HB 1522
Sponsored by Representative Ryan Guillen (D)
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/?district=31

If you have comments or suggested language changes you would like to submit to this open, consensus-based process, the committee requests you submit them by CLOSE OF BUSINESS, Thursday, March 21, 2013 to:
Kelsey Erickson: Kelsey.Erickson_SC@senate.state.tx.us or
Katy Johnson: Katy.Johnson@house.state.tx.us

The Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce will hold its next meeting next week to hear stakeholders express their views.  BPI certified professionals or others who may wish to educate bill sponsors about or encourage bill sponsors to accept verifiable skills associated with national standards and professional personnel certifications relying on rigorous written and practical field exams may wish to attend.  Texan BPI certified professionals may also wish to immediately contact their local House and Senate Bill sponsors (see links below) as well as their federal representatives to express their views.

Senator Carona acknowledges "that language of the file version of the bill needs a little work, (and is) asking all stakeholders to work with committee staff in the coming week, that is week singular, to reserve any outstanding issues so that we can lay out a committee substitute for the next meeting".