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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01311978Minutes of Licensing Board Committee Meeting, January 31, 1978 Members present: Ed schmucker, Ed Paluch, Jim Harris, Merle Hasson, Houston Tripp Members absent: Terry Verner., There were no comments made about the minutes of the last meeting, which was held on January 17, 1978. This meeting was all about the H H Block Proctor testing, its fee~ and ali infor- mation pertaining to the taking of this test. We had at this meeting, a represen- tative of H H Block Proctor test from Gainesville, Mr. Thomas Hamm. This committee does not want to get ikvolved in writing up their own tests, and so it was decided to have the testing done by the Block people. Mr. Paluch made a statement that this board,would want to certify all trades in- volved, under a specific heading. At the present time, H H Block is preparing-examinations in over 140 different construction categories.' There are a few exams that are not highly techhical in certain categories. Mr. Hamm stated that Block should have exams in any category that we should decide to license. These exams are broken down into two different types, which are Specialty Exams, which are essentially the subs (masonry, concrete finishers," roofers, etc.) These are three (3) hour examinations- ' e~ of eneral ~ontractors, master an~ journeyman The others are three (3) class . ~ . . everal categories of plumbers, master and journeyman e£ectrlclans, and the s heating and air conditioning contractors. These are all six (6) hour examinations. The six hour exams are $23.00 and the three hour exams are $18.00. These exams do get cheaper if you order large quantities. This is the price of the exam only. The exams themselves are priced at either $18.00 (it does get down to $15.00, if you order more than five (5) in a particular category.) The $23.00 exam goes down to $20.00 if you order a large quantity. The exams are available on two basis--proctored or unproctored. The ~roctored is the one where a representative from HH Block-firm. w.iIl.actually come down on the day.-of the exa~,,.~l~:t d " them back to Gainesville that nl~n ~- board can be the~e and assist in . 's articular exam..-xon,' as =a= --~ ~- ~ard be there %0..identify txme for %hl P ~,~-~-.~-o ask' that someone zr~ .~..~ ~- giving this exam. ~x~u~ ...... the applicants because the applicants are not named,'they are numbered'and, so locally, you'll knpw who identifies w~th 'which number. The-grades are"reported back by number also. The unproctored exam is sent to .the person in charge (decided~by the' members of th~' all be individually sealed in envelopes~ ~$ome examS' have board)~. The exams will each Part. will be ~eparately sealed"in an e~vel0Pe'' The more than one part, and ~ applicant opens i~, puts his number on the exam and, when he'~in~she~'~f't''' be'will put the exam into an envelope enclosed with t~e.test and'he~"himsel~''Wi!~ seal the envelope and gives it back to whoever"is monitoring the'exams a~'then'they... are shipped bac~ to Gainesville' for the'.gradi~g- Mr. Hamm stated that, to his knowledge, none of the clients that they serve will reciprocate on the basis of an unproctored exam. Almost all of the proctored areas reciprocate' with each other. In this area, everything around us is proctored, except for India~River, which is the only county~in thissection of the state, that Block is not doing any tests for. Block charges their clients the same fee for the exam and the exam service. Almost all of .the clients charge' something different' to the applicant. The West Coast area, around Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Lee county charge approximately $35.00. Other than that area,' all the rest Of the state charges something'different. Palm Beach charges $80.00. Everyone does charge something more than what we charge tham i- order to cover the cost and other things. Block charges per exam ordered, eg.' If you ordered five (5) exams @$23.00, then they will charge us five times $23.00 ($115.00). If you collected $35.00 from each of them, that wouldn't quite cover the proctor cost. Block charges $4.00 per appli- cant, for-a proctoring service with a minimum charge'of $150.00 Block also requires two (2) weeks notice before you plan on giving'any test. If someone can't wait until this board gives an exam locally, there is a special exam available. You can send this man to Gainesville, if you send Block an order of authorization, along with his picture, and they will test him there. This test costs $100.00. If you have a reciprocal agreement with neighboring counties,-~'(if YoUl, go-to proc- tored service) this man could g6 there and take the exam and,-if he passes it, he can come to you and get a license, by reciprocity. This~is done frequently .... Actually, they will get a'license in a different County,~ but when"they'come back to you, they will ask for reciprocity. This, of course, is depending on'whether you go to proctor and having a reciprocal agreement. How do we know, if a man brings in a license from another county, that that license is valid? You would contact the Buil~i.ng Dep~rtment in your community and they, in turn, would send a letter of reciprocity to Block verifying that so-and-so actually took the Block Proctor exam. How much is the average fee for taking the proctor test? $50.00 is average for a general contractor, but most people tend to break it down. TheY:ch~ge %he'.general contractors a little more; the master categories, $35..00 to $50.08';" the'~ourneymen, $25.00 and maybe something'less. They tend to scale it down'to journeyman'.classi- fication. You wouldn't want to sChedule a.test.if you only have a handful of people Who3want to take the test. It wouldn't be profitable 'for you. You'have to p&y..$150.00.just for the man from Block' to administer the' test, pay for the:'test'and so,':'Y~u-sh~ld set up a date for a test only if you have a certain number'~of'peo~le ~5~'are. lnter- ested to make it worthwhile for all':involve~. These tests are composed up of 120 mulitple choice questions Ch.'the f%rst'half and six problems on the second half. This is the six hour exam~:. TheS-~'129ques- tions are pulled, randomly, from a f~le of about .1,200 ques'hionS.? NO'.t..w.~.: exams are identical. They are also, on some Parts, .open' book exa~. -. There are over 140 different categories of tests. Before the board will schedule a test, they'will investigate the person applying for application before they accept that application. Pre-qualify the man before letting him take the test. Limit the number 'of tests that you will be giving. An exam in the general spe- cialty category consists of 20'to 30 ~business" questions, which would be on work/nan's compensation, unemployment,' social security, and then there'may be one separate page that will show a residence on a plot plan' and tell the man that the owner of this house has asked him to install a fence, therefore, perpare a com- plete list of materials necessary and give sketches showing how you would install this fence. (This is, of course, if a man wanted to go into the fence business, he would take the fence exam in order to get his license in this particular category.) A motion was made to adopt the Block & Associates H H Proctor exam by Ed Paluch. Seconded by Jim Harris. All in favor--none opposed. Motion carried. The board should provide table space of a minimum of 30"x30" for two people taking the'tests. Th~e people will have books,'-and plans and will need'the space. Any category' that you decide to license, by examination, 'send a'.letter to Block letting them know what categories you will need tests for. Block'wi11 send a reference list for each of the categories listing the books'needed"in order to take the test. Next meeting will be Tuesday, February..7, 1978 at 1:30 p.m.