No State license required?? Why not?

[Evil Gopher]

Kind of hit me the other day...been meaning to post this but keep getting side tracked.

To work as a security guard (my weekend job)....working FOR a company with a security guard company License.....I still have to have a STATE of Florida security guard License. Have to take 40 hours of classes to get a License. Then 14 hour refresher course to renew it the first time after 2 years. Both times have to pass a written exam...not that hard but still have to take one, and that is as an UNARMED door checker...armed takes a little more.

Wife poo is a CNA (Certified Nurses Aid)...works at a nursing home...low paying high turn over job....has to have a state License. Has to have x number of CCU's each year...plus her employer sign off on some other training...to renew her License.

In both case no License no job...no exceptions!


Soo other day I was at 7-11 guy from up north ask me "what License do I need and how do I get one" to work as a plumber in Florida" (company truck says pluming and air).....I said humm don't know..called a plumber...none work under companies License


It seems strange that to check if doors are locked....unarmed...with almost zero authority I have to take classes, pass a writhen test, plus finger prints and state criminal background check to get a License to be a security guard, and wife poo has to have a License, pass a background check, finger prints and X number of Continuous education credits each year to help patens at a nursing home get out of bed, and other such basic care.

But Here in Florida I can work "under a companies License.....no test, no background check, no one from the state wanting proof of training, no written exam.....nada...nothing...and yet as an HVAC tech I'm working with high voltage..Gas furnaces and related emissions, and all the other stuff that one would think I should need a License to even look at. Same with plumbing...someone decides I'm a plumber and poof I am one...fix peoples drinking water supply lines...fix water/waste pipes on the top floor of a condo sure no problem...License NOT required.

This just seems soooooooo wrong!!! I can not believe Florida (and I'm sure many other states) do not require anything to become a HVAC tech or plumber....even a simple background check...we do go into a lot of peoples homes....nothing...no proof what so ever I even have a clue what I'm doing....but to be a security guard I have to take classes....its just STUPID!!!!!!!!

[Aaron91]

Because technically your suppose to be working directly under the supervision of a Master Plumber.

[PlumbingSkool]

Really,

You can just advertise for plumbing work and then do it without a license?

Weird, Here in NY , there are way more rules :)

[Aaron91]

I just think Gopher is confused. I'm sure in Florida you still need a Apprentice Card, then Journeymen Card, then Master's Card, maybe with a Contractor's Lisence too.

Just because they're not lettered on the truck doesn't mean your employer doesn't have a lisence(s).

In the shop are there plaque's hanging on the walls?

[Frankiarmz]

Aaron is right, there is a Florida Contractor's license that covers Plumbing. If you think about it there would have to be folks qualified through testing and licensing to do such work not only to satisfy the safety of the public but to meet the codes inspectors check for. This is an area where the whole problem of illegals comes into play. You have hard working young Americans who want to learn a Trade and are willing to start from the bottom and you have some employers who would rather hire the illegal who may be a pretty competant worker already for the same pay!

[DuckButter]

Dam, thats scary.
Sounds like third world standards.

[myakka]

E.G. is correct
there is no proof of employee competence in Florida for plumbing. I was told this is blamed on the "right to work" law here.
If you think not needing a license is crazy, try being an out of state plumber attempting to get a license. I passed the state test last year(April?) with a 92.5%P and 88.75%B and still no license.I'm teaching code and trade skills to "Plumbers" in our company, but according to the state of Florida I have no varifieable experience(out of state lic. and W-2' don't count here). This state is nuts!
Mike

[Evil Gopher]

my understanding...and from calls to County agency...is In MY area..u got a Jurneymans card..and Masters card..no apprentice card is even offered.

For HVAC and the people I know...and 3 companies I've worked for....a few old timers had their J card..but never bothered to renue it...not needed to get HIRED here. By federal Law u need an EPA card to work with freon...but 2 companies I worked for almost no one had one...yes I do....and almost anyone can pass the online test to get the under 5 pound EPA lic....open book online...duh

Talking to plumers they have had J card or master lic....but seen no reasone to keep it active.

Companies have to have a contractors/plumer/hvac lic to operate...but to be an employee...of a company..u need nothing..

I think things would be better if we had a state lic requriement...

[oldslowchevy]

This state is nuts!
Mike
mike in the 2 years that i have lived here i have come to relized that says this state is nuts is a gross understatement, to me it seems more like completely insane is a better term.

example, a friend of mine got in to an automoblie accident in the city of north port, he got rearend ended by a elderly couple in a van, and the police arestted him with 2 counts of aggerved assult with a deadly weapon (his 1997 toyota tercel was the weapon) my friend had to be cut out of the car and the car had to both dragged on an off of the wreaker. he also sat in jail untill his bond reduction hearing where his bail went from $25,000 to released on his own recogaince., in turn since he has been charged (not convicted) with a 2nd degree felony with a driving ofence the state has revoked his drivers license peneding the out come of his trail.

he has lost his car, job, on the verge of losing his home and his pervlge to drive because he got rear ended, and still wont go to trail till april, and the were 8 witnesee in other cars that support his claim that he was the victim. yet the police desided to arest him and just gave the eldery couple a ticket for failure to avoid an accident.

yes i know this had nothing to do with the topic at hand (sorry about that EG) but to say this state is nuts is a gross under statement.

[ToUtahNow]

The idea is you are working under your employers license and he is suppose to be supervising you and making sure you are qualified to do the work. The fact that he can lose his license and business if you screw up is the insentive for him to monitor his emplyoees.

Mark

[myakka]

ToUtahNow
In a state that had some common sense,I would agree. But this is Florida. My previous employer had 70+ in the field, and seemed to be on vacation 6 months out of the year.
Mike