I received an email today from a reader looking for an answer to this question:
Do I have to submit an experience summary with my application if I had the same classification more than five years ago? The email read:
Dear Mr. Cocciante:
Your Blog is a wonderful resource and I am happy to have discovered it. I have a question that I hope you can answer. This is the scenario: the contractor does not renew the license, the license expires, five years pass. The contractor must now apply for a new license, also known as an Original. Does the contractor have to complete and have the Certification of Experience form signed? By Bus. & Maestro. The application of the 825 (b) Code “may compute experience without taking into account the ten-year limitation.” So essentially, the Contractor can use the exact work experience used to obtain the original license, and since the Contractor was licensed, he has clearly met the four-year minimum requirement … which brings me to the question of whether Contractor must include a Work Experience Certification Form?
I have read conflicting answers on another blog. Once they said the form was not required, another time they said yes. When I called the CSLB, a technician told me that all the Contractor has to do is write “See License No. XXXX” on the Experience form; another technician had a different answer.
Hope you have some ideas for me. I sincerely appreciate your time. Maybe this topic is good for blogging. I guess I’m not the only one trying to figure this out. Also, with the fires in Northern California, it seems like a lot of guys are getting back into construction after having their licenses expired.
Sincerely,
Jessica T.
My answer:
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for the kind words.
I can tell you that as a former cslb application technician and service provider dealing with current application technicians, you would not need to submit your experience with a new application.
On the first page of the app, you will be asked to provide whatever license you are / were associated with. The application technician will look up that license number to verify that it had the same classification previously that is being applied for now and will post the application in the exams.
That being said, there is always a small chance that they will request a summary of experience and verification documents (depending on the classification requested) for this type of request.
~ End
Thank you Jessica for your email and for allowing me to post it here. Questions from my readers are always welcome.