BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1874

By: Bell, Keith

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Current law establishing licensing and regulatory standards for electricians lacks clarity regarding whether a master electrician, who is generally understood to have the highest level of licensing and expertise in the electrical field, is legally authorized to perform all electrical work, such as electrical design for code compliance, and work typically assigned to a master sign electrician. The bill author has informed the committee that this lack of clarity has led to confusion in enforcement and interpretation, creating unnecessary regulatory uncertainty for master electricians, businesses, local governments, and licensing authorities and that, while it has been the legislature's long-standing interpretation of the law that either a master electrician or professional engineer may perform electrical design work, some stakeholders have requested that this be clarified in the law. Accordingly, H.B. 1874 clarifies that the scope of a master electrician's work includes performing electrical design work.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1874 amends the Occupations Code to clarify that the scope of work of a master electrician under the Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act includes performing electrical design work.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.