On June 16, 2025, the Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors (the Board) published a proposed rule in the North Carolina Register. Laws governing the Board’s adoption of rules require a 60-day comment period following publication. The Board must consider fully all written and oral comments received. You have an opportunity to comment on the proposed rule through 8/15/2025.
The proposed change regards the regulatory definition of bona fide employee. N.C.G.S. § 87-43.1 establishes an exception to Article 4 for bona fide employees of a licensee. Article 4 does not define a bona fide employee, and under its regulatory power, the Board previously adopted a regulatory definition. The definition of bona fide employee is found at 21 NCAC 18B .0306. The proposed rule can be found in Volume 39, Issue 24 at page 1617, which is linked below.
The proposed changes exclude independent contractors, consultants, and subcontractors from the definition of bona fide employee. The change also regulates the circumstances under which licensed contractors can use labor suppliers. This requires a written contract that allocates payroll and tax withholding obligations to the labor supplier and places responsibility for supervision and control of all electrical work upon the listed qualified individual and licensed firm that is obligated to the owner or general contractor for all electrical installations. The written contract must also specify that the listed qualified individual is a bona fide employee of the licensed firm.
Once a final rule is adopted, please feel free to contact our office for drafting or review of labor supplier contracts and a discussion of other consequences that may arise by compliance with rule changes.
Links:
Proposed rule text: https://files.nc.gov/oah/documents/2025-06/Volume-39-Issue-24-June-16-2025.pdf?VersionId=dA0V.peH2QBx1JWADAL3v6S_HxW9AnzL
The Board Contact Information may be found at https://www.ncbeec.org/.