In May, three Seattle trade licensing laws were relocated to a separate subtitle within the Seattle Municipal Code Title 6, and the provisions of each were revised to be parallel to and consistent with each other. The new regulations were effective June 21, 2006.

Specific changes to the Gas Piping Installers Licensing Law (SMC 6.430) include new provisions for appeals, stop work, notice of violation and penalties. Also, the yearly license renewal date has been moved from May 31 to March 31.

Specific changes to the Steam Engineer and Boiler Firemen Licensing Law (SMC 6.420) include:

• Additional years of experience are required for Grades I and II steam engineers.
• Steam engineers would be able to apply for a supervisor’s license with one year experience instead of three.
• The qualifications for licenses are reformatted from text into tabular format.
• Provisions for revocation of licenses, appeals, stop work, notice of violation and penalties are added.
• DPD is given specific authority to perform inspections to determine compliance with the chapter.

Specific changes to the Refrigeration Licensing Law (SMC 6.410) include:

• A section on scope and purpose is added.
• The legislation gives DPD specific authority to enforce the chapter, to require applications, and to administer examinations.
• The legislation makes it unlawful to have charge of, or to permit someone to operate a refrigeration system without complying with the licensing requirements.
• Provisions governing air conditioning contractors are combined with those for refrigeration contractors.
• The license category for industrial refrigeration engineer is being phased out to reflect changes in the industry.
• The existing section on late renewal is deleted. A section is added requiring that applicants whose licenses have been expired for more than one year must retake the examination.
• The provisions for revocation of licenses is replaced with more enforceable language.
• Bond requirements are deleted.
• Provisions for appeals, stop work, and notice of violation are added.
• DPD is given specific authority to perform inspections to determine compliance with the chapter.
• Penalties are revised for consistency with the other licensing programs.
• The yearly license renewal date has been moved from July 31 to June 30.