Shelbyville, Indiana, has passed an ordinance requiring third-party testing for city electricians. According to the Shelbyville Times, the ordinance removes the responsibility of the city building department to issue electrical examinations, instead requiring the exams to be taken through nationally standardized exams applicable to other cities.
Deputy director Michele Hansard explained at a Jan. 5 city council meeting that city electricians, journeymen and contractors have to take the city's test or another jurisdiction's test.
"Right now, we have in-house tests that we issue once a month," said Hansard. "We administer it, we supervise it, we grade it. We think to be consistent and fair to everybody, we should go through a third party now that handles the testing."
The third party would be Prometric, a test development and delivery provider to more than 400 organizations worldwide, according to the company's website.