Qualified Person. One who has skills and knowledge related to the construction and operation of the electrical equipment and installations and has received safety training to recognize and avoid the hazards involved.FPN: Refer to NFPA 70E®-2004, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, for electrical safety training requirements.
The reason that I started the thread is that the question of what to do about this code section arose at a committee meeting. Similar to what has happened here, the committee members focused on the safety training aspect of the code section and ignored the skills and knowledge statement.
The PV industry has grown so fast that the demand for competent workers has outpaced the supply. I have met dozens of people installing PV that have no electrical trade experience.
The only requirement is that they be young enough to withstand the rigors of working on a roof.
Most of what gets done is mounting the equipment.
It's assumed that when they get to the disconnects and inverters, a limited knowledge will suffice.....if you've driven one ground rod, you've driven a thousand.
Much like water heater technicians they can do what they do without knowing why they do it.
Then electricity is introduced to the equation. Powerful DC electricity. On a roof.
California allows general contractors(B), electrical contractors(C-10), PV contractors(C-46) and homeowners to obtain permits for PV.
None guarantee that anyone is qualified.
Having a flood of work being done by people that were looking for a job a month ago heightens the risk.
Many jurisdictions allow the same entities to obtain a permit to perform service upgrades.
Now the kids on the roof are the kids on the ground.
Is it asking too much that the people doing the work have skills and knowledge about what they are doing? The safety training in NFPA 70E is great but not enough to satisfy 690.4(E).
The requirement for qualified people is found in other parts of the code. The PV industry is the poster boy for enforcing the provision.
The State govt. wants one million solar roofs. There's 950,000 to go .... it's out of control.
