SECTION 158:50-1-2. Definitions

  The following words or terms, when used in this Chapter, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Act" means Mechanical Licensing Act as found at 59 O.S. § 1850.1, et seq.

"Administrator" means the Administrator of the Board as described in the Construction Industries Board Act found at 59 O.S. § 1000.1, et seq.

"Applicant" means any person applying for an examination, for a license or registration, for continuing education approval, for review of plans and specifications or for a mechanical code variance from the standard of installation described in OAC 158:50-1-4 by the Construction Industries Board under the Act.

"Associated with and responsible for" means the relationship between a mechanical contractor and mechanical firm based on the mechanical contractor being a permanent employee, owner, partner, or officer in a corporate firm, and whereby the mechanical contractor shall give full time to the supervision and control of operations necessary to secure full compliance with the provisions of the Mechanical Licensing Act and this Chapter.

"Biomass" means organic material that comes from plants and animals, and is a renewable source of energy intended for fueled hearth products.

"Board" means the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board.

"Bonds and Insurance Unit" means the consolidated unit that processes bonds and insurance under the direction of the Construction Industries Board.

"Cheating" means any unapproved deviation from any official instruction given before, during or after a license examination, for the purpose of affecting or influencing the examination results or otherwise providing an undue advantage to any examinee.

"Chemical plant" means a chemical plant within the context of 59 O.S. §1850.10(D) including a fertilizer plant engaged in formulating chemicals ultimately used generally in the agricultural fertilizer industry.

"Committee" means the Committee of Mechanical Examiners.

"Contracting" means engaging or offering to engage in, on behalf of oneself or on behalf of another, any mechanical work which requires a valid and appropriate license from the Construction Industries Board as required by the Mechanical Licensing Act, regardless if said work is in exchange for monetary payment or otherwise.

"Credit Hour" or "Hour" means at least 50 minutes of classroom instruction with a 10 minute break.

"Direct supervision" means the on-the-job physical presence by the supervisor who must be in the work area where the mechanical work is being performed and who also must be a licensed mechanical contractor or mechanical journeyman in the appropriate category for any mechanical work supervised.

"Endorsed apprentice" means a registered apprentice who met the qualifications, pursuant to OAC 158:50-9-5(i), to sit for the journeyman examination in the HVAC limited category and received a passing score on the examination, but who is working to complete the required one (1) year of verifiable experience as a registered apprentice prior to being issued the journeyman license.

"Fueled Hearth Product Work" means the installation, service or repair of biomass-fueled or natural gas-fired fireplace, fireplace insert, stove or log set and associated venting and piping that fuels or simulates a flame of a solid fuel fire, including accessories for use with natural gas. This does not include (a) gas piping work, (b) the servicing of gas piping, or (c) work associated with pressure regulating devices, except for factory installed appliance gas valves.

"Gas piping" means and includes all natural gas piping within or adjacent to any building, structure, or conveyance, on the premises up to the connection with a natural gas meter, regulator, or other source of supply.

"Ground source piping" means piping buried below the earth's surface or submerged in a water well, lake or pond and used in conjunction with a heat pump to provide heating, ventilation and/or air conditioning to a structure.

"Health care facility" includes but is not limited to hospitals, nursing homes, limited care facilities, clinics, medical or dental offices, and ambulatory care centers, whether permanent or moveable.

"Hearing Board" means the Mechanical Hearing Board.

"Humidification" when applied to air conditioning, means and includes an increase or decrease in moisture content of the air being conditioned and supplied to the space for human occupancy by means of that integral part of the entire air conditioning system, equipment, and control devices; when applied to refrigeration, means and includes an increase or decrease in the moisture content of the air or product being conditioned for a food preservation measure or manufacturing process by means of the integral part of the entire refrigeration system, equipment, and control devices.

"HVAC" or "heating, ventilation and air conditioning" means the process of treating air by controlling its temperature, humidity, and cleanliness and of supplying such air to spaces for human occupancy by means of an integrated system of air conditioning and ventilation equipment, accessories and control devices.

"ICC" means the International Code Council.

"Limited residential installer" means a type and category of mechanical license that is restricted to new installations in new construction for detached one or two family dwellings and multiple single family dwellings (townhouses) not more than three stories in height with a separate means of egress as regulated by this Chapter.

"Limited residential journeyman" means a type and category of mechanical license that is restricted to new installations for detached one or two family dwellings and multiple single family dwellings (townhouses) not more than three stories in height with a separate means of egress as regulated by this Chapter.

"Mechanical License Unit" means the staff and administrative support unit to the Committee of Mechanical Examiners and the Mechanical Hearing Board.

"Mechanical work" means the installation, maintenance, repair, or renovation, in whole or in part, of any heating system, exhaust system, cooling system, mechanical refrigeration system, ventilation system, medical gas system, medical-surgical vacuum systems, or any equipment or piping carrying chilled water, air for ventilation purposes, or natural gas, or the installation, maintenance, repair, or renovation of process piping used to carry any liquid, substance, or material, including steam and hot water used for space heating purposes not under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor or Department of Health, provided that minor repairs and maintenance are excluded.

"Medical gas piping work" means the lay out, assembly, installation, and maintenance of pipe systems used in health care facilities for oxygen, nitrous oxide, medical air, carbon dioxide, helium, nitrogen, instrument air, medical-surgical vacuum, waste anesthetic gas disposal, mixtures thereof, or any other gaseous, partly gaseous substance, material or any mixtures thereof used in a health care facility. Replacing cylinders and filters, and performing routine and preventive maintenance that does not breach the integrity of the medical gas piping system and does not constitute the installation, repair, or replacement of medical gas piping shall not require a medical gas piping licensee.

"Medical gas journeyman" means a type and category of mechanical license that is restricted to medical gas piping.

"Minor repairs and maintenance" means minor repairs or maintenance as each are prescribed in the manufacturer's operating instructions to be performed by the equipment owner or his authorized agent, and shall not include replacement and repairs of any nature on natural gas piping, natural gas controls, the manufacturer installed controls and components, the vent system of fuel burning appliances, a breach of the integrity of a refrigeration system or any repair or maintenance which would violate the safe operation of the equipment.

"National Fireplace Institute" or "NFI" means the professional certification entity for planning and installing residential hearth fueled gas, wood, or pellet appliances and venting systems.

"Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission" or "OUBCC" means the state agency created under 59 O.S. § 1000.20, et seq., and authorized to adopt all building codes and standards for residential and commercial construction to be used as minimum standards by all entities within this State.

"Petroleum refinery" means an industrial plant which processes petroleum for purposes of creating products derived from petroleum and includes industrial plants which produce and/or refine alternative fuels or petroleum additives. "Petroleum refinery" shall not mean gas processing plant or gas gathering pipeline operations.

"Petroleum refinery journeyman" means a type and category of mechanical license that is restricted to petroleum refinery process piping.

"Petroleum refinery process piping work" means the lay out, assembly, installation, and maintenance of pipe systems used in the petroleum refining process or product refining systems of a petroleum refinery.

"Process" means a series of operations performed in the making or treatment of a product.

"Process piping" means lay out, assembly, installation, and maintenance of pipe systems, pipe supports, and related hydraulic and pneumatic equipment for steam, hot water, heating, cooling, lubricating and fire sprinklers, not subject to regulation pursuant to the Alarm Industry Act, and industrial production and processing systems, and piping used to carry any gaseous, or partly gaseous, substance or material as part of a medical gas piping system.

"Reciprocity" means an agreement whereby a person holding a mechanical license or registration who is licensed in other states with substantially similar or greater licensure requirements may be licensed in this State after payment of a fee for licensing by reciprocity.

"Refrigeration system" means installation, repairing and servicing of a system employing fluid which normally is vaporized and liquefied in an air conditioning system, food preservation measure or manufacturing process.

"Variance" means the use of an alternative material or method of construction from that prescribed in the standard of installation as described in OAC 158:50-1-4 and/or other approved documents by the OUBCC for use at a particular location or project specified in the variance application; and

"Variance and Appeals Board" means the Oklahoma State Mechanical Installation Code Variance and Appeals Board.

"Verifiable experience" means mechanical experience obtained while employed by a licensed Mechanical contractor, or by other means approved by the Committee of Mechanical Examiners including equivalent experience earned while serving in the U.S. Military, for which one (1) year of verifiable experience equals two thousand (2,000) hours.

[Source: Added at 19 Ok Reg 732, eff 1-22-02 (emergency); Added at 19 Ok Reg 1276, eff 5-28-02; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 2658, eff 7-26-03; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 1216, eff 5-25-06; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 388, eff 11-14-08 (emergency); Amended at 26 Ok Reg 2458, eff 7-11-09; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 2087, eff 7-11-10; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 776, eff 10-30-12 (emergency); Amended at 30 Ok Reg 1543, eff 7-11-13; Amended at 31 Ok Reg 920, eff 9-12-14; Amended at 32 Ok Reg 1636, eff 9-11-15; Amended at 33 Ok Reg 582, eff 8-25-16; Amended at 34 Ok Reg 885, eff 10-1-17; Amended at 35 Ok Reg 925, eff 10-1-18; Amended at 36 Ok Reg 1420, eff 10-1-19; Amended at 37 Ok Reg 1055, eff 10-1-20]