Do I have to send an experience scheme?

I received an email today from a reader who was looking for an answer to this question:

Do I need to submit an experience summary with my application if I had the same classification more than five years ago? The email said:

Dear Mr. Cocciante:

Your blog is a wonderful resource and I’m glad I discovered it. I have a question that I hope you can answer. This is the scenario: the contractor does not renew the license, the license expires, five years pass. The contractor must now apply for a new original license. Does the contractor have to complete and sign the Certification of Experience form? by bus. & Teacher. The Code 825(b) applicant “may calculate experience without regard to the ten-year limitation.” So, essentially, the Contractor can use the exact work experience used to obtain the original license, and since the Contractor had the license, it clearly met the four-year minimum requirement… which brings me to the question of whether the Contractor must include a Work Experience Certification Form?

I have read conflicting answers on another blog. One time they said the form was not required, another time they said yes. When I called CSLB, a technician told me that all the contractor has to do is type “See license number XXXX” on the Experience form; another technician had a different answer.

I hope you have some idea for me. I really appreciate your time. Maybe this topic can be good for blogging. I guess I’m not the only one trying to figure this out. Also, with the fires in Northern California, it seems like a lot of guys are getting back into construction after letting their licenses lapse.

sincerely,

Jessica T.

My answer:

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for the kind words.

I can tell you that as a former cslb application technician and service provider dealing with current application technologies, you would not need to submit your experience with a new application.

On the first page of the app, it will ask you to provide any licenses you are or have been associated with. The application technician will look up that license number to verify that it had the same previous classification that is being applied for now, and will post the application to the exams.

That being said, there is always a small chance that they will require an experience summary and verification documents (depending on the classification being requested) for this type of application.

~ end

Thank you Jessica for your email and for allowing me to post it here. Questions from my readers are always welcome.