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Touching a Nerve on Drilling Work Licensing

May Editorial Got Readers' Attention

By Jeremy Verdusco
ND Editor Blog Default
May 24, 2016

Businesses and industries typically have “pain points,” parts of doing business or, in this case, drilling jobs, that could go away without being missed.

Apparently, licensing serves as a pain point for many drilling contractors. I wrote about this required scourge in my Editor’s Note for May’s National Driller. Contractors seem of two minds about licensing: They either tolerate it as a necessary evil that ensures a higher bar for the industry as a whole, or they just plain hate it.

After May’s National Driller worked its way through the postal system, I heard from a several readers about licensing for drillers. They had choice words. Many of them followed a theme.

“Appalled.” “Angry.” “Frustrated.” Steve Kaser, a water well driller out west, had those blunt descriptions, but went on in detail. “I do not believe most state’s regulations are in step with the fact groundwater is the most valuable of all resources on this earth.”

Reader Brandon Dreiling put an exasperated point on the discussion.

“Too much regulation has and will continue to push us out of business,” he wrote. “It cost to much to comply.“

Kaser went on to talk about how his state’s licensing requirements don’t cover some important aspects of actually installing a well in his area.

“Out here we use welded casing and there is nothing in the regulations that requires a basic class in welding be taken or, for that matter, demonstrating one’s competence in operating a well drilling machine.”

I didn’t directly get to the point in my Editor’s Note, so I wanted to follow up here: What does an acceptable licensing program for drilling contractors look like?

Should water well, geothermal and other types of drilling be licensed trades? If so, administration of such a program costs money. That means a license would have a fee associated with it. States won’t do that for free.

What about skills? Should drillers have to demonstrate the valuable skills required for drilling jobs before getting licensed? What does that look like? Annual courses? On-the-job apprenticeship with an experienced driller?

Bonding? Insurance? These are all important considerations if you want to develop the perfect regulatory scheme.

Let me use an example from a completely different industry: landlording. Most areas require landlords to register their properties and subject them to annual inspections. This helps ensure the rental isn't a safety hazard for tenants. Sometimes those inspections require an expensive lead certification. Those things add up. If you invest in an area with modest homes (that fetch modest rents), it’s not unusual for inspections to eat up a month or more of annual revenue.

There comes a point when a landlord might think twice about even registering a property. Think about it: If you bring in $600 a month on a property and each spring get hit with $800 in inspections, what’s the incentive to undergo the regulation in the first place?

Drilling – and a lot of industries – aren’t that much different. You want to provide safe groundwater, safe geothermal heating and cooling, or safe whatever. But when the regulators trying to certify that safety want five, 10 percent of your annual revenue, that can have a guy reconsidering his line of work.

It's not National Driller's place in the industry to say whether licensing is a good or bad thing. But I will say that, in areas where drilling is a licensed trade, the costs and processes for that licensing should make sense. 

What do you think? What makes up a good licensing process? When does it cross the line into an undue regulatory burden? Send me an email to share your thoughts.

Stay safe out there, drillers. 

KEYWORDS: drilling regulations well driller license

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Jeremy verdusco 200px

Jeremy Verdusco worked as Editorial Director for The Driller from late 2012 through early 2024. He’s worked in publishing since 1997, including stints as a reporter, copy editor, page designer and technical writer.

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Drilling licensing

Pierce Kiltoff
May 26, 2016
Washington State requires approximately 600 hours on the job under direct supervision of a licensed individual, then passing a written test on the codes, which is open book, followed by approx 3200 hours as a trainee operating independently within 1 hours travel of the licensed person training you - or if you have experience, an affidavit can be filed with a third party attesting to you having over 4000 +- hours of experience, and you still need to pass the written test. Finally, both paths to licensing require an onsite test will be conducted to verify you can operate the rig and perform the work correctly. That will get you licensed to install/drill wells - not pumps, which is a whole other training & licensing process - which is a bit less clear and a bit more onerous to test for. I'm an exception to the rule. I prefer a heavily regulated licensing system - provided there's a method that's clear and transparent for becoming licensed. The above isn't always clear and transparent, especially for pump installers, but it's what I've got. I think often drillers miss the KEY component to operating any business - return on investment. We invest millions of dollars into equipment and employees with the intent that that equipment will create a return on our investment - that is the primary purpose of the business. With that in mind, there is a huge advantage to complicated regulatory structures - being able to navigate the system and create the business that can deliver the product, typically water from the ground, within that environment demands a healthy return on investment. Most plumbers charge well over $185 per man hour in our area, while most pump installers are near $90 per man hour, and the last I checked we're licensed at the same department. From the payroll perspective, most foundation drilling operators working a prevailing wage job earn upwards of $50 per hour, a laborer running a broom out front will make about $30 per hour, while a water well driller on the same job earns a whopping $19 per hour. Gee, I wonder why I can't find people with two brain cells that can pass a drug test. We can't find people to work not because they can't get through the licensing process, but because we don't pay anywhere near a living wage for the knowledge required - whether they have it or can learn it. We can't find people who want to stay in this industry because they can earn more driving a truck, working as an electrical apprentice, sweeping a road in front of the construction site, or working in just about ANY other trade, and that is NOT THE FAULT OF THE REGULATIONS. Drillers would rather complain about regulations and spend money on them, then adopt them as a fact of life and charge for them. Long story short - when the man gets you down, charge more - it's a perfect excuse to raise prices. Oh, and hire someone and teach them a trade.

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