(1) The State Landscape Contractors Board shall establish a hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test for at least two of the types of limited or specialty licenses offered by the board under ORS § 671.560. The board may establish a hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test for additional types of licenses offered under ORS § 671.560 or 671.570. If the board establishes a hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test for a type of license, the board shall, when all such test types are available to the board, contractually or otherwise, allow an applicant for the license the option of satisfying all or parts of any examination requirement for the license by passing:

(a) A handwritten examination;

(b) An electronic examination; or

(c) The hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test and attending the business practices class described in this section.

(2) If the board establishes a hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test for a type of license, the board must offer the practical skills test at least once every 12 months.

(3) The board shall design a hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test to determine whether the applicant has the minimum knowledge required to perform the tasks most commonly required of a licensee in a manner meeting or exceeding practice standards established by board rule. A hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test may include, but may not be limited to, the use of written multiple choice questions. The board shall design a test to have a reasonable expected completion time that is less than eight hours. The board may not test the ability of an applicant for a limited or specialty license to perform a task that is not authorized by the type of limited or specialty license sought. If the board establishes a practical skills test option for licensing under ORS § 671.570, the board may not test the ability of an applicant to make an installation described in ORS § 671.615.

(4) The board shall offer or approve a class on landscape contracting business practices, not to exceed six hours in length. The class shall be offered to applicants who choose the option of taking a hands-on, written or electronic practical skills test and be made available to those applicants at least once every 12 months. The board may test applicants on the class content but may not consider the test results for purposes of conditioning, limiting or refusing a license.

(5) The board shall establish fees for applicants described in this section in amounts reasonably calculated to offset the full program cost of conducting the practical skills test and business practices class described in this section.

(6) The board may subcontract or otherwise arrange for a third party to carry out any duty or function of the board regarding practical skills testing or the class on landscape contracting business practices. [2015 c.652 § 1; 2016 c.45 § 1; 2021 c.171 § 1]

671.561 was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but was not added to or made a part of ORS Chapter 671 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.