Sorry if this has been covered. After reading the thread on here about keeping a paper trail, I started keeping a log. Two years at my shop now, so I already feel behind.
Right now it's a notebook: date, job, hours, what I did. Is that enough? Do I need my boss to sign something? Should I go back and reconstruct the last two years from my pay stubs, or is that pointless? I'd rather overdo it now than find out later it's useless.
edit: I mean for a master plumber license someday, in NJ.
Kid, you're ahead of most guys, not behind. The notebook's fine.
What the board cares about, last I checked, is that the work was under a licensed master and who that was. So write your boss's name and license number in the front. Once a year, ask him to sign a summary while he still remembers you. Keep your W-2s forever.
What the application actually wants on paper, read it on the board's page. Don't build the whole system off what an old guy says on the internet. That's the job.
HVAC contractor, owner · 25 years · Middlesex County, NJ
Mentor
What I've seen hold up for my techs:
- One line per week is enough; daily is nice but people quit
- The type of work matters as much as hours (service, rough-in, boilers)
- Photograph the pages every month; notebooks die in vans
1st-year apprentice, UA · 1 year · Essex County, NJ
union side the apprenticeship tracks our hours but i keep my own anyway, i do it in the car at the wawa before work. foreman says the union's records are good but yours are better lol