SB 1455

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, establishes the Contractors State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of contractors. Existing law requires the board to appoint a registrar of contractors and fix the registrar's compensation, as specified. This bill would continue in existence the Contractors State License Board and the above-described requirements until January 1, 2029. (2) Existing law authorizes an applicant for a license to qualify the applicant's knowledge and experience with a responsible managing officer, employee, member, or manager who has certain qualifications. Existing law requires the person qualifying on behalf of an individual or firm to be responsible for exercising supervision and control of their employer's or principal's construction operations, as specified. Existing law requires the board to require every applicant or licensee, as specified, to submit detailed information on the qualifying individual's duties and responsibilities for supervision and control of the applicant's construction operations, including, but not limited to, an employment duty statement prepared by the qualifier's employer or principal. Existing law makes the failure to provide this information a cause for disciplinary action and punishable as a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill would delete the requirement that an employment duty statement be included in a specified applicant's or licensee's information submitted to the board. The bill would also delete the provision that makes the failure to provide specified information to the board a cause for disciplinary action and punishable as a misdemeanor. The bill would state that "direct supervision or control" for these purposes to mean, among other things, supervising construction operations. (3) Existing law defines various terms for the purposes of the Contractors State License Law, including defining "person" to mean an individual, a firm, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other organization, or any combination thereof. Existing law makes contractors' licenses issuable to individual owners, partnerships, corporations, and limited liability companies. Existing law authorizes the board to set fees by regulation, including various application, examination scheduling, and license and registration fees, according to a prescribed schedule. Existing law requires the fees received under this law to be deposited in the Contractors License Fund, a fund that is partially continuously appropriated for the purposes of the law. This bill would expand the definition of "person" under the act to include a federally recognized tribe, as defined. The bill would require a corporation or limited liability company seeking licensure to provide its identification number issued by the Secretary of State. This bill would additionally make contractors' licenses issuable to participating tribes, as the bill would define, that provide verification of their status as a tribal business, as specified. By expanding the category of who contractors' licenses are issuable to and would be required to pay fees deposited into the Contractors License Fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (4) Existing law exempts from licensure under the Contractors State License Law certain entities, including an authorized representative of the United States government or the State of California, when the entity or its representative is acting within the scope of the entity's or representative's official capacity. This bill would extend the above-described exemption to an authorized representative of any federally recognized tribe or participating tribe acting within tribal jurisdiction. If a qualifying individual, as described, is neither the proprietor, a general partner, nor a joint licensee, existing law requires the qualifying individual to file a bond, as specified, in the sum of $25,000. This bill would prohibit the above-described bond requirement from applying to a federally recognized tribe or a participating tribe. Existing law requires a corporation license to be canceled upon the corporation's dissolution, merger, or surrender of its right to do business in this state and requires a corporation to notify the registrar within 90 days of the dissolution, merger, or surrender. If a corporation fails to provide notice, existing law requires the corporation license to be canceled 60 days after the board's discovery when researching the corporate records of the Secretary of State. This bill would extend the above-described requirements to a participating tribe and would specify the above-referenced corporate records to include only relevant corporate records. (5) Existing law requires the suspension of a contractor's license if the contractor fails to register and be in good standing with the Secretary of State after notice from the registrar. Existing law requires a specified notice process and authorizes reinstatement of the license if the contractor provides proof satisfactory to the registrar that the license is properly registered and in good standing. Existing law also makes specified persons within a limited liability company personally liable for up to $1,000,000 in damages to third parties in certain cases. This bill would exempt federally recognized tribes and participating tribes from the above-described suspension, notice, reinstatement, and liability provisions. This bill would remove specified fees for scheduling or rescheduling examinations and instead require that the fee to take an examination conducted or administered by a specified public or private organization be no greater than the actual cost of the administration of the examination and be paid directly to the organization by the applicant. The bill would require licensees subject to a public complaint requiring a professional or expert investigation or inspection and report to pay the reasonable fees necessary to cover the costs of that investigation or inspection and report, as specified. (6) Existing law requires, in public works contracts, as defined, the awarding authority to determine the license classification necessary to bid and perform the project. This bill would require the awarding authority's determination to be made in accordance with the classifications prescribed by specified provisions of the Contractors State License Law and provisions of the California Code of Regulations. (7) Existing law, until January 1, 2026, with certain exceptions, requires every licensed contractor, or applicant for licensure, to have on file at all times with the board a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance, or to file a certificate of exemption certifying that they have no employees and are not required to provide for workers' compensation insurance coverage under state law. Under existing law, the failure to file the proper certification, as described, constitutes cause for disciplinary action, and the failure of a qualifier for a license to ensure compliance with these provisions, as specified, is a crime. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, requires the removal of specified license classifications if certification provisions are not met and requires suspension of any license that is active and has had specified classifications removed, if the licensee is found by the registrar of contractors to have employees and to lack proper certification. This bill would extend the effective date of those provisions until January 1, 2028. (8) As of January 1, 2026, existing law requires all licensed contractors or applicants for licensure, regardless of classification, to obtain and maintain workers' compensation insurance unless they have no employees, are organized as a joint venture, and file a certificate of exemption. This bill would instead make the above provisions operative on January 1, 2028. This bill would require the board, by no later than January 1, 2027, to establish a process and procedure, as specified, to verify that applicants or licensees without an employee or employees are eligible for exemption from the workers' compensation insurance requirement. (9) By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.