AN ACT
Relating to contractor registration and licensing requirements; and amending
RCW 18.27.030 and 19.28.120.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
18.27.030 and 1988 c 285 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
An applicant for registration as a contractor shall submit an application under
oath upon a form to be prescribed by the director and which shall include the
following information pertaining to the applicant:
(((1)))
(a) Employer social security number.
(((2)
Industrial insurance number.
(3))) (b)
As applicable: (i) The industrial insurance account number covering employees
domiciled in Washington; and (ii) evidence of workers' compensation coverage in
the applicant's state of domicile for the applicant's employees working in
Washington who are not domiciled in Washington.
(c)
Employment security department number.
(((4)))
(d) State excise tax registration number.
(((5)))
(e) Unified business identifier (UBI) account number may be substituted
for the information required by ((subsections (2), (3), and (4))) (b),
(c), and (d) of this ((section)) subsection.
(((6)))
(f) Type of contracting activity, whether a general or a specialty
contractor and if the latter, the type of specialty.
(((7)))
(g) The name and address of each partner if the applicant be a firm or
partnership, or the name and address of the owner if the applicant be an
individual proprietorship, or the name and address of the corporate officers
and statutory agent, if any, if the applicant be a corporation. The
information contained in such application shall be a matter of public record
and open to public inspection.
(2)
The department may verify the workers' compensation coverage information
provided by the applicant under subsection (1)(b) of this section, including
but not limited to information regarding the coverage of an individual employee
of the applicant. If coverage is provided under the laws of another state, the
department may notify the other state that the applicant is employing employees
in Washington.
(3)
Registration shall be denied if the applicant has been previously registered as
a sole proprietor, partnership or corporation, and was a principal or officer
of the corporation, and if the applicant has an unsatisfied final judgment in
an action based on RCW 18.27.040 that incurred during a previous registration
under this chapter.
Sec.
2. RCW
19.28.120 and 1986 c 156 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) It
is unlawful for any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity to
engage in, conduct, or carry on the business of installing or maintaining wires
or equipment to convey electric current, or installing or maintaining equipment
to be operated by electric current as it pertains to the electrical industry,
without having an unrevoked, unsuspended, and unexpired electrical contractor
license, issued by the department in accordance with this chapter. All
electrical contractor licenses expire twenty-four calendar months following the
day of their issue. The department may issue an electrical contractors license
for a period of less than twenty-four months only for the purpose of equalizing
the number of electrical contractor licenses which expire each month.
Application for an electrical contractor license shall be made in writing to
the department, accompanied by the required fee. The application shall state:
(a)
The name and address of the applicant; in case of firms or partnerships,
the names of the individuals composing the firm or partnership; in case of
corporations, the names of the managing officials thereof;
(b)
The location of the place of business of the applicant and the name under
which the business is conducted; ((and))
(c)
Employer social security number;
(d)
As applicable: (i) The industrial insurance account number covering employees
domiciled in Washington; and (ii) evidence of workers' compensation coverage in
the applicant's state of domicile for the applicant's employees working in
Washington who are not domiciled in Washington;
(e)
Employment security department number;
(f)
State excise tax registration number;
(g)
Unified business identifier (UBI) account number may be substituted for the
information required by (d), (e), and (f) of this subsection; and
(h)
Whether a general or specialty electrical contractor license is sought and,
if the latter, the type of specialty. Electrical contractor specialties
include, but are not limited to: Residential, domestic appliances, pump and
irrigation, limited energy system, signs, nonresidential maintenance, and a
combination specialty. A general electrical contractor license shall grant to
the holder the right to engage in, conduct, or carry on the business of
installing or maintaining wires or equipment to carry electric current, and
installing or maintaining equipment, or installing or maintaining material to
fasten or insulate such wires or equipment to be operated by electric current,
in the state of Washington. A specialty electrical contractor license shall
grant to the holder a limited right to engage in, conduct, or carry on the
business of installing or maintaining wires or equipment to carry electrical
current, and installing or maintaining equipment; or installing or maintaining
material to fasten or insulate such wires or equipment to be operated by
electric current in the state of Washington as expressly allowed by the
license.
(2) The
department may verify the workers' compensation coverage information provided
by the applicant under subsection (1)(d) of this section, including but not
limited to information regarding the coverage of an individual employee of the
applicant. If coverage is provided under the laws of another state, the
department may notify the other state that the applicant is employing employees
in Washington.
(3)
The application for a contractor license shall be accompanied by a bond in the
sum of four thousand dollars with the state of Washington named as obligee in
the bond, with good and sufficient surety, to be approved by the department.
The bond shall at all times be kept in full force and effect, and any
cancellation or revocation thereof, or withdrawal of the surety therefrom,
suspends the license issued to the principal until a new bond has been filed
and approved as provided in this section. Upon approval of a bond, the
department shall on the next business day deposit the fee accompanying the
application in the electrical license fund and shall file the bond in the
office. The department shall upon request furnish to any person, firm,
partnership, corporation, or other entity a certified copy of the bond upon the
payment of a fee that the department shall set by rule. The fee shall cover
but not exceed the cost of furnishing the certified copy. The bond shall be
conditioned that in any installation or maintenance of wires or equipment to
convey electrical current, and equipment to be operated by electrical current,
the principal will comply with the provisions of this chapter and with any
electrical ordinance, building code, or regulation of a city or town adopted
pursuant to RCW 19.28.010(2) that is in effect at the time of entering into a
contract. The bond shall be conditioned further that the principal will pay
for all labor, including employee benefits, and material furnished or used upon
the work, taxes and contributions to the state of Washington, and all damages
that may be sustained by any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other
entity due to a failure of the principal to make the installation or
maintenance in accordance with this chapter or any applicable ordinance,
building code, or regulation of a city or town adopted pursuant to RCW
19.28.010(2). In lieu of the surety bond required by this section the license
applicant may file with the department a cash deposit or other negotiable
security acceptable to the department. If the license applicant has filed a
cash deposit, the department shall deposit the funds in a special trust savings
account in a commercial bank, mutual savings bank, or savings and loan
association and shall pay annually to the depositor the interest derived from
the account.
(((3)))
(4) The department shall issue general or specialty electrical
contractor licenses to applicants meeting all of the requirements of this
chapter. The provisions of this chapter relating to the licensing of any
person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity including the
requirement of a bond with the state of Washington named as obligee therein and
the collection of a fee therefor, are exclusive, and no political subdivision
of the state of Washington may require or issue any licenses or bonds or charge
any fee for the same or a similar purpose. No person, firm, partnership,
corporation, or other entity holding more than one specialty contractor license
under this chapter may be required to pay an annual fee for more than one such
license or to post more than one four thousand dollar bond, equivalent cash
deposit, or other negotiable security.
(((4)))
(5) To obtain a general or specialty electrical contractor license the
applicant must designate an individual who currently possesses an
administrator's certificate as a general electrical contractor administrator or
as a specialty electrical contractor administrator in the specialty for which
application has been made. Administrator certificate specialties include but
are not limited to: Residential, domestic, appliance, pump and irrigation,
limited energy system, signs, nonresidential maintenance, and combination
specialty. To obtain an administrator's certificate an individual must pass an
examination as set forth in RCW 19.28.123 unless the applicant was a licensed
electrical contractor at any time during 1974. Applicants who were electrical
contractors licensed by the state of Washington at any time during 1974 are
entitled to receive a general electrical contractor administrator's certificate
without examination if the applicants apply prior to January 1, 1984. The
board of electrical examiners shall certify to the department the names of all
persons who are entitled to either a general or specialty electrical contractor
administrator's certificate.
