CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

 

                   SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2686

 

 

                               

 

                   Chapter 217, Laws of 1992

 

                        52nd Legislature

                      1992 Regular Session

 

 

        CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION AND LICENSING‑-REVISIONS

 

 

                    EFFECTIVE DATE:  6/11/92

Passed by the House March 7, 1992

  Yeas 96   Nays 0

 

 

 

                  JOE KING

Speaker of the

       House of Representatives

 

Passed by the Senate March 5, 1992

  Yeas 42   Nays 0

               CERTIFICATE

 

I, Alan Thompson, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2686 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.

 

 

 

               JOEL PRITCHARD

President of the Senate

              ALAN THOMPSON

                               Chief Clerk

 

 

Approved April 2, 1992 Place Style On Codes above, and Style Off Codes below.

                                     FILED          

 

                April 2, 1992 - 12:12 p.m.

 

 

 

               BOOTH GARDNER

Governor of the State of Washington

                        Secretary of State

                       State of Washington


                  _______________________________________________

 

                            SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2686

                  _______________________________________________

 

                             AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

 

                     Passed Legislature - 1992 Regular Session

 

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1992 Regular Session

 

By House Committee on Commerce & Labor (originally sponsored by Representatives Kremen, Heavey and Fuhrman)

 

Read first time 02/03/92.  Regulating contractor registration and licensing.


     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.


     Passed the House March 7, 1992.

     Passed the Senate March 5, 1992.

Approved by the Governor April 2, 1992.

     Filed in Office of Secretary of State April 2, 1992.