AN ACT Relating to
enforcement of plumbing certificate of competency requirements; amending RCW
18.106.020, 18.106.180, 18.106.190, 18.106.200, 18.106.220, 18.106.250, and
18.106.270; adding a new section to chapter 18.106 RCW; repealing RCW
18.106.025 and 18.106.260; prescribing penalties; and providing an effective
date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. A new section is added
to chapter 18.106 RCW to read as follows:
The department of labor
and industries shall establish one pilot project in which the department will
enter into an agreement with a city regarding compliance inspections by the
city to enforce this chapter. Under the terms of the agreement, the city shall
be permitted to submit declarations of noncompliance to the department for the
department's enforcement under RCW 18.106.180, with reimbursement to the city
at an established fee. The pilot project shall be located in eastern
Washington.
Sec. 2. RCW 18.106.020 and 1983
c 124 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) No person may
engage in or offer to engage in the trade of plumbing without having a
journeyman certificate, specialty certificate, or temporary permit,
or without being supervised by a person who has a journeyman certificate,
specialty certificate, or temporary permit. No contractor may employ a
person to engage in or offer to engage in the trade of plumbing unless the
person employed has a journeyman certificate, specialty certificate, or
temporary permit or is supervised by a person who has a journeyman certificate,
specialty certificate, or temporary permit. For the purposes of this section,
"contractor" means any person or body of persons, corporate or
otherwise, engaged in any work covered by the provisions of this chapter,
chapter 18.27 RCW, or chapter 19.28 RCW, by way of trade or business. However,
in no case shall this section apply to a contractor who is contracting for work
on his or her own residence.
(2) Violation of
subsection (1) of this section is an infraction. Each day in which a person
engages in the trade of plumbing in violation of subsection (1) of this section
or employs a person in violation of subsection (1) of this section is a
separate infraction. Each worksite at which a person engages in the trade of
plumbing in violation of subsection (1) of this section or at which a person is
employed in violation of subsection (1) of this section is a separate
infraction.
(3) Notices of
infractions for violations of subsection (1) of this section may be issued to:
(a) The person
engaging in or offering to engage in the trade of plumbing in violation of
subsection (1) of this section;
(b) The contractor
in violation of subsection (1) of this section; and
(c) The contractor's
employee who authorized the work assignment of the person employed in violation
of subsection (1) of this section.
Sec. 3. RCW 18.106.180 and 1983
c 124 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
An authorized
representative of the department may issue a notice of infraction as
specified in RCW 18.106.020(3) if a person who is doing plumbing work or
who is offering to do plumbing work fails to produce evidence of having a
certificate or permit issued by the department in accordance with this chapter
or of being supervised by a person who has such a certificate or permit. A
notice of infraction issued under this section shall be personally served on
the person named in the notice by an authorized representative of the
department.
Sec. 4. RCW 18.106.190 and 1983
c 124 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
(((1))) The form
of the notice of infraction issued under this chapter shall (([be]
prescribed by the supreme court following consultation with the department. To
the extent practicable, the notice of infraction issued under this chapter
shall conform to the notice of traffic infraction prescribed by the supreme
court pursuant to RCW 46.63.060.
(2) The notice of
infraction shall)) include the
following:
(((a))) (1)
A statement that the notice represents a determination that the infraction has
been committed by the person named in the notice and that the determination
shall be final unless contested as provided in this chapter;
(((b))) (2)
A statement that the infraction is a noncriminal offense for which imprisonment
shall not be imposed as a sanction;
(((c))) (3)
A statement of the specific infraction for which the notice was issued;
(((d))) (4)
A statement ((that a one hundred dollar)) of the monetary penalty
that has been established for the infraction;
(((e))) (5)
A statement of the options provided in this chapter for responding to the
notice and the procedures necessary to exercise these options;
(((f))) (6)
A statement that at any hearing to contest the determination the state has the
burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the infraction was
committed; and that the person may subpoena witnesses, including the authorized
representative of the department who issued and served the notice of
infraction;
(((g))) (7)
A statement, which the person shall sign, that the person promises to respond
to the notice of infraction in one of the ways provided in this chapter;
(((h))) (8)
A statement that refusal to sign the infraction as directed in subsection (((2)(g)))
(7) of this section is a misdemeanor; and
(((i))) (9)
A statement that failure to respond to a notice of infraction as promised is a
misdemeanor and may be punished by a fine or imprisonment in jail.
Sec. 5. RCW 18.106.200 and 1983
c 124 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
A violation designated
as an infraction under this chapter shall be heard and determined by ((a
district court. A notice of infraction shall be filed in the district court
district in which the infraction is alleged to have occurred. If a notice of
infraction is filed in a court which is not the proper venue, the notice shall
be dismissed without prejudice on motion of either party)) an
administrative law judge of the office of administrative hearings. If a party
desires to contest the notice of infraction, the party shall file a notice of
appeal with the department within fourteen days of issuance of the infraction.
The administrative law judge shall conduct hearings in these cases at locations
in the county where the infraction is alleged to have occurred.
Sec. 6. RCW 18.106.220 and 1983
c 124 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A person who
receives a notice of infraction shall respond to the notice as provided in this
section within fourteen days of the date the notice was served.
(2) If the person named
in the notice of infraction does not wish to contest the ((determination))
notice of infraction, the person shall ((respond by completing the
appropriate portion of the notice of infraction and submitting it, either by
mail or in person, to the court specified on the notice. A check or money
order in the amount of the penalty prescribed for the infraction must be
submitted with the response)) pay to the department, by check or money
order, the amount of the penalty prescribed for the infraction. When a
response which does not contest the determination is received((, an
appropriate order shall be entered in the court's records, and a record of the
response and order shall be furnished to the department)) by the
department with the appropriate payment, the department shall make the
appropriate entry in its records.
(3) If the person named
in the notice of infraction wishes to contest the ((determination)) notice
of infraction, the person shall respond by ((completing the portion of
the notice of infraction requesting a hearing and submitting it, either by mail
or in person, to the court specified on the notice. The court shall notify the
person in writing of the time, place, and date of the hearing, and that date
shall not be sooner than fourteen days from the date of the notice, except by
agreement of the parties)) filing an answer of protest with the
department specifying the grounds of protest.
(4) If any person
issued a notice of infraction:
(a) Fails to respond to
the notice of infraction as provided in subsection (2) of this section; or
(b) Fails to appear at
a hearing requested pursuant to subsection (3) of this section;
the ((court)) administrative
law judge shall enter an appropriate order assessing the monetary penalty
prescribed for the infraction and shall notify the department of the failure to
respond to the notice of infraction or to appear at a requested hearing.
(((5) An order
entered by the court under subsection (4)(b) of this section may, for good
cause shown and upon such terms as the court deems just, be set aside for the
same grounds a default judgment may be set aside in civil actions in courts of
limited jurisdiction.))
Sec. 7. RCW 18.106.250 and 1983
c 124 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) ((A hearing held
for the purpose of contesting the determination that an infraction has been
committed shall be without a jury.
(2) The court may
consider the notice of infraction and any other written report made under oath
submitted by the department's authorized representative who issued and served
the notice in lieu of his or her personal appearance at the hearing. The
person named in the notice may subpoena witnesses, including the authorized
representative who issued and served the notice, and has the right to present
evidence and examine witnesses present in court.
(3))) The administrative law judge shall conduct
notice of infraction cases under this chapter pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW.
(2) The burden
of proof is on the department to establish the commission of the infraction by
a preponderance of the evidence. The notice of infraction shall be dismissed
if the defendant establishes that, at the time the notice was issued((,)):
(a) The
defendant ((was registered)) who was issued a notice of infraction
authorized by RCW 18.106.020(3)(a) had a certificate or permit issued by
the department in accordance with this chapter, was supervised by a person
who has such a certificate or permit, or was exempt from ((registration.
(4))) this chapter under RCW 18.106.150; or
(b) For the
defendant who was issued a notice of infraction authorized by RCW
18.106.020(3)(b) or (c), the person employed or supervised by the defendant has
a certificate or permit issued by the department in accordance with this
chapter, was supervised by a person who had such a certificate or permit, or
was exempt from this chapter under RCW 18.106.150.
(3) After
consideration of the evidence and argument, the ((court)) administrative
law judge shall determine whether the infraction was committed. If it has
not been established that the infraction was committed, an order dismissing the
notice shall be entered in the ((court's)) record((s)) of the
proceedings. If it has been established that the infraction was committed,
((an appropriate order shall be entered in the court's records. A record of
the court's determination and order shall be furnished to the department)) the
administrative law judge shall issue findings of fact and conclusions of law in
its decision and order determining whether the infraction was committed.
(((5))) (4)
An appeal from the ((court's)) administrative law judge's
determination or order shall be to the superior court. The decision of the
superior court is subject only to discretionary review pursuant to Rule 2.3 of
the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Sec. 8. RCW 18.106.270 and 1983
c 124 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A person found to
have committed an infraction under RCW 18.106.020 shall be assessed a monetary
penalty of ((one)) two hundred fifty dollars for the
first infraction, and not more than one thousand dollars for a second or
subsequent infraction. The department shall set by rule a schedule of
penalties for infractions imposed under this chapter.
(2) The ((court))
administrative law judge may waive, reduce, or suspend the monetary
penalty imposed for the infraction for good cause shown.
(3) Monetary penalties
collected under this chapter shall be ((remitted as provided in chapter 3.62
RCW)) deposited in the plumbing certificate fund.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
9. The following acts or
parts of acts are each repealed:
(1) RCW 18.106.025 and 1983 c
124 s 5; and
(2) RCW 18.106.260 and 1983 c
124 s 15.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 10. This act shall take
effect July 1, 1994.
