AN ACT Relating to
uniform construction trade administrative procedures; amending RCW 18.27.030,
18.27.100, 18.106.100, 18.106.180, 18.106.200, 19.28.123, 19.28.350, 19.28.540,
and 19.28.620; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 18.27.030 and 1992 c
217 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:
(a) Employer social
security number.
(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.
(d) State excise tax
registration number.
(e) Unified business
identifier (UBI) account number may be substituted for the information required
by (b), (c), and (d) of this subsection.
(f) Type of contracting
activity, whether a general or a specialty contractor and if the latter, the
type of specialty.
(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)) this chapter that was
incurred during a previous registration under this chapter.
Sec. 2. RCW 18.27.100 and 1993 c
454 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided
in RCW 18.27.065 for partnerships and joint ventures, no person who has
registered under one name as provided in this chapter shall engage in the
business, or act in the capacity, of a contractor under any other name unless
such name also is registered under this chapter.
(2) All advertising and
all contracts, correspondence, cards, signs, posters, papers, and documents
which show a contractor's name or address shall show the contractor's name or
address as registered under this chapter.
(3)(((a) The
alphabetized listing of contractors appearing in the advertising section of
telephone books or other directories and)) All advertising that
shows the contractor's name or address shall show the contractor's current
registration number. The registration number may be omitted in an
alphabetized listing of registered contractors stating only the name, address,
and telephone number: PROVIDED, That signs on motor vehicles subject to
RCW 46.16.010 and on-premise signs shall not constitute advertising as provided
in this section. All materials used to directly solicit business from retail
customers who are not businesses shall show the contractor's current
registration number. A contractor shall not use a false or expired
registration number in purchasing or offering to purchase an advertisement for
which a contractor registration number is required. Advertising by airwave
transmission shall not be subject to this subsection if the person selling the
advertisement obtains the contractor's current registration number from the
contractor.
(((b) A person
selling advertising should not accept advertisements for which the contractor
registration number is required under (a) of this subsection if the contractor
fails to provide the contractor registration number.))
(4) No contractor shall
advertise that he or she is bonded and insured because of the bond required to
be filed and sufficiency of insurance as provided in this chapter.
(5) A contractor shall
not falsify a registration number and use it in connection with any
solicitation or identification as a contractor. All individual contractors and
all partners, associates, agents, salesmen, solicitors, officers, and employees
of contractors shall use their true names and addresses at all times while
engaged in the business or capacity of a contractor or activities related
thereto.
(6)(a) The finding of a
violation of this section by the director at a hearing held in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW, shall subject the person
committing the violation to a penalty of not more than five thousand dollars as
determined by the director.
(b) Penalties under
this section shall not apply to a violation determined to be an inadvertent
error.
Sec. 3. RCW 18.106.100 and 1977
ex.s. c 149 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The department may
revoke ((any)) or suspend a certificate of competency ((upon))
for any of the following ((grounds)) reasons:
(a) The certificate was
obtained through error or fraud;
(b) The certificate
holder ((thereof)) is judged to be incompetent to carry on the trade of
plumbing as a journeyman plumber or specialty plumber;
(c) The certificate
holder ((thereof)) has violated any ((of the)) provision((s))
of this chapter or any rule ((or regulation promulgated thereto)) adopted
under this chapter.
(2) Before ((any))
a certificate of competency ((shall be)) is revoked or
suspended, the ((holder thereof shall be given written notice of the
department's intention to do so, mailed by registered mail, return receipt
requested, to said holder's last known address. Said)) department shall
send written notice by registered mail with return receipt requested to the
certificate holder's last known address. The notice ((shall enumerate))
must list the allegations against ((such)) the certificate
holder((,)) and ((shall)) give him or her the opportunity
to request a hearing before the advisory board. At ((such)) the
hearing, the department and the certificate holder ((shall)) have
opportunity to produce witnesses and give testimony. The hearing ((shall))
must be conducted in accordance with ((the provisions of))
chapter 34.05 RCW. The board shall render its decision based upon the
testimony and evidence presented((,)) and shall notify the parties
immediately upon reaching its decision. A majority of the board ((shall be))
is necessary to render a decision.
(3) The department
may deny renewal of a certificate of competency issued under this chapter if
the applicant owes outstanding penalties for a final judgment under this chapter.
The department shall notify the applicant of the denial by registered mail,
return receipt requested, to the address on the application. The applicant may
appeal the denial within twenty days by filing a notice of appeal with the
department accompanied by a certified check for two hundred dollars which shall
be returned to the applicant if the decision of the department is not upheld by
the hearings officer. The office of administrative hearings shall conduct the
hearing under chapter 34.05 RCW. If the hearings officer sustains the decision
of the department, the two hundred dollars must be applied to the cost of the
hearing.
Sec. 4. RCW 18.106.180 and 1994
c 174 s 3 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 or sent by
certified mail to the last known address provided to the department of the
person named in the notice.
Sec. 5. RCW 18.106.200 and 1994
c 174 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
A violation designated
as an infraction under this chapter shall be heard and determined by 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)) twenty 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 19.28.123 and 1988 c
81 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
It shall be the purpose
and function of the board to establish, in addition to a general electrical
contractors' license, such classifications of specialty electrical contractors'
licenses as it deems appropriate with regard to individual sections pertaining
to state adopted codes in this chapter ((19.28 RCW)). In
addition, it shall be the purpose and function of the board to establish and
administer written examinations for general electrical ((contractors'
qualifying)) administrators' certificates and the various specialty
electrical ((contractors' qualifying)) administrators'
certificates. Examinations shall be designed to reasonably insure that general
and specialty electrical ((contractor's qualifying)) administrators'
certificate holders are competent to engage in and supervise the work covered
by this statute and their respective licenses. The examinations shall include
questions from the following categories to assure proper safety and protection
for the general public: (1) Safety, (2) state electrical code, and (3)
electrical theory. The department with the consent of the board shall be
permitted to enter into a contract with a professional testing agency to develop,
administer, and score these examinations. The fee for the examination may
be set by the department in its contract with the professional testing agency.
The department may direct that the applicant pay the fee to the professional
testing agency. The fee shall cover but not exceed the costs of preparing and
administering the examination. It shall be the further purpose and
function of this board to advise the director as to the need of additional
electrical inspectors and compliance officers to be utilized by the director on
either a full-time or part-time employment basis and to carry out the duties
enumerated in RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 as well as generally advise the
department on all matters relative to RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620.
Sec. 7. RCW 19.28.350 and 1988 c
81 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
Any person, firm,
partnership, corporation, or other entity violating any of the provisions of
RCW 19.28.010 through 19.28.360 shall be assessed a penalty of not less than
fifty dollars or more than ten thousand dollars. The department shall set by
rule a schedule of penalties for violating RCW 19.28.010 through 19.28.360.
The department shall notify the person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other
entity violating any of the provisions of RCW 19.28.010 through 19.28.360 of
the amount of the penalty and of the specific violation by certified mail,
return receipt requested, sent to the last known address of the assessed
party. Any penalty is subject to review by an appeal to the board. The filing
of an appeal stays the effect of the penalty until the board makes its
decision. The appeal shall be filed within ((fifteen)) twenty
days after notice of the penalty is given to the assessed party by certified
mail, return receipt requested, sent to the last known address of the assessed
party and shall be made by filing a written notice of appeal with the
department. The notice shall be accompanied by a certified check for two
hundred dollars, which shall be returned to the assessed party if the decision
of the department is not sustained by the board. If the board sustains the
decision of the department, the two hundred dollars shall be applied by the
department to the payment of the per diem and expenses of the members of the
board incurred in the matter, and any balance remaining after payment of per
diem and expenses shall be paid into the electrical license fund. The hearing
and review procedures shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW.
The board shall assign its hearings to an administrative law judge to conduct
the hearing and issue a proposed decision and order. The board shall be
allowed a minimum of twenty days to review a proposed decision and shall issue
its decision no later than the next regularly scheduled board meeting.
Sec. 8. RCW 19.28.540 and 1988 c
81 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:
The department, in
coordination with the board, shall prepare an examination to be administered to
applicants for journeyman and specialty certificates of competency. The
examination shall be constructed to determine:
(1) Whether the
applicant possesses varied general knowledge of the technical information and
practical procedures that are identified with the status of journeyman
electrician or specialty electrician; and
(2) Whether the
applicant is sufficiently familiar with the applicable electrical codes and the
rules of the department pertaining to electrical installations and
electricians.
The department shall,
at least four times annually, administer the examination to persons eligible to
take it under RCW 19.28.530. A person may take the journeyman or specialty
test as many times as necessary without limit. All applicants shall, before taking
the examination, pay ((to the department an)) the required
examination fee((. The department shall set the fee by rule)) to the
agency administering the examination. The fee shall cover but not exceed
the costs of preparing and administering the examination.
The department shall
certify the results of the examination upon such terms and after such a period
of time as the department, in cooperation with the board, deems necessary and
proper.
(3) The department upon
the consent of the board may enter into a contract with a professional testing
agency to develop, administer, and score journeyman and/or specialty
electrician certification examinations. The department may set the
examination fee by contract with the professional testing agency.
Sec. 9. RCW 19.28.620 and 1988 c
81 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) It is unlawful for
any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity to employ an
individual for purposes of RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 who has not been
issued a certificate of competency or a training certificate. It is unlawful
for any individual to engage in the electrical construction trade or to
maintain or install any electrical equipment or conductors without having in
his or her possession a certificate of competency or a training certificate
under RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620. Any person, firm, partnership,
corporation, or other entity found in violation of RCW 19.28.510 through
19.28.620 shall be assessed a penalty of not less than fifty dollars or more
than five hundred dollars. The department shall set by rule a schedule of
penalties for violating RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620. An appeal may be made
to the board as is provided in RCW 19.28.350. The appeal shall be filed within
((fifteen)) twenty days after the notice of the penalty is given
to the assessed party by certified mail, return receipt requested, sent to the
last known address of the assessed party and shall be made by filing a written
notice of appeal with the department. Any equipment maintained or installed by
any person who does not possess a certificate of competency under RCW 19.28.510
through 19.28.620 shall not receive an electrical work permit and electrical
service shall not be connected or maintained to operate the equipment. Each
day that a person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity violates ((the
provisions of)) RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 is a separate violation.
(2) A civil penalty
shall be collected in a civil action brought by the attorney general in the
county wherein the alleged violation arose at the request of the department if
any of ((the provisions of)) RCW 19.28.510 through 19.28.620 or any
rules ((promulgated)) adopted under RCW 19.28.510 through
19.28.620 are violated.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 10. Section 2 of this act is
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and shall take effect immediately.
