FINAL BILL REPORT

ESHB 2470

C 82 L 02

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Revising provisions for plumbing contractors.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Commerce & Labor (originally sponsored by Representatives Conway, Campbell, Cairnes, Cooper, Hunt, Hurst, Quall, Armstrong, Delvin, Tokuda and Kenney).

House Committee on Commerce & Labor

Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce & Financial Institutions

Background:

The Department of Labor and Industries administers various state laws governing construction‑related businesses and trades, including construction contracting and plumbing.

The plumbers' certification law requires those performing plumbing work to be certified by the department.  Plumbers must meet certain experience and/or educational requirements and pass an examination to obtain the required certificate.  Plumbing trainees must submit annual affidavits of experience listing their employers and the number of hours worked for each employer in the previous year.

The contractor registration law requires construction contractors to register with the department.  Contractors also must meet certain requirements relating to registration, bonding and insurance, and notice to customers.  The registration requirements do not apply to certified plumbers, unless they wish to advertise and bid for jobs.

Summary:

Plumbing contractors are those who engage in, or who offer or advertise to engage in, plumbing work by way of trade or business.  Plumbing contractors are prohibited from advertising, offering to do work, submitting a bid to do work, or performing plumbing work without being registered contractors.

Plumbing contractors must verify the hours worked by plumbing trainees and the proper supervision of such hours by certified plumbers.  However, they are not required to identify which hours a trainee works with a specific plumber.  

The Department of Labor and Industries may audit the records of a plumbing contractor that verified trainee hours if the department demonstrates a likelihood of excessive or improper hours being reported.  The department must limit its audit to records necessary to verify hours.  Information obtained from a plumbing contractor in an audit is confidential and not subject to public disclosure.

The department may issue a notice of infraction if a plumbing contractor is not a registered contractor.  The department also may issue a notice of infraction under either the plumbing law or the contractor registration law if a plumbing contractor does not accurately verify trainee hours or if such hours were not properly supervised.

Votes on Final Passage:

House980

Senate379

Effective:  June 13, 2002