Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
UPDATE:
*S.B. 315, Sep. 17, 2014, Governor signed into law *S.B. 1159, Sep. 28, 2014, Governor signed into law *A.B. 26, Sep. 30, 2014, Governor signed into law
*A.B. 1702, Sep. 18, 2014, Governor signed into law *A.B. 1705, Sep. 27, 2014, Governor signed into law *A.B. 1870, Sep. 30, 2014, Governor signed into law *A.B. 2396, Sep. 28, 2014, Governor signed into law
The California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) monitors legislation that it is sponsoring as well as bills that may have an impact on the construction industry. In its Summer 2014 Newsletter, the CSLB identifies a handful of bills that it is watching.
Senate Bills
S.B. 315 (Lieu) — Contractors — Among other things, this bill would authorize a person who is not licensed California contractor to advertise for construction work or a work of improvement only if the aggregate contract price is less than $500 and the person states in the advertisement that he or she is not licensed.
S.B. 1159 (Lara) — Professions and vocations: license applicants: individual tax identification number — This bill would require licensing bodies to require a license applicant (other than a partnership) to provide either an individual tax identification number or SSN, if one has been issued to the applicant, and would require the licensing bodies to report to the State Franchise Tax Board, and subject a licensee to a penalty, for failure to provide that information.
Assembly Bills
A.B. 26 (Bonilla) — Construction: prevailing wage — This bill would revise the definition of “construction” to include work performed during the post-construction phases of construction, including, but not limited to, all cleanup work at the jobsite.
A.B. 1702 (Maienschein/Mitchell) — Professions and vocations: incarceration — This bill would provide that an individual who has satisfied any of the requirements needed to obtain a license while incarcerated, who applies for that license upon release from incarceration, and who is otherwise eligible for the license will not be subject to a delay in processing the licensing application or a denial of the license solely on the basis that some or all of the licensure requirements were completed while the individual was incarcerated.
A.B. 1705 (Williams) — Public contracts: payment —
Existing law (until January 1, 2016) authorizes the retention proceeds withheld from any payment by an awarding entity from the original contractor, by the original contractor from any subcontractor, and by a subcontractor from any subcontractor to exceed 5% on specific projects where the director of the applicable department has made, or the governing body of the public entity or designated official of the public entity has approved, a finding prior to the bid that the project is substantially complex and requires a higher retention and the department or public entity includes both this finding and the actual retention amount in the bid documents. A.B. 1705 would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2020 and, instead of requiring that the finding and actual retention amount be included in the bid documents, it would require that the bid documents include details explaining the basis for the finding in addition to the actual retention amount. It would also define projects that are not “substantially complex.”
A.B. 1870 (Alejo) — Public works: prevailing wage: multiemployer apprenticeship program grants — This bill would, if there are two or more approved multi-employer apprenticeship programs serving the same craft or trade and geographical area for which the training contributions were made to council, require the grant to be divided among all the approved multi-employer apprenticeship programs serving the same craft or trade in California based on the number of apprentices registered in each program.
A.B. 1918 (Williams) — Energy: design and construction standards — Among other things, this bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, in an existing proceeding, by January 1, 2016, to authorize a program to improve compliance with the State Building Standards Code requirements, and any applicable local ordinances, for heating and air conditioning equipment through existing energy efficiency programs administered by electrical corporations and gas corporations, or administered by third-parties on behalf of electrical corporations and gas corporations.
A.B. 1939 (Daly) — Public works: prevailing wages: contractor’s costs– Signed into law on July 21, 2014 — The new law authorizes a contractor to bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover from the hiring party that the contractor directly contracts with, any increased costs, including labor costs, penalties, and legal fees incurred as a result of any decision by the Department of Industrial Relations, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, or a court that classifies, after the time at which the hiring party accepts the contractor’s bid, awards the contractor a contract when no bid is solicited, or otherwise allows construction to proceed, the work covered by the project, or any portion thereof, as a public work, except under the circumstances specified.
A.B. 2396 (Bonta/Skinner) — Convictions: expungement: licenses — This bill would prohibit a licensing board from denying a license based solely on a conviction that has been dismissed, as contemplated by existing law.