Senate Bill No. 529
(By Senators Wiedebusch, Helmick, Chafin and Wagner)
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[Introduced February 20, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three and ten, article
eleven, chapter twenty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
making the service of pest control applicable to the
provisions of the West Virginia contractor licensing act.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three and ten, article eleven, chapter
twenty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 11. WEST VIRGINIA CONTRACTOR LICENSING ACT.
§21-11-2. Policy declared.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of West Virginia that all persons desiring to perform contracting or
related work involving the dispensation of a service in this
state be duly licensed to ensure capable and skilled
craftsmanship or competent and requisite skill in the
dispensation of a construction related service, utilized in
construction projects in this state, both public and private,
fair bidding practices between competing contractors through
uniform compliance with the laws of this state, and protection of
the public from unfair, unsafe and unscrupulous bidding and
construction practices.
§21-11-3. Definitions.
(a) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the division of
labor.
(b) "Board" means the West Virginia contractor licensing
board.
(c) "Contractor" means a person who in any capacity for
compensation, other than as an employee of another, undertakes,
offers to undertake, purports to have the capacity to undertake,
or submits a bid to construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract
from, improve, move, wreck or demolish any building, highway,
road, railroad, structure or excavation associated with a project, development or improvement, or to do any part thereof,
including the erection of scaffolding or other structures or
works in connection therewith, where the cost of the undertaking
is one thousand dollars or more.
Contractor includes a construction manager who performs
management and counseling services for a construction project for
a professional fee.
Contractor does not include:
(1) One who merely furnishes materials or supplies without
fabricating or consuming them in the construction project;
(2) A person who personally performs construction work on
the site of real property which the person owns or leases whether
for commercial or residential purposes;
(3) A person who is licensed or registered as a professional
and who functions under the control of any other licensing or
regulatory board, whose primary business is real estate sales,
appraisal, development, management and maintenance, who acting in
his or her respective professional capacity and any employee of
such professional, acting in the course of his or her employment,
performs any work which may be considered to be performing
contracting work; or
(4) A corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship whose
primary purpose is to prepare construction plans and
specifications used by the contractors defined in subsection (c)
of this section and who employs full time a registered architect
licensed to practice in this state or a registered professional
engineer licensed to practice in this state. Employees of such
corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship shall also be
exempt from the requirements of this article.
(d) For the purposes of this article, the term "contractor,"
in addition to the definition provided for in subsection (c) of
this section, includes the following terms which are defined
additionally as follows:
(d) (1) "Electrical contractor" means a person who engages
in the business of contracting to install, erect, repair or alter
electrical equipment for the generation, transmission or
utilization of electrical energy.
(e) (2) "General building contractor" means a person whose
principal business is in connection with any structures built,
being built or to be built for the support, shelter and enclosure
of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind,
requiring in the construction the use of more than two contractor classifications, or a person who supervises the whole or any part
of such construction.
(f) (3) "General engineering contractor" means a person
whose principal business is in connection with public or private
works projects, including, but not limited to, one or more of the
following: Irrigation, drainage and water supply projects;
electrical generation projects; swimming pools; flood control;
harbors; railroads; highways; tunnels; airports and airways;
sewers and sewage disposal systems; bridges; inland waterways;
pipelines for transmission of petroleum and other liquid or
gaseous substances; refineries; chemical plants and other
industrial plants requiring a specialized engineering knowledge
and skill; piers and foundations; and structures or work
incidental thereto.
(g) (4) "Heating, ventilating and cooling contractor" means
a person who engages in the business of contracting to install,
erect, repair, service or alter heating, ventilating and air
conditioning equipment or systems to heat, cool or ventilate
residential and commercial structures.
(h) "License" means a license to engage in business in this
state as a contractor in one of the classifications set out in this article.
(i) (5) "Multifamily contractor" means a person who is
engaged in construction, repair or improvement of a multifamily
residential structure.
(j) "Person" includes an individual, firm, sole
proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association or other
entity engaged in the undertaking of construction projects or any
combination thereof.
(k) (6) "Piping contractor" means a person whose principal
business is the installation of process, power plant, air, oil,
gasoline, chemical or other kinds of piping; and boilers and
pressure vessels using joining methods of thread, weld, solvent
weld or mechanical methods.
(l) (7) "Plumbing contractor" means a person whose principal
business is the installation, maintenance, extension and
alteration of piping, plumbing fixtures, plumbing appliances and
plumbing appurtenances, venting systems and public or private
water supply systems within or adjacent to any building or
structure; included in this definition is installation of gas
piping, chilled water piping in connection with refrigeration
processes and comfort cooling, hot water piping in connection with building heating, and piping for stand pipes.
(m) (8) "Residential contractor" means a person whose
principal business is in connection with construction, repair or
improvement of real property used as, or intended to be used for,
residential occupancy.
(n) (9) "Specialty contractor" means a person who engages in
specialty contracting services, including, but not limited to,
services related to the treatment for pest control or other
construction or maintenance related treatments which do not
substantially fall within the scope of any contractor
classification as set out herein.
(e) "License" means a license to engage in business in this
state as a contractor in one of the classifications set out in
this article.
(f) "Person" includes an individual, firm, sole
proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association or other
entity engaged in the undertaking of construction projects or any
combination thereof.
(o) (g) "Residential occupancy" means occupancy of a
structure for residential purposes for periods greater than
thirty consecutive calendar days.
(p) (h) "Residential structure" means a building or
structure used or intended to be used for residential occupancy,
together with related facilities appurtenant to the premises as
an adjunct of residential occupancy, which contains not more than
three distinct floors which are above grade in any structural
unit regardless of whether the building or structure is designed
and constructed for one or more living units. Dormitories,
hotels, motels or other transient lodging units are not
residential structures.
(q) (i) "Subcontractor" means a person who performs a
portion of a project undertaken by a principal or general
contractor or another subcontractor.
(r) (j) "Division" means the division of labor.
(s) (k) "Cease and desist order" means an order issued by
the commissioner pursuant to the provisions of this article.
§21-11-10. Prerequisites to obtaining building permit.
Any person making application to the building inspector or
other authority of any incorporated municipality or other
political subdivision in this state charged with the duty of
issuing building or other permits for pest control or for the
construction of any building, highway, sewer or structure or for any removal of materials or earth, grading or improvement, shall,
before issuance of the permit, either furnish satisfactory proof
to the inspector or authority that such person is duly licensed
under the provisions of this article to carry out or superintend
the same, or file a written affidavit that such person is not
subject to licensure as a contractor or subcontractor as defined
in this article. The inspector or authority shall not issue a
building permit to any person who does not possess a valid
contractor's license when required by this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make the provisions of
the West Virginia Contractor and Licensing Act applicable to
persons and businesses that provide the service of pest control.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.