WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on Industry and Labor then Government Organization.
A BILL to amend and
reenact §21-11-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
making changes to the definition of contractor for purposes of the West
Virginia Contractor Licensing Act.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §21-11-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11. WEST VIRGINIA CONTRACTOR LICENSING ACT.
§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 of it, including the erection of
scaffolding or other structures or works in connection therewith with
a project, development or improvement, where the cost of the undertaking is
$2,500 $4,000 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;
(4) A pest control operator
licensed under the provisions of section seven, article sixteen-a, chapter
nineteen of this code to engage in the application of pesticides for hire,
unless the operator also performs structural repairs exceeding $1,000 on
property treated for insect pests; or
(5) A corporation,
partnership or sole proprietorship whose primary purpose is to prepare
construction plans and specifications used by the contractors defined in this
subsection 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 are also exempt from the
requirements of this article.
(d) "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) "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) "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 to
a project.
(g) "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) "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 of the groups listed in this subsection.
(k) "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) "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) "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) "Specialty
contractor" means a person who engages in specialty contracting services which
that do not substantially fall within the scope of any contractor classification
as set out herein in this article.
(o) "Residential
occupancy" means occupancy of a structure for residential purposes for
periods greater than thirty consecutive calendar days.
(p) "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)
"Subcontractor" means a person who performs a portion of a project
undertaken by a principal or general contractor or another subcontractor.
(r) "Division"
means the Division of Labor.
(s) "Cease and desist
order" means an order issued by the commissioner pursuant to the
provisions of this article.
(t) The term "basic universal
design" means the design of products and environments to be useable by all
people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or
specialization.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to raise the threshold amount required for a construction job to be performed
by someone with a contractor's license
from $2,500 to $4,000.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.