Contracting business: home improvement: residential property.

(1) Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, defines and regulates the activities of contractors and provides for their licensure, regulation, and discipline by the Contractors' State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law classifies the contracting business as general engineering contracting, general building contracting, and specialty contracting. Certain violations of the Contractors' State License Law are punished as misdemeanors. This bill would create a new classification of contracting business, to be called residential remodeling contracting. The bill would provide that a residential remodeling contractor's principal contracting business is in projects that make improvements to, on, or in an existing residential wood frame structure that require the use of at least 3 unrelated building trades or crafts for a single contract. The bill would provide a nonexclusive list of trades or crafts in this regard. The bill would prohibit a residential remodeling contractor from taking a contract for a project unless the contract includes 3 or more unrelated trades or crafts, including fire protection, unless the contractor holds the appropriate license classification or subcontracts with an appropriately licensed contractor. The bill would also prohibit a residential remodeling contractor from contracting to make structural changes to load bearing portions of an existing structure and from contracting to install, replace, substantially alter, or extend electrical, mechanical, or plumbing systems or their component parts, or the mechanisms or devices that are part of those systems, except as specified. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Under existing law, a person who engages in the business or acts in the capacity of a contractor, without having a license in connection with the offer or performance of repairs to a residential or nonresidential structure for damage caused by a natural disaster, as specified, is guilty of a crime, punishable as a felony or a misdemeanor. Existing law prescribes certain sentence enhancements for people who commit specified crimes as part of a scheme to defraud owners and lessees of residential or nonresidential structures in connection with the offer or performance of repairs to a residential or nonresidential structure caused by a natural disaster, as specified. This bill would apply the provisions described above to improvements, to property as well as to structures, and to the adding to, or subtracting from, grounds in connection with them. The bill would also specify that the provisions described above apply to destruction as well as damage caused by a natural disaster. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law defines and regulates the activities of home improvement contractors and home improvement sales people. For these purposes, existing law defines "home improvement" as the repairing, remodeling, altering, converting, or modernizing of, or adding to, residential property, as specified, and the installation of home improvement goods or the furnishing of home improvement services. Certain violations of these provisions are punished as misdemeanors. This bill would expand the definition of home improvement to include the reconstruction, restoration, or rebuilding of residential property that is damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster for which a state of emergency is proclaimed by the Governor or for which an emergency or major disaster is declared by the President of the United States. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.