Hawaii-2014-HB671-Introduced

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that public safety is unduly put in jeopardy when a general contractor is allowed to act as a specialty contractor in an area in which the general contractor is not licensed to operate. The Hawaii supreme court held that a general engineering or building contractor is prohibited from doing any work that requires it to act as a specialty contractor in an area the general contractor is not licensed to operate. Okada Trucking Co., Ltd. v. Board of Water Supply, 40 p.3d 73, 83 (2002).

The legislature finds that the purpose of chapter 444, Hawaii Revised Statutes, entitled "Contractors", is as stated in section 444-4(2), "the protection of the general public." The protection of the general public is best achieved through the requirement of specialty licenses for specialty work. The specialty license ensures that basic industry standards for each specialty craft are met because the contractor must demonstrate its qualifications in this regard to obtain a specialty license. Thus, the possibility of substandard work is minimized.

The purpose of this Act is to safeguard public safety as it relates to contracting by not allowing a general contractor to do specialty work in areas in which it does not possess a specialty license.

SECTION 2. Section 444-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

""Incidental and supplemental work" means any work directly related to a larger project, major project, or operation requiring the specialty license held by a general engineering, general building, or specialty contractor, for which the aggregate contract price for labor, materials, taxes, and all other items is not more than half a per cent of the total contract."

SECTION 3. Section 444-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (b) and (c) to read as follows:

"(b) A general engineering contractor is a contractor whose principal contracting business is in connection with fixed works requiring specialized engineering knowledge and skill, including the following divisions or subjects: irrigation, drainage, water power, water supply, flood control, inland waterways, harbors, docks and wharves, shipyards and ports, dams and hydroelectric projects, levees, river control and reclamation works, railroads, highways, streets and roads, tunnels, airports and airways, sewers and sewage disposal plants and systems, waste reduction plants, bridges, overpasses, underpasses and other similar works, pipelines and other systems for the transmission of petroleum and other liquid or gaseous substances, parks, playgrounds and other recreational works, refineries, chemical plants and similar industrial plants requiring specialized engineering knowledge and skill, powerhouses, power plants and other utility plants and installations, mines and metallurgical plants, land levelling and earth-moving projects, excavating, grading, trenching, paving and surfacing work and cement and concrete works in connection with the above mentioned fixed works.

A general engineering contractor shall employ responsible managing employees with appropriate specialty licenses and specialty contractors when necessary to complete any contracted work.

(c) A general building contractor is a contractor whose principal contracting business is in connection with any structure 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 its construction the use of more than two unrelated building trades or crafts, or to do or superintend the whole or any part thereof.

A general building contractor shall employ responsible managing employees with appropriate specialty licenses and specialty contractors when necessary to complete any contracted work."

SECTION 4. Section 444-7.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The board shall provide for the licensure or permitted activities as a specialty contractor of any person who engages in any activity involving the application, enclosure, removal, encapsulation, renovation, repair, demolition, or other disturbances of friable asbestos or asbestos-containing material that may become friable during the activity; provided that this section shall not apply to activities such as maintenance, repair, or removal of asbestos pipe or sheets, vinyl asbestos floor materials or asbestos- bituminous or resinous material as well as other activities that the board may exempt which are incidental and supplemental work to the primary purpose for which the contractor holds a license and if they were performed in a manner that no health hazard is posed to the public, the contractor, or the contractor's employees."

SECTION 5. Section 444-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§444-9 Licenses required. No person within the purview of this chapter shall act, or assume to act, or advertise, as general engineering contractor, general building contractor, or specialty contractor without a license previously obtained under and in compliance with this chapter and the rules and regulations of the contractors license board. A general engineering or general building contractor shall not perform incidental and supplemental work for which it is not, automatically or otherwise, duly licensed and for which it lacks the requisite specialized skill to undertake."

SECTION 6. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	671
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII