Bill Text: MS SB2370 | 2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Contractors; revise certificate of responsibility threshold for private contracts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-03-17 - Approved by Governor [SB2370 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-SB2370-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Business and Financial Institutions
By: Senator(s) Ward
Senate Bill 2370
(As Sent to Governor)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 31-3-1 AND 31-3-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE THRESHOLD AMOUNT FOR PRIVATE CONTRACTS REQUIRING A CONTRACTOR TO HOLD A CERTIFICATE OF RESPONSIBILITY; TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE BOARD OF CONTRACTORS TO IMPOSE COMMUNITY SERVICE IN ADDITION TO, OR IN LIEU OF, CIVIL PENALTIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 31-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
31-3-1. The following words, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings specified below:
"Board": The State Board of Contractors created under this chapter.
"Contractor": Any person contracting or undertaking as prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of any tier to do any erection, building, construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or related work on any public or private project; however, "contractor" shall not include any owner of a dwelling or other structure to be constructed, altered, repaired or improved and not for sale, lease, public use or assembly, or any person duly permitted by the Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board, pursuant to Section 53-3-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, to conduct operations within the state, and acting pursuant to said permit. It is further provided that nothing herein shall apply to:
(a) Any contract or undertaking on a public project by a prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of any tier involving erection, building, construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or related work where such contract, subcontract or undertaking is less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00);
(b) Any contract or undertaking on a private project by a prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of any tier involving erection, building, construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or related work where such contract, subcontract or undertaking is less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00);
(c) Highway construction, highway bridges, overpasses and any other project incidental to the construction of highways which are designated as federal aid projects and in which federal funds are involved;
(d) A residential project to be occupied by fifty (50) or fewer families and not more than three (3) stories in height;
(e) A residential subdivision where the contractor is developing either single-family or multifamily lots;
(f) A new commercial construction project not exceeding seventy-five hundred (7500) square feet and not more than two (2) stories in height undertaken by an individual or entity licensed under the provisions of Section 73-59-1 et seq.;
(g) Erection of a microwave tower built for the purpose of telecommunication transmissions;
(h) Any contract or undertaking on a public project by a prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of any tier involving the construction, reconstruction, repair or maintenance of fire protection systems where such contract, subcontract or undertaking is less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00);
(i) Any contract or undertaking on a private project by a prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of any tier involving the construction, reconstruction, repair or maintenance of fire protection systems where such contract, subcontract or undertaking is less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00);
(j) Any contract or undertaking on a private or public project by a prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of any tier involving the construction, reconstruction, repair or maintenance of technically specialized installations if performed by a Mississippi contractor who has been in the business of installing fire protection sprinkler systems on or before July 1, 2000; or
(k) Any contractor undertaking to build, construct, reconstruct, repair, demolish, perform maintenance on, or other related work, whether on the surface or subsurface, on oil or gas wells, pipelines, processing plants, or treatment facilities or other structures of facilities. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the application or effect of Section 31-5-41.
"Certificate of responsibility": A certificate numbered and held by a contractor issued by the board under the provisions of this chapter after payment of the special privilege license tax therefor levied under this chapter.
"Person": Any person, firm, corporation, joint venture or partnership, association or other type of business entity.
"Private project": Any project for erection, building, construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or related work which is not funded in whole or in part with public funds.
"Public agency": Any board, commission, council or agency of the State of Mississippi or any district, county or municipality thereof, including school, hospital, airport and all other types of governing agencies created by or operating under the laws of this state.
"Public funds": Monies of public agencies, whether obtained from taxation, donation or otherwise; or monies being expended by public agencies for the purposes for which such public agencies exist.
"Public project": Any project for erection, building, construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or related work which is funded in whole or in part with public funds.
SECTION 2. Section 31-3-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
31-3-21. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person who does not hold a certificate of responsibility issued under this chapter, or a similar certificate issued by another state recognizing such certificate issued by the State of Mississippi, to submit a bid, enter into a contract, or otherwise engage in or continue in this state in the business of a contractor, as defined in this chapter. Any bid which is submitted without a certificate of responsibility number issued under this chapter and without that number appearing on the exterior of the bid envelope, as and if herein required, at the time designated for the opening of such bid, shall not be considered further, and the person or public agency soliciting bids shall not enter into a contract with a contractor submitting a bid in violation of this section. In addition, any person violating this section by knowingly and willfully submitting a bid for projects without holding a certificate of responsibility number issued under this chapter, as and if herein required, at the time of the submission or opening of such bid shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) All bids submitted for public or private projects where the bid is in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) * * * shall contain on the outside or exterior of the envelope or container of such bid the contractor's current certificate number, and no bid shall be opened or considered unless such contractor's current certificate number appears on the outside or exterior of said envelope or container, or unless there appears a statement on the outside or exterior of such envelope or container to the effect that the bid enclosed therewith did not exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) with respect to public or private projects * * *. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(3) In the letting of public contracts preference shall be given to resident contractors, and a nonresident bidder domiciled in a state having laws granting preference to local contractors shall be awarded Mississippi public contracts only on the same basis as the nonresident bidder's state awards contracts to Mississippi contractors bidding under similar circumstances; and resident contractors actually domiciled in Mississippi, be they corporate, individuals, or partnerships, are to be granted preference over nonresidents in awarding of contracts in the same manner and to the same extent as provided by the laws of the state of domicile of the nonresident. When a nonresident contractor submits a bid for a public project, he shall attach thereto a copy of his resident state's current law pertaining to such state's treatment of nonresident contractors. Any bid submitted by a nonresident contractor which does not include the nonresident contractor's current state law shall be rejected and not considered for award. As used in this section, the term "resident contractors" includes a nonresident person, firm or corporation that has been qualified to do business in this state and has maintained a permanent full-time office in the State of Mississippi for two (2) years prior to January 1, 1986, and the subsidiaries and affiliates of such a person, firm or corporation. Any public agency awarding a contract shall promptly report to the State Tax Commission the following information:
(a) The amount of the contract.
(b) The name and address of the contractor reviewing the contract.
(c) The name and location of the project.
(4) In addition to any other penalties provided in this chapter, and upon a finding of a violation of this chapter, the State Board of Contractors may, after notice and hearing, issue an order of abatement directing the contractor to cease all actions constituting violations of this chapter until such time as the contractor complies with Mississippi state law, and to pay to the board a civil penalty to be deposited into the State Board of Contractors' Fund, created in Section 31-3-17, of not more than three percent (3%) of the total contract being performed by the contractor. In addition to, or in lieu of, such civil penalty, the board may require the performance of community service for a specified number of hours as determined by the board. The funds collected from civil penalty payments shall be used by the State Board of Contractors for enforcement and education.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.
