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The 2017 Oregon legislature passed several laws that
may impact you. For
details, visit the Legislature's website: https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1/Measures/list/. The bill number and session chapter are listed at the end of each law. Highlights:
Temporary
Responsible Managing Individual
Under current law, most construction contractors
must have at least one responsible managing individual (RMI) associated with
their license. An RMI is an owner or
supervisory employee of the business. Ordinarily, an RMI qualifies by completing the training and testing required
for the license.
When an RMI leaves the business, the business has to
appoint a new RMI and notify CCB. Unfortunately,
a business may not always have a qualified individual immediately
available. If the business does not
appoint a new RMI, CCB may suspend its license.
The legislature changed the law to allow a
construction contractor to operate with a temporary RMI for up to 14 days,
provided that the business notifies CCB of the temporary appointment. CCB will adopt rules to implement the
new law, which takes effect Jan.1, 2018.
(SB 336; Or Laws 2017, ch 483).
Prohibits
Dividing Public Works Projects to Avoid Prevailing Wage Law
This law prohibits anyone (not just public agencies)
from dividing public works projects into more than one contract to avoid
prevailing wage laws. The law clarifies
the factors that the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI)
may consider in determining when a project was improperly divided. BOLI may inspect the contractor’s records at
any time to determine whether the prevailing wage is actually being paid.
The law also clarifies the requirement that every
public works contract and subcontract must specify that every contractor and
subcontractor (unless exempt) must file a bond with CCB. Exempt contractors that violate prevailing
wage requirements may be required to subsequently file a bond with CCB. The law also provides that a failure to pay a
required prevailing wage rate and a failure to pay required fringe benefits are
separate violations.
This law contained an emergency clause and took
effect June 14, 2017. (SB 416; Or Laws
2017, ch 334).
Cities
May Require Permits to Demolish Buildings that Contain Lead or Asbestos
This new law allows a city to establish a program
for the demolition of certain residential buildings. If the person demolishing the building is a
contractor and the building was built before 1978, the contractor must submit
proof that it is certified, by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), to engage in
lead-based paint activities.
The person
performing the demolition must also follow best practices developed by OHA, the
Department of Environmental Quality and the CCB. (These requirements do not apply if a
qualified person determines that the building does not contain lead-based
paint.) The person performing the
demolition will also need to provide a copy of an asbestos survey.
The law takes effect on Jan.1, 2018. (SB 871; Or Laws 2017, ch 739).
Certain
Contractors Must Employ Apprentices to Perform Work
This new law requires state contracting agencies
(other than the Oregon Department of Transportation) that award contracts in
excess of $5 million, or subcontracts in excess of $1 million or 25 percent of the
contract price, to require contractors to employ apprentices to perform at
least 10 percent of the work. Apprentices must
be paid the hourly rate provided by the apprenticeship agreement or the
apprenticeship training program.
The requirement changes in 2022 to apply to contracts
in excess of $3 million. Apprentices
must then perform at least 12 percent of the work. The requirement for subcontractors does not change.
The new law takes effect on Oct. 5, 2017, and becomes operational Jan.1, 2018. (HB 2162; Or Laws 2017, ch 416).
Construction
Standards for “Tiny” Houses
This new law requires the Building Codes Division to
adopt construction standards for “small homes,” meaning a dwelling of not more
than 600 square feet. The new standards
must include allowing sleeping lofts and allowing the use of ladders (or
alternative tread devices) as the primary means of egress from a sleeping loft.
(HB 2737; Or Laws 2017,
ch 394).
Proposed CCB rules would eliminate Series A/B in continuing education
The CCB is proposing rules to allow all residential contractors to get continuing education credit for trade-specific courses (called Series B). Currently, only contractors licensed less than six years get credit for these Series B classes. If finalized, this means:
- Residential contractors would no longer have to worry about Series A vs. Series B classes. Contractors would simply need the three CCB laws, regulations and business practices classes plus five or 13 hours of other approved classes.
- These five or 13 hours of other classes could be about how to run your business or how to improve your craft. Most residential contractors need the five other hours; only those licensed less than six years need the 13 other hours.
- The CCB still must approve all providers and courses. Check the Course Catalog on the CCB website to see if a course is approved or contact the CCB in advance.
- The proposed rules approve accredited education institutions and other government agencies as continuing education providers. This means that any community college or four-year college course in approved topic areas would qualify for CCB continuing education credit, even though they may not appear in the Course Catalog. Approved topic areas include: Marketing, customer service, accounting, business law, bidding, building codes, safety, environmental hazards (lead, asbestos, radon, etc.) energy efficiency, and trade-specific topics like how to install roofing or siding.
These rule changes would be effective Dec. 1, 2017. The proposal is part of a series of changes to continuing education to address concerns about course quality, variety and relevance.
The CCB already eliminated fees it once charged to education providers, opening the door to more providers. Eliminating the restriction on who can take Series B courses will allow you to take advantage of the increasing number of education providers, including product manufacturers.
The CCB has a new email box for course completion certificates. Please send these to cecerts@state.or.us. If your CCB number is not on the certificate, please include it in the email or we will not be able to assign the credit to your account!
Who needs to send course completion certificates? If your education provider doesn't send course completion information to the CCB, you must do so. Ask the organization providing the class if it plans to send the information electronically to the CCB. Always keep a copy for your files.
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