House Bill 0137c2

    Florida House of Representatives - 2000           CS/CS/HB 137

        By the Committees on Business Regulation & Consumer
    Affairs, Crime & Punishment and Representatives Ritter and
    Effman




  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to construction contracting;

  3         amending s. 489.13, F.S.; providing for

  4         issuance of a notice of noncompliance,

  5         imposition of an administrative fine, and

  6         assessment of reasonable investigative and

  7         legal costs of prosecution for unlicensed

  8         contracting; specifying that such remedies are

  9         not exclusive; providing for uses of fine

10         proceeds; requiring the Department of Business

11         and Professional Regulation to create a web

12         page on its Internet website dedicated to

13         listing known information on unlicensed

14         contractors; providing an effective date.

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16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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18         Section 1.  Section 489.13, Florida Statutes, is

19  amended to read:

20         489.13  Unlicensed contracting; notice of

21  noncompliance; fine; authority to issue or receive a building

22  permit; web page.--

23         (1)  Any person performing an activity requiring

24  licensure under this part as a construction contractor is

25  guilty of unlicensed contracting if he or she does not hold a

26  valid active certificate or registration authorizing him or

27  her to perform such activity, regardless of whether he or she

28  holds a local construction contractor license or local

29  certificate of competency. Persons working outside the

30  geographical scope of their registration are guilty of

31  unlicensed activity for purposes of this part.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000           CS/CS/HB 137

    190-974-00






  1         (2)  For a first offense, any person who holds a state

  2  or local construction license and is found guilty of

  3  unlicensed contracting under this section shall be issued a

  4  notice of noncompliance pursuant to s. 489.131(7).

  5         (3)  Notwithstanding s. 455.228, the department may

  6  impose an administrative fine of up to $10,000 on any

  7  unlicensed person guilty of unlicensed contracting. In

  8  addition, the department may assess reasonable investigative

  9  and legal costs for prosecution of the violation against the

10  unlicensed contractor. The department may waive up to one-half

11  of any fine imposed if the unlicensed contractor complies with

12  certification or registration within 1 year after imposition

13  of the fine under this subsection.

14         (4)(a)  Any fines collected under this section shall be

15  first used to cover the investigative and legal costs of

16  prosecution.

17         (b)  Any local governing body that forwards information

18  relating to any person who is an unlicensed contractor shall

19  collect 30 percent of the fine collected, after deduction of

20  the investigative and legal costs of prosecution.

21         (c)  The balance of any fines collected under this

22  section shall be used to maintain the department's unlicensed

23  contractor website page, as specified in subsection (6), and

24  to fund the Construction Industries Recovery Fund. Nothing in

25  this paragraph shall be construed to permit recovery from the

26  Construction Industries Recovery Fund if the contractor is

27  unlicensed.

28         (5)(2)  A local building department shall not issue a

29  building permit to any contractor, or to any person

30  representing himself or herself as a contractor, who does not

31  hold a valid active certificate or registration in the

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000           CS/CS/HB 137

    190-974-00






  1  appropriate category. Possession of a local certificate of

  2  competency or local construction license is not sufficient to

  3  lawfully obtain a building permit as a construction contractor

  4  if the activity in question requires licensure under this

  5  part. Nothing in this section shall be construed as

  6  prohibiting a local building department from issuing a

  7  building permit to a locally licensed or certified contractor

  8  for an activity that does not require licensure under this

  9  part.

10         (6)  The department shall create a web page, accessible

11  through its Internet website, dedicated solely to listing any

12  known information on unlicensed contractors. The information

13  shall be provided in such a way that any person with computer

14  on-line capabilities can access information on unlicensed

15  contractors by name or by county. The department shall

16  recognize that persons found guilty of unlicensed contracting

17  do not have the same rights and privileges as licensees, and

18  the department shall not restrict the quality or quantity of

19  information on the web page required by this subsection,

20  unless otherwise required by law.

21         (7)  The remedies set forth in this section are not

22  exclusive and may be imposed in addition to the remedies set

23  forth in s. 489.127(2). In addition, nothing in this section

24  is intended to prohibit the department or any local governing

25  body from filing a civil action or seeking criminal penalties

26  against an unlicensed contractor.

27         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

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