REPORT TITLE:
Lic. Contractors; Exempt from


DESCRIPTION:
Changes from $1,000 to jurisdictional limits of district courts
for projects exempt from requirements that a licensed contractor
perform the project.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2363
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO UNLICENSED ACTS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 487-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
 
 3      "(c)  Any contract for the furnishing of commodities or
 
 4 services by an unlicensed, unregistered, or uncertified person
 
 5 shall be void and shall prevent such person from recovering the
 
 6 contract price [or the reasonable value thereof]."
 
 7      SECTION 2.  Section 444-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 8 amended to read as follows:
 
 9      "�444-2 Exemptions.  This chapter shall not apply to:
 
10      (1)  Officers and employees of the United States, the State,
 
11           or any county while in the performance of their
 
12           governmental duties;
 
13      (2)  Any person acting as a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy,
 
14           personal representative, or any other person acting
 
15           under any order or authorization of any court;
 
16      (3)  A person who sells or installs any finished products,
 
17           materials, or articles of merchandise that are not
 
18           actually fabricated into and do not become a permanent
 
19           fixed part of the structure, or to the construction,
 

 
Page 2                                                     2363
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1           alteration, improvement, or repair of personal
 
 2           property;
 
 3      (4)  Any project or operation for which the aggregate
 
 4           contract price for labor, materials, taxes, and all
 
 5           other items is not more than [$1,000.] the
 
 6           jurisdictional limit set forth in section 633-17.  This
 
 7           exemption shall not apply in any case where a building
 
 8           permit is required regardless of the aggregate contract
 
 9           price, nor where the undertaking is only a part of a
 
10           larger or major project or operation, whether
 
11           undertaken by the same or a different contractor or in
 
12           which a division of the project or operation is made in
 
13           contracts of amounts not more than [$1,000] the
 
14           jurisdictional limit set forth in section 633-17 for
 
15           the purpose of evading this chapter or otherwise;
 
16      (5)  A registered architect or professional engineer acting
 
17           solely in the person's professional capacity;
 
18      (6)  Any person who engages in the activities regulated in
 
19           this chapter as an employee with wages as the person's
 
20           sole compensation;
 
21      (7)  Owners or lessees of property who build or improve
 
22           residential, farm, industrial, or commercial buildings
 

 
 
 
Page 3                                                     2363
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1           or structures on property for their own use, or for use
 
 2           by their grandparents, parents, siblings, or children
 
 3           and who do not offer the buildings or structures for
 
 4           sale or lease; provided that this exemption shall not
 
 5           apply to electrical or plumbing work that must be
 
 6           performed only by persons or entities licensed under
 
 7           this chapter, or to the owner or lessee of the property
 
 8           if the owner or lessee is licensed under chapter 448E.
 
 9           In all actions brought under this paragraph, proof of
 
10           the sale or lease, or offering for sale or lease, of
 
11           the structure not more than one year after completion
 
12           is prima facie evidence that the construction or
 
13           improvement of the structure was undertaken for the
 
14           purpose of sale or lease; provided that this provision
 
15           shall not apply to residential properties sold or
 
16           leased to employees of the owner or lessee; provided
 
17           further that in order to qualify for this exemption the
 
18           owner or lessee must register for the exemptions as
 
19           provided in section 444-9.1.  Any owner or lessee of
 
20           property found to have violated this paragraph shall
 
21           not be permitted to engage in any activities pursuant
 
22           to this paragraph or to register under section 444-9.1
 

 
 
 
Page 4                                                     2363
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1           for a period of three years.  There is a presumption
 
 2           that an owner or lessee has violated this section, when
 
 3           the owner or lessee obtains an exemption from the
 
 4           licensing requirements of section 444-9 more than once
 
 5           in two years;
 
 6      (8)  Any joint venture if all members thereof hold licenses
 
 7           issued under this chapter;
 
 8      (9)  Any project or operation where it is determined by the
 
 9           board that less than ten persons are qualified to
 
10           perform the work in question and that the work does not
 
11           pose a potential danger to public health, safety, and
 
12           welfare; or
 
13     (10)  Any public works project that requires additional
 
14           qualifications beyond those established by the
 
15           licensing law and which is deemed necessary and in the
 
16           public interest by the contracting agency."
 
17      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
18 New statutory material is underscored.
 
19      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
20 
 
21                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________