BILL NUMBER: SB 1919	CHAPTERED  09/30/02

	CHAPTER  1123
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 30, 2002
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 30, 2002
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 21, 2002
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2002
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 11, 2002
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 28, 2002
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 18, 2002
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 11, 2002

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Figueroa

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2002

   An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 7071.6 of the Business
and Professions Code, relating to contractors.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1919, Figueroa.  Contractors.
   Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, provides that
the Contractors' State License Board, within the Department of
Consumer Affairs, is responsible for the licensure and regulation of
contractors.  Existing law requires a contractor to provide a $7,500
bond for the benefit of homeowners and other persons that are damaged
by the licensee.  Existing law requires a swimming pool contractor
to provide the bond in the amount of $10,000.
   The bill would require, on and after January 1, 2004, that all
classifications of contractors provide a $10,000 bond.  The bill
would increase the bond to $12,500 on and after January 1, 2007.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 7071.6 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   7071.6.  (a) The board shall require as a condition precedent to
the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, renewal, or continued
maintenance of a license, that the applicant or licensee file or have
on file a contractor's bond in the sum of seven thousand five
hundred dollars ($7,500), except that a license bond in the sum of
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) shall be required for an applicant or
licensee to obtain the swimming pool classification outlined in
Section 832.53 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations.
   (b) No bond shall be required of a holder of a license that has
been inactivated on the official records of the board during the
period the license is inactive.
   (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, as a condition
precedent to licensure, the board may require an applicant to post a
contractor's bond in twice the amount required pursuant to
subdivision (a) until the time that the license is renewed, under the
following conditions:
   (1) The applicant has either been convicted of a violation of
Section 7028 or has been cited pursuant to Section 7028.7.
   (2) If the applicant has been cited pursuant to Section 7028.7,
the citation has been reduced to a final order of the registrar.
   (3) The violation of Section 7028, or the basis for the citation
issued pursuant to Section 7028.7, constituted a substantial injury
to the public.
   (d) This section shall become inoperative and is repealed on
January 1, 2004, unless a later enacted statute deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 2.  Section 7071.6 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   7071.6.  (a) The board shall require as a condition precedent to
the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, renewal, or continued
maintenance of a license, that the applicant or licensee file or have
on file a contractor's bond in the sum of ten thousand dollars
($10,000), regardless of the classification.  However, on and after
January 1, 2007, the sum of the bond that an applicant or licensee is
required to have on file shall be twelve thousand five hundred
dollars ($12,500).
   (b) Excluding the claims brought by the beneficiaries specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 7071.5, the aggregate liability of a
surety on claims brought against a bond required by this section
shall not exceed the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars
($7,500).  The bond proceeds in excess of seven thousand five hundred
dollars ($7,500) shall be reserved exclusively for the claims of the
beneficiaries specified in subdivision (a) of Section 7071.5.
However, nothing in this section shall be construed so as to prevent
any beneficiary specified in subdivision (a) of Section 7071.5 from
claiming or recovering the full measure of the bond required by this
section.
   (c) No bond shall be required of a holder of a license that has
been inactivated on the official records of the board during the
period the license is inactive.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, as a condition
precedent to licensure, the board may require an applicant to post a
contractor's bond in twice the amount required pursuant to
subdivision (a) until the time that the license is renewed, under the
following conditions:
   (1) The applicant has either been convicted of a violation of
Section 7028 or has been cited pursuant to Section 7028.7.
   (2) If the applicant has been cited pursuant to Section 7028.7,
the citation has been reduced to a final order of the registrar.
   (3) The violation of Section 7028, or the basis for the citation
issued pursuant to Section 7028.7, constituted a substantial injury
to the public.
   (e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2004.