BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 44|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 44
Author: Buchanan (D), et al.
Amended: 6/20/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/25/13
AYES: Wright, Nielsen, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, Correa,
De Le�n, Galgiani, Hernandez, Lieu, Padilla
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Subletting and Subcontracting Fair Practices Act:
bidding practices
SOURCE : Northern California Carpenters Regional Council
DIGEST : This bill requires a contractor to include the
contractor license number of each subcontractor listed in any
bid or offer submitted after July 1, 2014, for the construction
of any public work.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires a prime contractor to list the name and business
location of each subcontractor performing work or rendering
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service to the prime contractor in an amount exceeding
one-half of one percent of the contractor's total bid.
2.Requires a state agency or department, prior to awarding a
contract for work to be performed by a contractor, to either
(a) verify with the Contractors State License Board that the
person seeking the contract is licensed in a classification
appropriate to the work to be undertaken or (b) require the
person seeking the contract to present his or her pocket
license or certificate of licensure and include a statement
signed under penalty of perjury declaring that the pocket
license or certificate of licensure presented is his/hers, is
current and valid, and is in a classification appropriate to
the work to be undertaken.
3.Makes it a misdemeanor for any person to submit a bid to a
public agency in order to engage in the business or act in the
capacity of a contractor without having a license, excepting
those persons who are exempt from the licensing laws or who
are working on a public construction project that is federally
funded, as specified.
4.Requires every licensed contractor to provide their license
number on all construction contracts, subcontracts, calls for
bid, and all forms of advertising.
This bill:
1.Requires a contractor to include the contractor license number
of each subcontractor listed in any bid or offer submitted
after July 1, 2014, for the construction of any public work.
2.Specifies that an inadvertent error in listing the contractor
license number shall not be grounds for considering the bid
nonresponsive if the corrected contractor's license number is
submitted to the public entity by the prime contractor within
24 hours after the bid opening, and provided that the
corrected contractor's license number corresponds to the
submitted name and location for that subcontractor.
Comments
The author states that, "under current law, the Subcontracting
and Subletting Fair Practices Act requires an entity taking bids
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for the construction of any public work or improvement to
specify in his or her bid, the name and location of the place of
business of each subcontractor who will perform the work or
render service to the prime contractor during the project. The
current requirement of listing the name and location of the
subcontractor is not always sufficient to determine the exact
identity of the subcontractor. In large urban areas multiple
contractors could have the same or very similar names, making
differentiating between them difficult or impossible. Including
the subcontractor's license number will allow awarding bodies to
quickly and efficiently identify all the parties included in a
bid."
The State Building and Construction Trades Council says that
this bill will "assist the state's efforts to combat the
underground economy by ensuring that all businesses are properly
licensed before they submit bids for public works projects. The
lack of a contractor's license number is a common signal of
failure to adhere to California's consumer protection laws and
regulations.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/9/13)
Northern California Carpenters Regional Council (source)
American Fence Association, California Chapter
Berger Brothers, Inc.
Brady Company/Central California, Inc.
California Conference of Carpenters
California Fence Contractors' Association
California Legislative Conference of the Plumbing, Heating and
Piping Industry
California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors
California State Association of Electrical Workers
California State Council of Laborers
California State Pipe Trades Council
Contractors State License Board
Engineering Contractors' Association
Flasher Barricade Association
Golden State Builders Exchanges
Marin Builders Association
Millwright Employers Association
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Modular Installers Association
National Electrical Contractors Association, California chapters
National Electrical Contractors Association, Northern California
Chapter
Rutherford Company, Inc.
State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL/CIO
The Raymond Group
Wall and Ceiling Alliance
Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the bill's sponsor, the
Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, this bill will
"bring much needed clarity to the public works bidding process
by requiring that prime contractors bidding on public works
projects list the name and contractor's license number of
subcontractors that will perform in excess of one-half of one
percent of the prime contractor's total bid at the time of the
bid. Requiring the subcontractor's California contractor
license number be included in the bid will reduce the number of
substitutions and create a more fair and transparent competitive
bidding process."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Vacancy
MW:nl 8/13/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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