BILL NUMBER: AB 1208	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Frazier

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 7058 of the Business and Professions Code,
  and to amend Section 13196.5 of the Health and Safety Code,
  relating to contractors.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1208, as amended, Frazier. Specialty  contractors.
  contractors: automatic fire extinguisher systems:
license exemption. 
   Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, provides for the
licensure and regulation of contractors by the Contractors' State
License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. That law
provides for the classification of a speciality contractor and
defines a "specialty contractor" as a contractor whose operations
involve the performance of construction work requiring special skill
and whose principal contracting business involves the use of
specialized building trades or crafts, as provided.  That
definition includes a contractor whose operations include the
business of servicing or testing fire extinguishing systems. 

   This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that definition.
 
   Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to adopt and
administer the regulations and building standards he or she deems
necessary in order to establish and control a program for servicing,
testing, and maintaining all automatic fire extinguishing systems,
including, but not limited to, fire sprinkler systems. Existing law
prohibits any person from engaging in the business of servicing or
testing automatic fire extinguishing systems without a license issued
by the State Fire Marshal, but exempts from this prohibition a
specialty contractor whose operations include the business of
servicing or testing fire extinguishing systems.  
   This bill would instead exempt any speciality contractor, as that
term is defined under existing law, from the prohibition on engaging
in the business of servicing or testing automatic fire extinguishing
systems without a licence from the State Fire Marshal. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 7058 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   7058.  A specialty contractor is a contractor whose operations
involve the performance of construction work requiring special skill
and whose principal contracting business involves the use of
specialized building trades or crafts. A speciality contractor
includes all of the following:
   (a) A contractor whose operations include the business of
servicing or testing fire extinguishing systems.
   (b) A contractor whose operations are concerned with the
installation and laying of carpets, linoleum, and resilient floor
covering.
   (c) A contractor whose operations are concerned with preparing or
removing roadway construction zones, lane closures, flagging, or
traffic diversions on roadways, including, but not limited to, public
streets, highways, or any public conveyance.
   SEC. 2.    Section 13196.5 of the   Health
and Safety Code   is amended to read: 
   13196.5.  (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and
(d), no person shall engage in the business of servicing or testing
automatic fire extinguishing systems without a license issued by the
State Fire Marshal pursuant to this chapter.
   (b) Persons who engage in the business of servicing or testing
fire alarm devices, water flow alarm devices, or the supervisory
signaling components of automatic fire extinguishing systems shall
not be subject to the licensing requirements contained in this
chapter.
   (c) Industrial systems may be serviced or tested by, or under the
supervision of, an engineer employed by a private entity who shall
not be subject to the licensing requirements contained in this
chapter unless he or she performs the service or testing for a fee
outside of the employment relationship.
   (d) Any specialty contractor, as defined in  subdivision
(b) of  Section 7058 of the Business and Professions Code,
shall not be subject to the licensing requirements contained in this
chapter.