BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1874
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Date of Hearing: April 5, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Rudy Salas, Chair
AB 1874
(Wood) - As Introduced February 10, 2016
SUBJECT: Structural pest control.
SUMMARY: Requires a licensed "qualifying manager" to be
physically present at the licensee's principal office or branch
office location for a minimum of 72 hours every three
consecutive calendar months, and to require that the hours be
documented and provided to the Structural Pest Control Board
(SPCB) upon request.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the SPCB under the Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA) to regulate the practice of structural pest control.
(Business and Professions Code (BPC) §§ 8500 - 8697.4)
2)Defines "structural pest control," with respect to household
pests and wood destroying pests or organisms, as performing or
offering to perform any of the following: (BPC § 8505)
a) Identification of infestations or infections.
b) The making of an inspection or inspections for the
purpose of identifying or attempting to identify
infestations or infections of household or other structures
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by those pests or organisms.
c) The making of inspection reports, recommendations,
estimates, and bids, whether oral or written, with respect
to those infestations or infections.
d) The making of contracts, or the submitting of bids for,
or the performance of any work including the making of
structural repairs or replacements, or the use of
pesticides, or mechanical devices for the purpose of
eliminating, exterminating, controlling or preventing
infestations or infections of those pests, or organisms.
3)Defines "registered company" as a sole proprietorship,
partnership, corporation, or other business organization that
is registered with the SPCB to engage in the practice of
structural pest control. (BPC § 8506.1)
4)Defines "qualifying manager" as the licensed operator or
operators designated by a registered company to supervise the
daily business of the company and to be available to supervise
and assist the company's employees. (BPC § 8506.2)
5)Defines "structural pest control operator" as any individual
licensed by the SPBC to practice structural pest control.
(BPC § 8506)
6)Requires every company that engages in the practice of
structural pest control, as a sole proprietorship,
partnership, corporation, or other organization or any
combination thereof, to be registered with the SPCB. (BPC §
8610(a))
7)Requires each registered company to designate an individual or
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individuals who hold an operator's license to act as its
qualifying manager or managers. The qualifying manager or
managers must be licensed in each branch of pest control in
which the company engages in business. The designated
qualifying manager or managers shall supervise the daily
business of the company and shall be available to supervise
and assist all employees of the company, in accordance with
regulations which the board may establish. (BPC § 8610(c))
THIS BILL:
1)Redefines "qualifying manager" as the licensed operator or
operators designated by a registered company to supervise the
daily business of the company and to be physically present at
the principal office or branch office location for a minimum
of 72 hours every three consecutive calendar months to
supervise and assist the company's employees.
2)Requires the qualifying manager to document the hours and
provide the documentation to the SPCB upon request.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the Pest Control Operators
of California . According to the author, this bill "adds a
requirement that 'qualifying managers' be physically present in
the offices of the companies they qualify for a minimum of 72
hours every three consecutive calendar months. The addition of
this requirement will help ensure that the companies performing
structural pest control will do so with adequate supervision."
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Background. In California, a "registered company" is defined as
any business organization, such as a sole proprietorship or
corporation. In order to provide structural pest control
services as a registered company, a business organization must
register with the SPCB and designate a "qualifying manager."
The qualifying manager must be a structural pest control
operator, an individual who is licensed by the SPCB and is
responsible for supervising the daily business of the
organization. Currently, the qualifying manager must "be
available to supervise and assist the company's employees."
However, "be available to supervise and assist" is not defined.
The sponsor states that the lack of a definition has resulted in
a loophole where licensed operators are "renting" their licenses
to a registered company that needs to designate a qualifying
manager. Because there is no language specifying that a
licensed operator has to be physically available, many simply
charge a registered company a recurring fee to use their license
number with minimal involvement in the company. According to
the sponsors, bad actors are able to argue that they can satisfy
the availability and supervision requirements over the phone or
through video conferencing.
Therefore, this bill seeks to impose a minimum physical presence
requirement on operator licensees of 72 hours in a
three-consecutive-month period. Although the bill does not
specify how the 72 hours must be divided, the intent was to
allow the qualifying manager flexibility to do so. For
instance, the qualifying manager could choose to be present for
nine full days or 40 minutes per day. The goal of the
requirement is to deter the practice of using the loophole to
avoid having to actually supervise.
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The change this bill seeks to make was approved by the SPCB's
Act Review Committee, which reviews the structural pest control
practice act and recommends changes to the full SPCB. The
approval was adopted by the SPCB last year at its January 14,
2015 meeting.
REGISTERED SUPPORT:
Pest Control Operators of California (sponsor)
Structural Pest Control Board
Newport Exterminating
Orkin Pest Control
Western Terminator Company
REGISTERED OPPOSITION:
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Vincent Chee / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301
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