Freedom Business School Articles
New Laws affecting Contractors in 2016
Freedom Business School strives to have current & updated course materials and follow CSLB and update our courses as new rules and regulations become official.
The number of persons trying to become HIS, particularly in the fast growing solar industry has jumped in recent years.Recognizing that application delays hurt salespersons and the contractors who hire them, CSLB sponsored legislation for a change in the law to permit a single HIS registration even when representing multiple contractors.
Beginning January 1, 2016, those applying with CSLB to become registered salespersons, as well as existing HIS, need only register once, whether they want to represent one or multiple licensed contractors. The new law requires licensees to notify CSLB in writing prior to employing an already registered HIS, and to notify CSLB in writing when employment of a registered HIS ends. These new notification forms are available on CSLB websie.
Higher Contractors Bond
The amount of contractors' bond required to keep your license active was raised to $15,000 on January 1, 2016. All licensed contractors should have made sure before now that their bond companies have posted the higher amount for them, or that cash deposit is in place. Contractors who didn't meet the deadline risk having their license suspended. The legislation also eliminated the requirement that contractor license applicants prove they have $2,500 in working capital as a condition of obtaining CSLB license. California law requires all contractors to have either Bond or Cash Deposit filed with CSLB. This requirement is for the benefit of consumers who may be damaged as a result of defective construction or other license law violations and for the benefit of employees who haven't been paid wages that are due them.
The bond of qualifying individuals remains unchanged at $12,500.
CSLB Representatives to issue citations for Workers' Compensation (WC) Insurance fraud
The new law grants CSLB representatives the authority to issue citations if they encounter cases of WC Insurance fraud. Previously, only peace officers and district attormey's officers could take action against alleged offenders. That gives CSLB a more effective and direct way to deal with WC violations when uncovered. It's part of a larger CSLB strategy to identify contractors who purposely evade their responsibility to get WC insurance for their workers and for themselves if necessary. CSLB suspects tha many WC exemptions are being claimed by licensees who do have employees, and by doing so exposing themselves, workers and clients to serious legal jeopardy if an accident happens on the job.
Freedom Business School strives to have current and updated course materials. We constantly follow CSLB and update our courses as new rules and regulations become official. Our practice exams are updated with the new questions as well. You can rest assured that our Contractors License courses are completely current, updated and focused on CSLB exams.