SENATE, No. 1741

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 19, 1996

 

 

By Senator CARDINALE

 

 

An Act concerning home improvement contractors and supplementing Title 46 of the Revised Statutes.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Home Improvement Contractors Registration and Licensure Act."

 

    2. As used in this act:

    "Clerk" means the clerk of the county in which the home improvement contractor proposes to work.

    "Home improvement" means the remodeling, constructing, erecting, altering, renovating, repairing, restoring, re-roofing, re-siding, moving, demolishing, or otherwise improving or modifying of the whole or any part of any residential property, regardless of whether a construction permit is required pursuant to the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.).

    "Home improvement contract" or "contract" means an agreement between a home improvement contractor and a buyer who is the owner or occupant of a residential property for the performance of a home improvement costing $100 or more.

    "Home improvement contractor" or "contractor" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity which offers to perform or performs, either directly or through others, home improvements pursuant to a home improvement contract. The term shall not include:

    a. any person required to register pursuant to "The New Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act," P.L.1977, c.467 (C.46:3B-1 et seq.);

    b. any person performing a home improvement upon a residential property he owns, or that is owned by a member of his family, a charity, or other non-profit organization or corporation; and

    c. any person regulated by the State as an architect, professional engineer, landscape architect, land surveyor, electrical contractor, master plumber, or any other person in any other related profession requiring registration, certification, or licensure by the State, who is acting within the scope of his profession.

    "Residential property" means any portion of any dwelling unit, planned real estate development, or cooperative, and all structures appurtenant thereto, and any portion of the lot, curtilage, or site on which the unit or structure is situated.

 

    3. a. A home improvement contractor shall not perform a home improvement or shall not engage in the business of performing home improvements unless registered with the clerk of the county in which the contractor proposes to work in accordance with the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). This subsection shall not be construed to apply to a contractor's advertisements for business in any county in this State, including alphabetical listings in standard telephone directories, as long as the contractor is registered, under the provisions of this act, with at least one clerk of one county in this State.

    b. Every home improvement contractor doing business in a county in this State shall biennially register with the clerk of the county before the contractor performs a home improvement in that county. Application for registration shall be on a form provided by the clerk and shall be accompanied by a reasonable fee, set by the governing body of the county by ordinance or resolution as appropriate, in an amount sufficient to defray the county's cost of registering home improvement contractors; provided, however, that the initial registration fee assessed under the provisions of this act shall not exceed $100. Every applicant shall provide the following information:

    (1) if an individual, the applicant's name, business address, and business telephone number;

    (2) if a partnership, the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the general partners;

    (3) if a joint venture, the names, address, and telephone numbers of all parties to the venture;

    (4) if a corporation, the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all officers;

    (5) evidence of liability insurance and workers' compensation insurance in an amount determined by the governing body, except if the home improvement contractor qualifies as a self-insurer under Title 34 of the Revised Statutes or if he is precluded from purchasing workers' compensation under chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes;

    (6) disclosure of any recorded and unsatisfied judgments against the home improvement contractor; and

    (7) such other information regarding the applicant and his home improvement business as the governing body may deem appropriate and establish by ordinance or resolution.

    c. Every home improvement contractor required to register under subsection b. of this section shall file an amended registration within 20 days after any change in the information required to be included thereon. No fee shall be required for the filing of an amendment.

    d. In addition to the requirements set forth in subsections b. and c. of this section, every applicant for registration, or an officer or partner of the firm applying for registration in the case of a partnership, joint venture, or corporation, shall submit to the clerk an affidavit, sworn before a notary public that:

    (1) the applicant, officer, or partner, as the case may be, has read and understood the provisions of this act; and

    (2) the applicant, officer or partner, as the case may be, has read and understood the rules and regulations governing the practices of home improvement contractors promulgated by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-4).

 

    4. The clerk shall issue a certificate of registration to each applicant who qualifies under this act and shall index and file a copy of the same and make it reasonably available for public inspection. Each certificate shall have a unique registration number. Upon the request of any customer or construction official, a home improvement contractor shall display his certificate of registration.

 

    5. No court shall enter a judgment for a contractor, in any action instituted by a contractor for enforcement of a home improvement contract, where the contractor has failed to comply with the provisions of this act, until there has been compliance. The court shall continue such case for up to 90 days and if there has not been compliance within such period, the action shall be dismissed.

 

    6. a. This act shall supersede any municipal ordinance or regulation that provides for the licensing or registration of home improvement contractors.

    b. An enforcing agency shall not issue a construction permit for any home improvement to any home improvement contractor who is not registered pursuant to the provisions of this act.

 

    7. This act shall not deny to any municipality the power to inspect a home improvement contractor's work or equipment or the power to regulate the standards and manners in which the contractor's work shall be done.

 

    8. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month after enactment.


STATEMENT

 

    This bill would establish a Home Improvement Contractors' Registration and Licensure program in each county in this State. The bill would require contractors who are doing home improvements to register with the clerk of the county in which they propose to work, before they begin work, by completing registration forms provided by the clerk and by paying a fee, not to exceed $100, established by the county's governing body. It would also require contractors to amend their registration within 20 days of any change. There would not be a fee for an amended registration.

    The bill would not limit a contractor's ability to advertise for business in any county in the State, provided that he was registered under this bill in at least one county and that he registered in the county in which he proposed to work before beginning any home improvement in that county.

    Further, this bill would supersede any municipal ordinance or regulation providing for the licensing or registering of home improvement contractors, thereby allowing contractors to register once every two years in a county in order to work in any municipality in that county, instead of registering in each municipality.

    Under this bill, home improvement is defined to mean the remodeling, constructing, erecting, altering, renovating, repairing, restoring, re-roofing, re-siding, moving, demolishing, or otherwise improving or modifying of the whole or any part of any residential property, regardless of whether a construction permit is required pursuant to the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.).

    Finally, a contractor who fails to register shall have no judgment entered by a court for the contractor, in any action instituted by him for enforcement of a home improvement contract, where he has failed to comply with the provisions of this act, until there has been compliance. The court shall continue such case for up to 90 days and if there has not been compliance within such period, the action shall be dismissed.

 

 

                             

The "Home Improvement Contractors Registration and Licensure Act.