Chapter 511
AN ACT
SB 605
Relating to construction contractors; creating new provisions; and
amending ORS 701.005.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. ORS 701.005 is amended to read:
701.005. As used in this
chapter:
(1) “Board” means the
Construction Contractors Board.
(2) “Construction debt”
means an amount owed under:
(a) A final order or
arbitration award issued by the board; or
(b) A judgment or civil
penalty arising from construction activities within the
(3) “Contractor” means a
person operating as a general contractor, residential-only contractor or
specialty contractor business or other person who, for compensation or with
the intent to sell, arranges or undertakes or offers to undertake or submits a
bid to construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, inspect, move,
wreck or demolish, for another, any building, highway, road, railroad,
excavation or other structure, project, development or improvement attached to
real estate, or to clean or service chimneys, or to do any part thereof.
[“Contractor” includes general
contractors, residential-only contractors and specialty contractors as defined
in this section.]
(4) “General contractor”
means a contractor whose business operations require the use of more than two
unrelated building trades or crafts that the contractor supervises or performs
in whole or part, whenever the sum of all contracts on any single property,
including materials and labor, exceeds an amount established by rule by the
board. “General contractor” does not include specialty contractors or limited
contractors, as described in ORS 701.085.
(5) “Home inspector”
means a person who, for a fee, inspects and provides written reports on the
overall physical condition of a residential structure and the appurtenances
thereto. “Home inspector” does not include persons certified under ORS chapter
455 to inspect new, repaired or altered structures for compliance with the
state building code.
(6) “Inspector” means a
contractor registered with the board who inspects or
otherwise provides services to a property owner or other contractor but does
not substantively add to or subtract from a structure. “Inspector” includes but
is not limited to a home inspector certified under ORS 701.350, a lead-based
paint inspector licensed under ORS 701.515 and a cross connection inspector and
backflow assembly tester certified under ORS 448.279. “Inspector” does not
include city or county inspectors acting under ORS 701.225 or an inspector as
defined in ORS 455.715.
(7) “Large commercial
structure” means a structure that is not a residential structure or small
commercial structure.
(8) “Licensed developer”
means a contractor who owns property or an interest in property and arranges for
construction work, if the contractor:
(a) Engages in the
business of arranging for construction work and performing other activities
associated with the improvement of real property, with the intent to sell the
property;
(b) Acts in association
with one or more licensed general contractors and the general contractor or
combination of general contractors have sole responsibility for overseeing all
phases of construction activity on the property; and
(c) Does not perform any
construction work on the property.
(9) “Officer” means any
of the following persons:
(a) A president, vice
president, secretary, treasurer or director of a corporation.
(b) A general partner in
a limited partnership.
(c) A manager in a
manager-managed limited liability company.
(d) A member of a
member-managed limited liability company.
(e) A trustee.
(f) A person defined as
an officer under board rules. The definition of officer adopted by board rule
may include persons not listed in this subsection who may exercise substantial
control over a business.
(10) “Residential-only
contractor” means a general contractor or specialty contractor who performs
work exclusively in connection with residential structures and small commercial
structures, and the appurtenances thereto. “Residential-only contractor”
includes, but is not limited to:
(a) A person who
purchases or owns property and constructs or for compensation arranges for the
construction of one or more residential structures or small commercial
structures with the intent of selling the structures;
(b) A school district,
as defined in ORS 332.002, that permits students to construct a residential
structure or small commercial structure as an educational experience to learn
building techniques and sells the completed structure;
(c) A community college
district, as defined in ORS 341.005, that permits students to construct a
residential structure or small commercial structure as an educational
experience to learn building techniques and sells the completed structure; or
(d) Any person except a
landscape contractor, nurseryman, gardener or person engaged in the commercial
harvest of forest products who is engaged as an independent contractor to
remove trees, prune trees, remove tree limbs or stumps
or to engage in tree or limb guying.
(11) “Residential
structure” means a residence, including a site-built home, modular home
constructed off-site, floating home as defined in ORS 830.700, condominium
unit, manufactured dwelling or duplex, or a multiunit residential building
consisting of four units or less that is not part of a multistructure complex
of buildings.
(12) “Small commercial
structure” means a nonresidential structure that has a ground area of 4,000
square feet or less, including exterior walls, and a height of not more than 20
feet from the top surface of the lowest flooring to the highest interior
overhead finish of the structure.
(13) “Specialty
contractor” means a contractor who performs work on a structure, project,
development or improvement and whose operations as such do not fall within the
definition of “general contractor.” “Specialty contractor” includes a person
who performs work regulated under ORS chapter 446.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding the amendments to ORS
701.005 by section 1 of this 2007 Act, the Construction Contractors Board may
not impose a civil penalty under ORS 701.992 for unlicensed cleaning or
servicing of a chimney that occurs not more than one year after the effective
date of this 2007 Act.
Approved by the Governor June 20, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 21, 2007
Effective date January 1, 2008
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