New law in California requiring HOA Managers to have a contractors license?

It appears that the bill was signed by the governor in September of 2012.

The chaptered text is available here: http://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2237/id/664561

Requiring a property manager to have a contractor's license is extreme overkill and completely unnecessary. On the bright side, it ends those HOA gripes about general contractors' work when conducing big jobs. Get the PM to crew it out!

Thanks for your reply Matthew. I am seeing the 'gardening' section of the bill now, that does discuss small landscape maintenance, but I am concerned with bigger things like pool, clubhouse, and road maintenance.

There are other sources that say that a license is required, not just one "drunk on the next barstool." Realty Times published an article about it (http://realtytimes.com/agentnews/agentadvice1/item/227-20130604_contractorslicense), as well as The California Landscapers Association (http://www.winwithclca.org/cuttingedge/index102012.php?id=31&cat_id=&p=&search=), the law firm of Davis-Sterling Condo Law (http://www.condoassociationexpert.com/?p=1889), and the lawyer Beth A. Grimm (http://www.californiacondoguru.com/hoarticles/licensedtooversee.html).

Robyn,

The CA law is similar to the laws of other states, including my own. If you are going to manage a construction project you gotta have a contractor's license.

Up until this very moment I was unaware that anyone would consider it part of a property management company's job to manage a construction project. Normal property management chores would include collecting assessments, paying bills, trimming the lawn and shrubs, and cleaning the pool. I would not expect a property manager to possess the skills and knowledge to oversee construction projects, just as I would not expect them to practice dentistry. It's just not their job.

Although I could certainly understand where this idea came about.

One of the more interesting and powerful committees in an HOA is the Architecture Control Committee (that's what it is called in my current HOA).
It's funny, there are no qualifications for being on this committee.

One of the duties that involves "our" MC (I can't speak for other HOA's) is that they process all the modification requests from landscaping to structural changes.
Since they accept the plans (from owners) and send them on to the committee and then they perform various visits to the build site (to assure things like common areas are not damaged from the work etc) then they conduct an inspection on completion of the work. One of their checks is to make sure applicable permits are taken out

So, in a sense, they are sort of over seeing the project from the standpoint that they are assuring no damage and that the work is done as approved by the ACC.

We've had a couple of lawsuits in the early part of the 2000's due to the ACC committee persons and the MC representative not knowing how to read blueprints.
Because of their lack of knowledge they issued stop orders (cease and desist work) on two separate Homeowner projects. In one of them, they pressed the homeowner to reverse all the work because it didn't meet the submitted plans. That is of course, until they were shown how to read the plans...

The homeowner incurred financial loss because of this and proceeded to sue. The HOA settled out of court.

The second lawsuit, because these folks again, could not understand the plans that they approved, they halted the work and the contractor showed them on the spot how to read the plans. They refused to believe him and threatened him with never being allowed to work in the HOA again. Both the Contractor and the HOA Owner proceeded in taking a lawsuit out on them and again, the HOA settled out of court.

So, from this, in a way, it might make sense to make sure someone in the MC has the ability to read/understand blueprints. Because there is no requirement that the committee members have to know anything to be on the committee.

An HOA goes to a lawyer for legal issues, goes to an accountant for finance issues, why shouldn't they have some expertise on construction since there could be huge liabilities from making wrong decisions regarding this. They MC and Committee persons in both these situations refused to believe the on the spot explanations from the contractor doing the work. Because they claimed the contractor had a bias in want ing to make money...

The lack of depth or experience in reading blueprints and plans put our HOA in significant liability. Our CC&R's give the ACC the power to levy a stop order.
Due to the possible liability, it makes sense to have some capability within the HOA Administration function (MC in this case) to be able to provide guidance to the Board and Committee.

Just received this from an attorneys newsletter this morning regarding this very subject.

Managers Are Not Contractors

Governor Brown provided a degree of certainty to community association managers by signing Senate Bill (SB) 822 into law,
excluding community association managers from the definition of construction consultants for purposes of Section 7026.1 of
the Business and Professions Code (regarding construction contractors).

SB 822 adds the following language to Section
7026.1 of the Business and Professions (B&P) Code relating to contractors:
“(b) The term "contractor" or "consultant" does not include a common interest development manager, as defined in Section 11501,
and a common interest development manager is not required to have a contractor's license when performing management services, as defined
in subdivision (d) of Section 11500.”

By way of background, last year Section 7026.1 of the B&P Code was amended by the passage of AB 2237 mandating that a
consultant overseeing home improvement construction projects have a contractor’s license. This amendment caused concern
among some community association managers who were involved in common area maintenance and repair projects or bid
compilation for their communities. If community association managers were considered “consultants,” then they too would
have to have a contractor’s license under Section 7026.1

The Contractor’s State Licensing Board (CSLB) responded to the community manager concerns raised by clarifying that the
intent of last year’s amendment (AB 2237) was not to include community association managers within the definition of a
“consultant.” The CSLB accepted the proposed amendment to Section 7026.1, leading to its inclusion into SB 822.
SB 822 does not become law until January 1, 2014. Therefore, community managers still should exercise caution in any
construction project oversight, involvement or undertaking.

Thanks so much for letting me know about this Carol and Richard! I feel so much better!

Just for curiosity's sake do you think this applies to HOA Management companies as well or just individual managers? As in, does an HOA Management company need to have a contractor's license or do they fall under the designation of a "common interest development managers" and therefore can function without a license (according to SB 822).