Construction, Electrical, and Other Building Trades Licensing Issues

Construction is booming in the Pacific Northwest. With the increased volumes of operations comes a high demand on the licensed building professionals’ time. The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) regulates and enforces compliance. L&I offers training classes to help you start and run your contracting business. However, if you encounter a challenge in navigating the morass of regulations and requirements, it is prudent to consult an attorney for advice.Frequently, building professionals run into issues when they least expect it, due to a slight misunderstanding. For example, when you advertise, solicit bids, or offer to do work, you must always include your contractor registration number on your business cards, yellow pages, newspaper ads, signs, estimates, and bid proposals. This lets customers know you are a legal contractor.Before starting work on a residential job with a projected cost of more than $1,000 or a commercial project of $1,000 to $60,000, you must provide your customer with a disclosure statement, which the customer signs and dates. (A sample disclosure that meets the legal requirements can be found on the L&I Web site at: www.Lni.wa.gov/Forms/pdf/625030af.pdf.) You must keep these signed statements on file for three years and provide copies to L&I upon request.If you are facing an infraction or a citation, consult a lawyer. Our firm has an experienced litigator, Dana Tumenova, who represented L&I for several years. Contact us for a free legal consultation.