AB 571

Under current law, the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS)

administers various laws, including building codes, that promote safety in public and

private buildings and in the subsystems of those buildings. To that end, DSPS issues

various licenses, permits, registrations, and other credentials (credentials) to

persons engaged in the construction trades such as electricians and plumbers.

Current law also provides that DSPS must prescribe and furnish to political

subdivisions a standard building permit form for all new one-family and two-family

dwellings. Current law provides that a person may not obtain a building permit

without a certificate of financial responsibility from DSPS. To obtain that certificate,

the person must show that he or she has complied with continuing education

requirements and has provided proof that he or she has in force a required bond or

policy of general liability insurance.

This bill specifies that the building permit form must include a space in which

the municipal authority issuing the permit must insert the name of the person to

whom the building permit is issued and the number and expiration date of the

certificate of financial responsibility issued by DSPS to that person. The bill also

requires cities, villages, towns, and counties (political subdivisions) to provide an

annual report to DSPS that contains the name of each person to whom the political

subdivision issued a building permit for the construction of a one-family or

two-family dwelling and the number and expiration date of each current credential

issued by DSPS to that person. A political subdivision that does not provide the

report must refund to each person to whom a building permit was issued, an amount

equal to the difference between the amount paid by that person to the political

subdivision for that permit and the portion of the permit fee remitted by the political

subdivision to the department, if any.