Washington State Building Code Council Holds TAG Meeting But Makes Very Little Progress
After delaying the 2021 Washington State Building Codes until October 29 to make changes “to avoid federal preemption issues,” the Energy Code Technical Advisory Group met on June 21st to discuss proposals to help avoid any “Berkely-like” issues. Several proposals were put forward from various groups. Most from the coalition NWHPBA is working with allowed more flexibility to put gas in homes and focus more on achieving energy efficiency over all without focusing on fuel choice or appliance type.
The first motion during this meeting was to reject all proposals from the business coalition – a motion that was withdrawn after significant concerns were brought up regarding process (these proposals had all been originally accepted by SBCC staff as relevant to the discussion). Other discussions/arguments ensued regarding process and who was eligible to vote. In the end only one proposal was discussed and voted on to be put forward to the State Building Code Council – a proposal from one of the environmental groups that would allow high efficiency gas furnaces with more energy credits. The TAG is expected to have another meeting before any proposals will be put forward to the full council.
Washington State Passes Law Increasing Protections Against Scrupulous Contractors
The Washington State Legislature passed SHB 1534, a bill that has been negotiated for several years with stakeholders, including NWHPBA. The intent of the bill is to provide greater protections for consumers when dealing with contractors. While most of the bill is intended to deal with general contractors, some of the provisions will impact NWHPBA members.
Below are the provisions of the bill:
- Contractor registration applicants may provide an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) in lieu of an employer social security number.
- When it takes effect: July 23, 2023
- L&I is required to deny an application for registration when an applicant is a successor to a business entity with an unsatisfied final judgment against it.
- When it takes effect: July 23, 2023
- Raises the required bond amount for contractor registration from $12,000 to $30,000 for general contractors and from $6,000 to $15,000 for specialty contractors.
- When it takes effect: July 1, 2024
- Increases fines and penalties for failure to register as a contractor to a range of $1,200 to $10,000. The maximum penalty for other violations of the Contractor Registration Act is also increased to $10,000.
- When it takes effect: July 1, 2024
- Homeowner Recovery Account is established. Revenues from all fines and penalties collected by L&I under the Contractor Registration Act must be transferred into the Homeowner Recovery Account. Homeowner Recovery Program allows for eligible homeowners to receive recovery payments of up to $25,000 from the account based on unsatisfied final judgments brought against registered contractors.
- When it takes effect: Homeowner Recovery Program eligibility begins July 1, 2026
