By Shauna Krause, President, Capitol Services, Inc.
The Chinese word for crisis is Wei Ji.Wei meaning crisis while Ji means opportunity. The unfortunate fire disaster in Southern CA is, like many things, a double-edged event as recovery requires contractors of all kinds and trades in rebuilding. If you ever wanted to be a CA licensed contractor, or add to your scope, now is the time…
Q: I have been a licensed CA contractor since 1999. I’m looking to sell the business as a stock sale and in talking to a Business Broker, he was telling me I will not be able to retain my license number if I do this. I don’t understand how that is possible, it’s my license! He gave me your contact information to see if you can help me understand. Thank you in advance!
A: Thank you for contacting me. I looked up your license and I see you obtained it back in 1999 as a Sole Proprietor. In 2003, you formed a Corporation and you transferred the license number to that business entity. Once you transfer the number to a corporation or LLC, the license forever belongs to the corporation/LLC. You cannot get the number back as a Sole Proprietor. Further, when you sell a licensed contracting business as a stock sale, the license remains in place and goes with the sale. Now, once you sell the business and disassociate from the license, you can certainly go obtain your own license without having to re-test, it would just be paperwork, bonding, etc. I hope this answers your question!
Q: We are licensed electrical contractors in CA and we have been asked to do a project in Nevada due to start in March. Therefore, we need a Nevada contractor’s license as quickly as possible. My first question is, does the NSCB allow us to pay an extra fee to have our application expedited? Second, I’ve heard the quickest way to obtain a license is to hire a Qualified Individual who already has a “C-2” (Electrical) license in NV and who is willing to fulfill the role of our company’s qualifying person. Does the individual we hire need to be on payroll as a W-2 employee, or are we permitted to pay him as an independent contractor?
A: Unfortunately, Nevada does not offer any expedited processing where you pay extra to have your application moved ahead in line. If you decide to hire someone who already holds a NV license, they would be required to be a bona fide employee of your company, paid as a W-2 employee. Also, when you are doing your search, be sure the individual is aware he/she cannot act as the Qualifying Individual for more than one license in Nevada unless they own at least 25% of each company they are qualifying. Therefore, if they have a current active license and they agree to come to work for your company as the qualified employee, they would be required to either inactivate or disassociate from their current license.
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While knowledge is power, knowing where to go for the answers is half he battle. Get expert assistance immediately when you call 866-443-0657, email info@cutredtape.com, or write us at Capitol Services, Inc., 3609 Bradshaw Rd, Ste H, #343, Sacramento, CA 95827. Search past columns at www.cutredtape.com