By Shauna Krause, President, Capitol Services, Inc.
What’s in a name? Everything for a licensed contractor! While you can buy a contracting business it doesn’t guarantee your licensing gets a ‘pass’. First, let’s share a licensing basic before I clear up some confusion…
Q: Hi Shauna, I have a quick question. If we want to bid on some work that is outside of our license scope, do we have to pre-obtain that classification prior to bid submission, or just have it in place prior to work?
A: You would need to have the classification on the license before you are permitted to bid on the project.
Q: One of your previous Q&A’s makes reference to a Qualifying Party qualifying two company licenses at the same time if “the majority of the personnel are the same”. What does that mean exactly? The employees/staff need to be employed by both companies? I’m a bit confused by how that would be possible or make sense.
A: I understand your confusion! By “personnel”, the CSLB is referring to the Officers/Members/Managers of the entity. More specifically, the individuals (or entities) listed with the CA Secretary of State and in turn, listed on the contractor’s license under “Personnel”. We are not referring to staff/employees.
Q: I read in one of your previous Q&A’s about how an individual can waive the required CSLB exams if they have worked for the company for five out of the last seven years. We acquired a company back in 2021, obtained a new license, and have an employee who may be eligible for that waiver option. The only thing is he doesn’t have W-2’s from the new entity. Is he still able to bypass the exams?
A: Thank you for contacting me. The only way a Supervisory employee (B&P code 7065.1) waiver would be an option was if he/she was replacing the qualifier on a license in existence for more than five years, and they had worked for that same entity for those five years with W-2’s.
Q: My brother-in-law is a “C-10” (Electrical) qualifier. He recently left the company he worked for, and he and I are going to start an electrical company. Does it matter what we name the business? He seems to remember the CSLB having an issue with his former Company’s business name and there being some back and forth which delayed the licensing process. We don’t want to run into any of that!
A: The CSLB is very particular about business names. Your business name of course cannot be misleading (i.e., you will not be able to call it “ABC Plumbing”), and it also cannot be too “general” such as “ABC Services” or “Systems Inc”. Most anything with “Electrical”, “Electric”, “Power”, “Controls”, etc. in the name should work for a “C-10” contracting business. You’ll want to check the business name with the CA Secretary of State as well to make sure it’s available for use.
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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