By Shauna Krause, President, Capitol Services, Inc.
Let’s take a look around the ‘landscape’ and see what’s cooking! I will ‘for sure’ know the answer to a complicated question which is good news for this two-state contractor. Unfortunately, another gets a little bad news on the purchase of a contracting business with lots of ‘collateral’ loss…
Q: Can a ‘C-27’ (Landscaping) Contractor install an entire outdoor kitchen, or would we need to refer that part of our project to a General Contractor? This would include the installation of a mini-fridge, BBQ, stove, storage space, flooring, etc.
A: Yes, it would be appropriate for a “C-27” license holder to install an outdoor cooking center. By definition, outdoor kitchen/cooking centers are an improvement to the grounds surrounding a structure, which makes it meet the B&P Code Section 7027.5 definition of a Landscape Contractor.
Q: I have a Sole Proprietor license in CA and NV. Last year, my company’s RME (Responsible Managing Employee) left the Company to take a better job opportunity, so they approached me to replace him on their CA license. When we submitted the application, the CSLB sent a letter requesting that I Inactivate my personal license in order to become the RME on the Company license. I went ahead and did it because I don’t use my CA license anyway, and the CSLB assured me that I would be able to reactivate it again in the future if I wanted to. Now, my Company has approached me about getting a Nevada license. I actually use my personal license in Nevada because I live there part-time in the winter and use it while I’m living there. I was unable to find any information online about this, but figured you would know whether I for sure need to Inactivate my Sole Owner license in Nevada in order to qualify the Company license, as I did for CA?
A: Good news! Actually, no, in Nevada Sole Proprietor licenses are not subject to that rule. If the current license you were Qualifying was a Corporation or an LLC and then you wanted to become the Qualifier on your Company’s license, the Nevada Board would require that you disassociate from the Corp/LLC license in order to Qualify the new license.
Q: I am going to be buying a Contracting business that is currently a Sole Proprietorship. I want to use the same business name and the trucks, shirt/hat supply, etc. coming along with the sale. My plan was to start as a Sole Proprietorship as well, and then later form a Corporation. I looked through your previous articles (cutredtape.com) in relation to buying Contracting businesses, but I couldn’t find any which refer to Sole Proprietorships, only to entities such as Corporations and LLC’s, referencing the differences between Asset sales vs. Stock sale as to whether the license number comes along with the sale. In relation to my situation as described, does his license number also come with the sale of the business?
A: If a Sole Owner sells their business to another individual, the license number is not transferable and cannot be included in the sale of the business. You will be required to apply and obtain your own license before you can legally contract. That being said, the vehicles and merchandise you referred to likely have the existing license number on the ‘collateral’ items so you’ll want to ensure that the new license number is reflected on all commercial vehicles and all advertisements, including shirts, hats, business cards, etc.
While knowledge is power, knowing where to go for the answers is half the 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 column at www.cutredtape.com.