By Shauna Krause, President, Capitol Services
What’s in a name? Sometimes too much. Another contractor discovers a way to ’turn a frown, upside down’ and keep his name, but his RMO has got to go…
Q: We are a “C-20” (HVAC) contractor in CA. For many years, we also had a “C-46” (Solar) classification on our license. Our ‘dba’ name includes “Air Conditioning, Heating, and Solar” which we have on everything (contracts, vehicles, etc) and have registered with many different counties in the State of CA. Our “C-46” Qualifier left the company and disassociated from the license. We didn’t do a replacement for him because we don’t do stand alone solar contracting work. As expected, 90 days after his disassociation, the classification was removed from the license.
We received a letter from the CSLB confirming the update, as well as another letter stating we need to change our ‘dba’ name to remove the word “solar”. Because this is going to be such a huge ripple effect for our business updating all the county filings, would it just be easier for us to remove the ‘dba’ name altogether?
A: From a licensing perspective, it’s the same process whether you change the ‘dba’ or remove it. Either way, it’s a name change you file with the CSLB. As far as the County requirements, I’m not super familiar with that, but I imagine it would be easier to just drop the ‘doing business as’ (DBA) rather than having to re-file with each county.
Q: We have a family contracting business in which my dad is the Responsible Managing Officer (RMO)/President. He sold the business to my brother and I last year, we have both worked for the company for over 15 years. My dad is no longer really involved in the business and now just acts as a consultant. I imagine the CSLB frowns upon this setup being that he’s the RMO. We would like to update the license to make either me or my brother the RMO and just leave my dad on the license as President. Can you give me more information on what that would entail?
A: You are correct regarding the CSLB’s opinion on this situation, an RMO is required to be actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. Because you and your brother have worked for the company for over five years, one of you can apply to replace your dad on the license as the RMO and request to waive the exams. This can be done by submitting an application to replace the Qualifier and showing your experience in the trade(s) being applied for. Your dad can be replaced as RMO only, can remain on the license as President, and we can all share a smile!
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