(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a licensee shall report to the registrar in writing the occurrence of any of the following within 90 days after the licensee obtains knowledge of the event:
(1) The conviction of the licensee for any felony.
(2) The conviction of the licensee for any other crime that is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, and duties of a licensed contractor.
(b) (1) The board shall consult with licensees, consumers, and other interested stakeholders in order to prepare a study of judgments, arbitration awards, and settlements that were the result of claims for construction defects for rental residential units and, by January 1, 2018, shall report to the Legislature the results of this study to determine if the board’s ability to protect the public as described in Section 7000.6 would be enhanced by regulations requiring licensees to report judgments, arbitration awards, or settlement payments of those claims. Participation by licensees and consumers shall be voluntary. The study shall include, but not be limited to, criteria used by insurers or others to differentiate between settlements that are for nuisance value and those that are not, whether settlement information or other information can help identify licensees who may be subject to an enforcement action, if there is a way to separate subcontractors from general contractors when identifying licensees who may be subject to an enforcement action, whether reporting should be limited to settlements resulting from construction defects that resulted in death or injury, the practice of other boards within the department, and any other criteria considered reasonable by the board. The board shall submit the report to the Legislature in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) Records or documents obtained by the board during the course of implementing this subdivision that are exempt from public disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) shall remain exempt from disclosure pursuant to that act.
(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 372, Sec. 2. (SB 465) Effective January 1, 2017.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018