SB 242

Section 1

Sections 34-14A-1, 34-14A-2, 34-14A-3, and 34-14A-12, Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows: "§34-14A-1. "In the interest of the public health, safety, welfare, and consumer protection and to regulate the home building and private residence construction industry, the purpose of this chapter, and the intent of the Legislature in passing it, is to provide for the licensure of those persons who engage in home building, private residence construction, and home improvement industries, including remodeling, and to provide home building standards and to support education within the construction trades in the State of Alabama. The Legislature recognizes that the home building and home improvement construction industries are significant industries. Home builders may pose significant harm to the public when unqualified, incompetent, or dishonest home builders and remodelers provide inadequate, unsafe, or inferior building services. The Legislature finds it necessary to regulate the residential home building and home improvement industries. "§34-14A-2. "As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "(1) ADVISORY COUNCIL. The Alabama Construction Trade Advisory Council. "(1) (2) BOARD. The Home Builders Licensure Board. "(2) (3) COST OF THE UNDERTAKING. The total cost of the materials, labor, supervision, overhead, and profit. "(3) (4) HOMEOWNER. A person who owns and resides in or intends to reside in a structure constructed or remodeled by a licensee of the board, or who contracts with a licensee for the purchase, construction, repair, improvement, or reimprovement of a structure to be used as a residence. "(4) (5) IMPROVEMENT. Any site-built addition or enhancement attached to or detached from a residence or structure for use and enjoyment by the homeowner. "(5) (6) INACTIVE LICENSE. A license issued at the request of a licensee, or a building official or a building inspector, that is renewable, but that is not currently valid. "(6) (7) LICENSE. Any license issued by the board pursuant to this chapter. "(7) (8) LICENSEE. A holder of any license issued pursuant to this chapter. "(8) (9) PERSON. Any natural person, limited or general partnership, corporation, association, limited liability company, or other legal entity, or any combination thereof. "(9) (10) QUALIFYING REPRESENTATIVE. The individual designated by a general partnership, limited partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or not-for-profit organization applying for a license who either holds a license individually or meets the experience and ability requirements for licensure, and who is one of the following: "a. A general partner in the case of any partnership. "b. An officer in the case of a corporation. "c. A member in the case of a member-managed limited liability company. "d. A manager in the case of a manager-managed limited liability company. "(10) (11) RESIDENCE. A single unit providing complete independent residential living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation. "(11) (12) RESIDENTIAL HOME BUILDER. A person who constructs a residence or structure for sale or who, for a fixed price, commission, fee, or wage, undertakes or offers to undertake the construction or superintending of the construction, or who manages, supervises, assists, or provides consultation to a homeowner regarding the construction or superintending of the construction, of any residence or structure that is not over three floors in height and that does not have more than four residential units, or the repair, improvement, or reimprovement thereof, to be used by another as a residence when the cost of the undertaking exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term includes a residential roofer when the cost of the undertaking exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500). Nothing herein shall prevent any person from performing these acts on his or her own residence or on his or her other real estate holdings. Anyone who engages or offers to engage in any acts described in this subdivision, through advertising or otherwise, shall be deemed to have engaged in the business of residential home building. "(12) (13) RESIDENTIAL ROOFER. A person who installs products or repairs surfaces on the external upper covering of a residence or structure that seals, waterproofs, or weatherproofs the residence or structure. "(13) (14) STRUCTURE. A residence on a single lot, including a site-built home, a condominium, a duplex or multi-unit residential building consisting of not more than four residential units, or any improvement thereto. "(14) (15) TRANSACTION. The act of entering into a contract with a licensee to engage in the business of residential home building. "§34-14A-3. "There is established the Home Builders Licensure Board to regulate the residential home building and residential construction industry and to promote and expend funds for the education and support of associated construction trades. The board shall have nine members who shall be appointed as follows: Three by the Governor, three by the Lieutenant Governor, and three by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, from a list of three qualified individuals for each position, provided by the governing body of the Home Builders Association of Alabama. Seven of the members shall be residential home builders, as defined in this chapter, with at least five years' experience as a residential home builder, and each shall be a bona fide resident of the State of Alabama. One member shall be a building official or inspector currently employed by a city, county, or state governmental entity and actively engaged in inspecting or regulating residential construction in this state. One shall be a consumer member of the general public not employed by or affiliated with a licensee hereunder, and who has no spouse or immediate family member employed by or affiliated with a licensee hereunder. Each member of the board shall be a citizen of this state, and the membership of the board shall be inclusive and reflect the racial, gender, geographic, urban/rural, and economic diversity of the state. Of the initial members of this board, the appointing authorities shall designate that each appointee shall serve for an initial term of one, two, or three years, their terms of office expiring on December 31, of the years. Subsequent terms shall be for a period of three years. This appointing authority shall make an appointment to fill a vacancy for the remainder of any unexpired term from a list of three qualified persons supplied by the governing body of the Home Builders Association of Alabama. Each board member shall hold over after the expiration of his or her term until his or her successor shall be duly appointed and qualified. "§34-14A-12. "(a) The board is authorized to establish or adopt, or both, residential building codes and standards of practice for residential home builders within the state. "(b) The county commissions of the several counties are authorized and empowered to adopt building laws and codes by ordinance which shall apply in the unincorporated areas of the county. The building laws and codes of the county commission shall not apply within any municipal police jurisdiction, in which that municipality is exercising its building laws or codes, without the express consent of the governing body of that municipality. The building laws and codes of the county commission may apply within the corporate limits of any municipality with the express consent of the governing body of the municipality. The county commission may employ building inspectors to see that its laws or codes are not violated and that the plans and specifications for buildings are not in conflict with the ordinances of the county and may exact fees to be paid by the owners of the property inspected. "(c) Utilizing the same authority and procedures as municipalities pursuant to Sections 11-53A-20 to 11-53A-26, inclusive, the county commission may condemn buildings, parts of buildings, or structures dangerous to the public and prohibit the use thereof and abate the same as a nuisance. "(d) The county commissions, municipalities, and other public entities are hereby authorized to may enter into mutual agreements, compacts, and contracts for the administration and enforcement of their respective building laws and codes."

Section 2

Section 34-14A-20 is added to Chapter 14A of Title 34, Code of Alabama 1975, to read as follows: §34-14A-20. (a) The Alabama Construction Trade Academy Fund is established in the State Treasury. The fund shall be comprised of federal, state, and private funding through direct budgetary funding and grants for the expansion of construction trade education. To the extent practicable, monies in the fund shall be used to leverage other forms of funding from private sources. A percentage of matching funds, as established by the advisory council, must come from private, non-governmental sources. The board may not use more than 15 percent of the monies in the fund for administrative and operational costs incurred in the implementation and administration of this section. (b) The board, in cooperation with public and private sector partners, shall establish a program to provide funding mechanisms for tool grants, program incentives, supplies, mobile facilities, and other programs to support the development and continuation of construction trade education programs in the state. (c) The board shall administer the program and shall apply for funds from federal grant programs and other applicable funding sources authorized by law. (d)(1) The Alabama Construction Trade Advisory Council is established. The advisory council shall consist of the following members: a. One member appointed by and currently serving on the Home Builders Licensure Board. b. One member appointed by and currently serving on the State of Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board. c. One member appointed by and currently serving on the Licensing Board for General Contractors. d. One member appointed by and currently serving on the State Board of Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors. e. One member appointed by and currently serving on the Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors. f. One appointee of the State Department of Education who specializes in technical trade education. g. One appointee of the Alabama Community College System who specializes in technical trade education. (2) Members of the advisory council shall be appointed for a period of one year. Membership on the advisory council shall be without compensation, except for reimbursement of necessary travel expenses as is paid to state employees for attending meetings and other necessary events of the advisory council. Any expenses paid to a member of the advisory council shall be paid by the member's appointing authority. (e) The advisory council shall make recommendations to the board, and the board shall establish program guidelines, promote the program statewide, evaluate applications for funds, distribute funds, and monitor and report the effect of the funding on the availability of construction trade education. The board may adopt rules to implement and administer this act. (f) The advisory council shall recommend and the board shall establish monitoring and accountability mechanisms for projects receiving funding. Not later than the fifth legislative day of each regular legislative session, the board shall file a report to the Legislature on the projects funded, the geographic distribution of projects funded, the private sector participation rates in funded projects, the administrative costs of the program, and the outcomes of the program, including the number of students and adult learners trained by each project funded through the program. (g) The advisory council shall recommend and the board shall create eligibility guidelines and provide project funding through an application process. Projects eligible for funding include the following: (1) Mobile demonstration units that show the various systems of a structure and how they interconnect. (2) Tool and supply grants for public and private educational providers that provide construction trade education. (3) Incentives for newly established construction trade education courses, with priority given to carpentry courses. (4) Adult education initiatives that provide continued learning opportunities through mobile training facilities or distance learning opportunities with priority focus on those serving underserved areas and widely offered trainings. (5) Any other proposal that in the opinion of the board would address the need for construction trade education in the state. (h) An applicant may be a nonprofit organization, not-for-profit entity, public school system, two-year college, university, or other governmental entity. An applicant for funding shall do all of the following: (1) Demonstrate its capacity to successfully implement the proposal. (2) Demonstrate how the proposal shall positively impact construction trade education in the state. (3) Demonstrate private sector support through matching funding. (4) Establish an advisory council consisting of at least three active trade representatives from the construction trade being funded. (5) Agree, for a period of not less than five years, to comply with the following conditions: a. Offer the courses funded through this section for a period of not less than five years. b. Comply with all data collection and reporting requirements established by the board. (i) In determining which qualified projects to fund, the board shall consider all of the following factors: (1) The level of private sector support for the project. (2) The level of need in the area in which the funding is directed. (3) The projected number of students that will be served. (4) The degree to which the project will have a positive impact on the availability of construction trade education in the area to be served. (5) The degree to which the project will leverage public and private sector funds. (j) The board shall establish program guidelines that require matching funds on all funded projects. A minimum of 10 percent of matching funds shall be provided by private, non-governmental sources. Total matching funds required may not be required to exceed 25 percent of awarded state funds, although additional consideration may be provided to projects that exceed this amount. (k) In the event that a recipient of funding provided by this section fails to provide the proposed project in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the board, any equipment, supplies, or materials acquired with the funding shall be transferred to the Alabama Home Builders Foundation for redistribution to public or private programs that provide construction trade education to high school, postsecondary, or adult learners supported by this section. (l) Any and all proceeds from the sale of equipment, supplies, or materials acquired through academy funding shall go into the fund.

Section 3

This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law. Senate Read for the first time and referred to the Senate committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development....................................... 0.4-APR-19Read for the second time and placed on the calen- dar with 1 substitute and......................... 0.2-MAY-19 Read for the third time and passed as amended .... 0.7-MAY-19 Yeas 30 Nays Patrick Harris, Secretary.