Surprise! You're a contractor!!
Yes, you Mr. Interior Designer. And you too Ms. Community Manager... Wait... The community managers were saved by an exclusion added after the fact.
In 2012 California Assembly Bill 2237 turned anyone who oversees bids for construction, on behalf of homeowners, is a contractor, and requires them to obtain a license with the CA Contractors State License Board. Then, in 2013 CA Senate Bill No. 822 clarified the term "Contractor" and "Consultant" to NOT include community managers. But the language of California Business & Professions Code Section 7026.1 remains pretty broad.
The Law
CA B&B Code Section 7026.1.
(a) The term "contractor" includes all of the following:
...
(2) (A) Any person, consultant to an owner-builder, firm,
association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation,
or company, who or which undertakes, offers to undertake, purports to
have the capacity to undertake, or submits a bid to construct any
building or home improvement project, or part thereof.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, a consultant is a person,
other than a public agency or an owner of privately owned real
property to be improved, who meets either of the following criteria
as it relates to work performed pursuant to a home improvement
contract as defined in Section 7151.2:
(i) Provides or oversees a bid for a construction project.
(ii) Arranges for and sets up work schedules for contractors and
subcontractors and maintains oversight of a construction project.
...
(b) The term "contractor" or "consultant" does not include a
common interest development manager, as defined in Section 11501, and
a common interest development manager is not required to have a
contractor's license when performing management services, as defined
in subdivision (d) of Section 11500.Why We Care
Lots of people engage in activities related to contracting. Many are nice people with good intentions, just trying to make a living. But because they are not educated, licensed or registered and regulated after having undergone a rigorous process of verifying they have the appropriate professional knowledge and level of skill, they inadvertently cause harm to their clients.
Construction management is hard and it’s complex. Construction management is a professional discipline that should be regulated like architecture, engineering, or even cosmetology; but it’s not. This lack of recognition, that there is a set of well-defined construction management principles, leads property owners and managers to try to save money by managing complex projects themselves. Our experience is that for maintenance, improvement or repair projects that cost $50,000 or more, our professional construction management services are cost-neutral. For projects of $100,000 or more, well-executed construction management services are a cost saver. So technically, these services can be FREE, plus a profit (I'm only half-joking)! In addition to the economics, these services create the closest thing to a guarantee of success that the construction industry can offer.
