Multiple DBA’s for Licenses, License posting and Worker’s Compensation Exemptions

Being in the right place is one secret to success, knowing when it’s the right time is a little trickier. While ‘breaking up’ is hard to do, for a JV it’s also fatal. An eager bidder has to put the ‘brakes’ on his ambitious plans ‘post’ haste! …

Q:  We are purchasing a construction company that has employees and we have applied for a new license for the new company.  We plan to transfer the employees to the new company once the sale is final.  With regards to Worker’s Comp, can we file an Exemption now since we don’t employ anyone yet?  Or are we required to add the new company to our policy since we plan to transfer all of the employees once the sale is complete?

A:  You can file the Exemption now with the intention to provide the CSLB with proof of Worker’s Comp as soon as the employees are officially transferred to the new entity. When employees are hired Worker’s Comp must be provided, to protect both you and your workers.

Q:  We need to change our business name on our Joint Venture license.  Are we required to have “Joint Venture” at the end of our name or can we change it to just our two business names?  Secondly, The Joint Venture used to be made up of three entities and we need to remove one of them.  How do we go about doing that?

A:  To answer your first question, Joint Ventures are required to have either “Joint Venture” or “JV” at the end of their business name.

Also, Joint Ventures are considered a Partnership and you cannot make any changes to a Partnership license.  I recommend ‘terminating’ the existing license and then you would be required to apply for a new license with the two entities that currently make up the JV.

Q:  Our corporation is currently licensed as a General Building Contractor.  We have formed a new LLC and our license application is in process. I spoke with someone at the CSLB and they told me that our application is accepted when it is posted.  Does that mean our LLC can operate now that the application is posted?

A:  You cannot perform any contracting work until the actual license is issued.  “Posted” means that the application is acceptable but doesn’t necessarily mean that the process is complete.  Many times there are more items that are required after the application is posted, such as bonds, proof of insurance, or fingerprinting.

Q:  We would like to add two ‘doing business as’ or dba names to our contractor’s license.  We are doing a lot of general contracting work at this point and a few of our customers have been hesitant with the work because of our name as Roofing and Waterproofing.  Can you help with this?

A:  You can add one dba to your license but you cannot have two dba’s on one license.  If you want a second dba, you can apply for a separate license for the same entity with a different dba.  And yes, we would be happy to assist you with that process.