In real estate, the advice is always: location, location. For contractors the key to wisdom may be: documentation, documentation! The bureaucracy runs on paperwork which is up-to-date and paid in full. First, I will ‘engineer’ a solution for a corporate contractor that saves him time. We then follow the ‘paper trail’ for two other contractors who get ‘detoured’ by documentation…
Q; Sometime back you assisted one of my clients with obtaining his “A” Engineering license so he could become the Responsible Managing Officer (RMO) for his corporation. Now, we have another issue. My client owns 65% of his main license and wants an additional “A” classification for another company he owns. As you know, the law allows someone to qualify for more than one license classification. What I don’t know is for the “Application for Additional Classification” do we have to complete the “Certification of Work Experience” section again or not?
A: Thank you for your email. The Certification of Work Experience does NOT need to be filed again. Once someone has qualified for a specific classification, he or she is not required to complete this portion of the application a second time.
Q: My renewal application was sent to the CSLB a few weeks before it was due to expire. I never heard anything back from the Board so I thought everything was in order. A potential customer just called and told us the license expired at the end of last month. I called the CSLB and they have no record of ever receiving my renewal. Do you have a suggestion on getting the license back in good standing? Also is there any way to get a backdated renewal? I’ve heard it can be costly to have this expiration on my record.
A: You’ll need to complete, sign and file a new renewal application, along with a $450.00 check (regular $300 fee plus a $150.00 delinquent fee). This can be picked up in person or requested through the mail. You shouldn’t need to wait very long since the CSLB has worked through its backlog and is processing renewals in a week or less.
According to Section 7141.5, the registrar may grant a retroactive renewal if petitioned to do so by the contractor. The request must be made in writing within 90-days from the prior expiration date and will need to show “that your failure to renew was due to circumstances beyond the control of the licensee.”
Q: I read a few weeks ago where the Board was behind on processing Worker’s Compensation forms. My problem relates to the failure of my insurance company to file the required Certificate of Insurance with the CSLB. My license shows- Suspended-which is obviously not a good place to be for my business. Can you suggest what my best course of action is at this time? This just came to my attention today.
A: The CSLB will accept a Certificate of Worker’s Comp Insurance if it is received within 90-days of the effective date. In other words, if your insurance lapsed on April 1, 2010, all you’ll need to do is produce a Certificate with the new expiration date (of April 1, 2011) and the CSLB should retroactively lift your suspension. Even if your certificate expired back on January 1st, the Registrar can accept as timely a Certificate more than 90-days old if it was not filed “due to circumstances beyond the control of the licensee”.
By the way, the Board has made some real progress with putting Workers Comp Certificates on record. Whereas it was taking 4-5 weeks, it now is only taking about 2 weeks.