Life is change. A contractor’s business plan is just one example of how ‘change’ applies to licensing in three different states! Another contractor hopes to discover how ‘change’ can revive an expired license to bring it back to ‘life’ as a new entity…
Q: I just recently became the RME (Responsible Managing Employee) for our company on our California Contractor’s License. I was officially added as the new RME in January of 2021. You helped us out and really made things easy!
If you remember, I replaced another employee who has been with the company for many, many years. He is actually still with the company, but he plans to retire eventually so my company is just trying to be proactive about making sure all of our licenses are in order before he retires. He is still the Qualifier on our Nevada license, and he was telling me he didn’t have to take the trade exam when he Qualified the Nevada license, based on his CA status. Would the same apply to me if I were to replace him on the Nevada license as well? What about Arizona?
A: Thank you for contacting us again. There is a reciprocal agreement between CA, NV, and AZ. The rule for Nevada is in order to qualify for Reciprocity the Qualifying Individual would have had to 1) taken the equivalent trade in one of the reciprocal States, and 2) been actively licensed as the qualifying individual for the previous four years. So, you meet the first requirement, but not the second. Therefore, you would be required to take both the trade and the CMS (Construction Management Survey) exam in Nevada.
Arizona on the other would in fact allow you to waive the trade exam based on reciprocity. Their requirement is the qualifier has to have passed the equivalent exam in another State, but only has to have been actively for at least one day. You would still be required to take the Statutes and Rules exam.
Q: I had a Sole Proprietorship license that I let expire back in the 90’s. I would like to get it back, but as a Corporation this time around. It’s obviously a very old number that I believe would add some credibility to the new Company. I read on the application a Sole Owner license needs to be in good standing in order to transfer the number to a Corporation or an LLC. I never had any issues with the license or any complaints, I just simply didn’t renew it because I moved out of State for some time. Can I still do the transfer?
A: “Expired” is not considered good standing, so it would require a bit of a step-by-step process, but it can be done. Because your license has been expired for over five years, it can no longer be renewed. However,you can apply for a new Sole Proprietor license, re-take the exams, and request your old number be re-issued. Once that process is completed, your Sole Owner license will be back in “good standing”, and at that point you can apply to transfer the number to the Corporation. Please note, another requirement for transferring a Sole Owner license to a corporation is the Sole Owner must own at least 51% of the Corporation.