(1) Under existing law, the Department of Consumer Affairs is comprised of various boards, bureaus, commissions, committees, and similarly constituted agencies that license and regulate the practice of various professions and vocations. Existing law requires the Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs to administer and enforce those provisions.
This bill would require the director to notify the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature within 60 days after the position of chief or executive officer of any bureau or board within the department becomes vacant, as specified.
(2) Existing law, the Architects Practice Act, establishes the California Architects Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of persons
engaged in the practice of architecture. Existing law authorizes an architect to form a business entity, as described, with persons who are not architects under certain circumstances.
This bill would authorize a business entity organized as a general corporation to include in its name any or all of the following, as specified: a fictitious name, the name of one or more licensed architects, or the term “architect, the term “architecture,” or other variations of the term “architect” or “architecture.”
(3) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of locksmiths by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires a licensee to pay certain fees, such as a license application and a renewal fee.
This bill would make the failure of any licensee who is also licensed to do business as a corporation in this state to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board after notice from the bureau result in the automatic suspension of the licensee by operation of law. The bill would require that the fee for reinstatement of a suspended license be 25% of the fee imposed for renewal of a license.
(4) Existing law, the Contractors’ State License Law, establishes the Contractors’ State License Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation
of contractors. Existing law requires the board to require an applicant to show the degree of knowledge and experience in the classification applied for, and the general knowledge of the building, safety, health, and lien laws of the state and of the administrative principles of the contracting business that the board deems necessary for the safety and protection of the public. Existing law authorizes an applicant for a license to qualify the applicant’s knowledge and experience by the appearance of, among other qualifying individuals, a responsible managing employee who is qualified for the same license classification as the classification being applied for. Existing law defines “responsible managing employee” for purposes of the Contractors’ State License Law to mean an individual who is a bona fide employee of the applicant and is actively engaged in the classification of work for which that responsible managing employee is the qualifying person on behalf of the applicant.
This bill would, for purposes of the above-described definition of “responsible managing employee,” define “a bona fide employee of the applicant” to mean an employee who is permanently employed by the applicant, and “actively engaged” to mean working 32 hours per week, or 80% of the total hours per week that the applicant’s business is in operation, whichever is less.
Under existing law, the person qualifying on behalf of an individual or firm is responsible for exercising direct supervision and control of their employer’s or principal’s construction operations as necessary to secure full compliance with the Contractors’ State License Law and the rules and regulations of the Contractors’ State License Board. Existing law requires the board to require every applicant or licensee qualifying by the appearance of a qualifying individual to submit detailed information on the qualifying individual’s duties and responsibilities for
supervision and control of the applicant’s construction operations. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a cause for disciplinary action and punishable as a misdemeanor, as specified.
This bill would instead make the person qualifying on behalf of an individual or firm responsible for exercising supervision and control of their employer’s or principal’s construction operations as necessary to secure full compliance with the Contractors’ State License Law and the rules and regulations of the Contractors’ State License Board. The bill would include an employment duty statement prepared by the qualifier’s employer or principal in the detailed information on the qualifying individual’s duties and responsibilities for supervision and control of the applicant’s construction operations that the applicant or licensee is required to submit. The bill would make the failure to provide the information on the qualifying individual’s duties and responsibilities for
supervision and control of the applicant’s construction operations a cause for disciplinary action and punishable as a misdemeanor, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would, for these purposes, define “supervision or control” for these purposes to mean direct supervision or control or monitoring and being available to assist others to whom direct supervision and control has been delegated, and “direct supervision or control” to mean supervising construction, managing construction activities by making technical and administrative decisions, checking jobs for proper workmanship, or supervision on construction job sites.
(5) Existing law, the Collateral Recovery Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of repossession agencies by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services,
within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires a licensee to pay certain fees, such as a license application and a renewal fee.
This bill would make the failure of any licensee who is also licensed to do business as a corporation or limited liability company in this state to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board after notice from the bureau result in the automatic suspension of the licensee by operation of law. The bill would require that the fee for reinstatement of a suspended license be 25% of the fee imposed for renewal of a license.
(6) Existing law, the Private Investigator Act, provides for the licensure and
regulation of private investigators by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires a licensee to pay certain fees, such as a license application and a renewal fee. Existing law requires the bureau to issue a firearms permit when all of certain conditions are satisfied, including that a certified firearms training instructor has certified that the applicant has successfully completed the bureau’s written examination and a bureau-approved training course on the carrying and use of firearms, and, if the applicant is a registered security guard, that the applicant has been found capable of exercising appropriate judgment, restraint, and self-control for the purposes of carrying and using a firearm. Existing law prohibits the bureau from renewing a firearms qualification card unless certain conditions are met, including that the applicant has requalified on the shooting range and successfully passed a written examination.
This bill would prohibit an applicant who is a bureau-certified firearms training instructor from self-certifying their own completion of these requirements or from self-certifying the requalification requirements for a firearms qualification card. The bill would require an applicant who is a registered security guard to complete the requirement of being found capable of exercising appropriate judgment, restraint, and self-control to be completed within 6 months of submitting an application to the bureau.
This bill would make the failure of any licensee who is also licensed to do business as a corporation or limited liability company in this state to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board after notice from the bureau result in the automatic suspension of the licensee by operation of law. The bill would require that the fee for reinstatement of a suspended license be 25% of
the fee imposed for renewal of a license.
(7) Existing law, the Proprietary Security Services Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of persons providing proprietary private security services by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, within Department of Consumer Affairs.
This bill would make the failure of any licensee who is also licensed to do business as a corporation or limited liability company in this state to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board after notice from the bureau result in the automatic suspension of the licensee by operation of law. The bill would require that the fee for reinstatement of a suspended license be 25% of the fee imposed for renewal of a registration.
(8) Existing law, the Private Security Services Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of persons providing private security services by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires a licensee to pay certain fees, such as a license application and a renewal fee. Existing law requires the bureau to issue a firearms permit when all of certain conditions are satisfied, including that a certified firearms training instructor has certified that the applicant has successfully completed the bureau’s written examination and a bureau-approved training course on the carrying and use of firearms. Existing law prohibits the bureau from renewing a firearms qualification card unless certain conditions are satisfied, including that the applicant has requalified on the shooting range and successfully passed a written examination.
This bill would
prohibit an applicant who is a bureau-certified firearms training instructor from self-certifying their own completion of these requirements or from self-certifying the requalification requirements for a firearms qualification card.
This bill would make the failure of any licensee who is also licensed to do business as a corporation in this state to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board after notice from the bureau result in the automatic suspension of the licensee by operation of law. The bill would require that the fee for reinstatement of a suspended license be 25% of the fee imposed for renewal of a license.
(9) Existing law, the Alarm Company Act, establishes the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services headed by the Chief of the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties over the licensure, registration, and regulation of alarm company operators. Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in the activities of an alarm company operator unless the person holds a valid alarm company operator’s license. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a crime. Existing law authorizes the bureau to establish fees and penalties for licensure and registration.
(A) Existing law defines terms for purposes of the act, including the terms “alarm agent” and “alarm system.”
This bill would change the definition of “alarm agent” to specify that the person is employed to
physically conduct activities within the state. The bill would exclude from the definition of “alarm system” a fire protection system, as specified, and make other conforming changes.
(B) Existing law requires an application for an alarm company operator license to be made in writing to, and filed with, the chief in the form that may be required by the director and accompanied by the original license fee.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Consumer Affairs to enter into a contract with a vendor for the licensing and enforcement of the BreEZe system, which is a specified integrated, enterprisewide enforcement case management and licensing system, as specified.
This bill, on and after July 1, 2022, would require all applications under the act to be submitted electronically through the online
licensing and enforcement platform.
(C) Existing law requires each individual applicant, partner of a partnership, designated officer of a corporation, or manager, as specified, to submit with the application a personal identification form with a photograph taken within one year immediately preceding the date of the filing of the application.
This bill would remove the requirement that these individuals submit photographs on the personal identification form.
(D) Existing law requires an alarm agent, while on duty, to carry either a valid and current registration card or a temporary application for a registration.
This bill would require, if an alarm agent carries a temporary application for registration, that it
include the application number and that they also carry a valid photo identification. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the registration card or temporary application carried by the alarm agent to be in a digital format, as described.
(E) Existing law requires every person licensed, registered, or designated under the act, who in the course of their employment carries a firearm, to complete a course of training in the carrying and use of firearms, receive a firearms qualification card prior to carrying a firearm, and complete a course in the exercise of the powers to arrest.
This bill would also require, before a firearms permit is issued by the director, that it be certified by a bureau-certified firearms instructor that the applicant successfully completed
a written examination prepared by the bureau. The bill would prohibit an applicant who is a bureau-certified firearms training instructor from self-certifying their own completion of these requirements or from self-certifying the requalification requirements for a firearms qualification card.
The bill would make the failure of any licensee who is also licensed to do business as a corporation or limited liability company in this state to be registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board after notice from the bureau result in the automatic suspension of the licensee by operation of law. The bill would
require that the fee for reinstatement of a suspended license be 25 percent of the fee imposed for renewal of a license.
(10) Existing law, the Real Estate Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of
real estate brokers and salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner, who is the chief officer of the Department of Real Estate within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.
Existing law prohibits a real estate licensee from publishing, circulating, distributing, or causing to be published, circulated, or distributed in newspapers or periodicals or mail, a matter pertaining to any activity for which a real estate license is required that does not contain a designation disclosing that the licensee is performing acts for which a real estate license is required. Existing law also requires a real estate licensee to disclose their name, license identification number, and other specified information, on all solicitation materials intended to be the first point of contact with consumers and on real property purchase agreements, as specified. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to adopt regulations identifying the materials in
which a licensee must disclose this information.
This bill would authorize a real estate licensee who is a natural person and who legally changes the surname in which their license was originally issued to continue to utilize their former surname for business associated with their license so long as both names are filed with the department. The bill would provide that use of a former surname does not constitute a fictitious name for purposes of certain filing requirements.
(11) Existing law requires process servers and professional photocopiers to be registered with the county
clerk of the county in which they reside or have a principal place of business, as specified. Existing law requires the certificate of registration to contain, among other things, specified contact information for the registrant.
This bill would include the email address for the registrant, as specified, among the specified contact information that the certificate of registration is required to contain.
(12) Existing law, the Cemetery and Funeral Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of private cemeteries by the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes, on or after January 1, 2021, a cemetery authority of a private cemetery to apply to the bureau to convert its endowment care fund from a net income distribution method to a unitrust
distribution method. Existing law requires the bureau to approve an application only if certain conditions are met, including that the cemetery authority, its board of trustees, or its corporate trustee demonstrates sufficient knowledge and expertise in investing and managing the endowment care fund under the unitrust distribution method.
This bill would instead require that the cemetery authority, its board of trustees, or its corporate trustee demonstrates sufficient knowledge and expertise in investing and managing an endowment care fund.
(13) This bill would make other nonsubstantive and conforming changes.
(14) This
bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 7596.3 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 229 to be operative only if this bill and AB 229 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
(15) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.