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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 54
2025-2026
Senator Schaffer
A
BILL
To
amend
section 4740.99 and to
enact
section 4740.18 of the Revised Code
to
establish a certification for specialty residential construction
contractors.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section
4740.99 be amended and
section
4740.18 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
4740.18.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"Residential-only certification" means a certification the
Ohio construction industry licensing board issues under this section
to a residential heating, ventilating, and air conditioning
contractor, residential refrigeration contractor, residential
electrical contractor, residential plumbing contractor, or
residential hydronics contractor.
(2)
"Residential contractor" means an individual or residential
contracting company that satisfies both of the following:
(a)
Has responsibility for the means, method, and manner of construction,
improvement, renovation, repair, or maintenance on a residential
construction project with respect to one or more trades and who
offers, identifies, advertises, or otherwise holds out or represents
that the individual or residential contracting company with which the
individual is associated is permitted or qualified to perform or have
responsibility for the means, method, and manner of construction,
improvement, renovation, repair, or maintenance with respect to one
or more trades on a residential construction project;
(b)
Does any of the following:
(i)
Performs construction, improvement, or renovation on a residential
construction project with respect to the individual's or residential
contracting company's trade;
(ii)
Employs tradespersons who perform construction, improvement, or
renovation on a construction project with respect to the individual's
or contracting company's trades;
(iii)
Uses direct labor subcontractors who perform construction,
improvement, or renovation on a residential construction project with
respect to the individual's or contracting company's trades.
(3)
"Residential contracting company" means a company in the
construction industry that contracts with a person for a residential
construction project involving heating, ventilating, and air
conditioning, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, or hydronics.
(4)
"Residential construction project" means a project
involving a residential building subject to Chapter 3781. of the
Revised Code and the rules adopted under that chapter.
(5)
"Direct labor subcontractor" means an individual who
engages in construction, improvement, renovation, repair, or
maintenance of a residential construction project under terms
specified in an agreement with a residential contractor and to whom
both of the following apply:
(a)
The residential contractor has the right to control or direct only
the result of the construction, improvement, renovation, repair, or
maintenance performed by the individual;
(b)
The income the individual earns from the construction, improvement,
renovation, repair, or maintenance is subject to the "Self-Employment
Contributions Act of 1954," 26 U.S.C. 1401 et seq., and the
regulations adopted under it.
(6)
"Residential building" and "industrialized unit"
have the same meanings as in section 3781.06 of the Revised Code.
(B)
The administrative section of the Ohio construction industry
licensing board shall issue a residential-only certificate to any
individual who does all of the following:
(1)
Completes an application that includes an individual's name, the name
of the residential contracting company associated with the
individual, the amount of time the individual has engaged in the
residential contracting business, and any other information that may
be required by the appropriate specialty section of the board;
(2)
Maintains and provides proof of contractor's liability insurance in
the name of the associated residential contracting company that
includes complete operations coverage in an amount not less than two
hundred fifty thousand dollars;
(3)
Maintains and provides proof of contractor's liability insurance in
the name of the associated residential contracting company that
includes, in addition to the coverage required by division (B)(2) of
this section, coverage for construction, improvements, renovations,
repairs, or maintenance performed by the company's direct labor
subcontractors in an amount not less than two hundred fifty thousand
dollars;
(4)
Pays a certification fee of one hundred dollars, except if the
certificate is to expire in less than five years, the certification
fee shall be reduced proportionally based on the duration of the
certification period. The certification fee shall not be less than
twenty dollars.
(C)
Each certificate issued under this section shall include the the
following:
(1)
The individual's name and certificate number;
(2)
The name of the residential contracting company associated with the
individual;
(3)
The license number associated with any other licenses held by the
individual under this chapter.
(D)
All residential-only certificates an individual holds under this
section shall expire every fifth year on the same date, which shall
be the expiration date of the original residential-only certificate
the individual holds. An individual holding a valid, unexpired
residential-only certificate may renew the certificate by submitting
an application to the appropriate specialty section of the board not
more than ninety days before the expiration of the certificate, along
with a renewal fee of one hundred dollars. The application shall
include proof of both of the following:
(1)
That the applicant continues to meet the certification requirements
related to contractor's liability insurance under divisions (B)(2)
and (3) of this section;
(2)
That the applicant has completed twenty hours of board-approved
continuing education in the preceding certification period for each
certification the individual holds. If the certification period is
less than five years, the number of board-approved continuing
education hours required shall instead be the product of four hours
times the number of full years that elapsed since the certification
was issued. In no case shall the number of board-approved continuing
education hours required for renewal of a residential-only
certification be less than four.
(E)
Upon application within one calendar year after a certification has
expired, the appropriate specialty section may waive any of the
requirements for renewal of a residential-only certification if the
section finds that the applicant substantially meets the renewal
requirements or that failure to timely apply for renewal is due to
excusable neglect. A section that waives requirements for renewal of
a certification may impose conditions upon the certificate holder and
assess a late filing fee of not more than two hundred dollars. An
applicant shall satisfy any condition the section imposes before a
certification is reissued.
(F)
A continuing education course may be counted for the renewal of a
residential-only certificate only if both of the following apply:
(1)
The course is offered by a training agency approved by the
administrative section of the Ohio construction industry licensing
board that pays to the board an annual fee of twenty-five dollars for
the purposes of establishing and maintaining that approval.
(2)
The course of study or program of instruction comprising the
continuing education course is approved by the appropriate specialty
section of the Ohio construction industry licensing board following
payment by the training agency of a one-time fee of ten dollars plus
one dollar per credit hour.
(G)
In addition to the fees prescribed by division (F) of this section,
an approved training agency shall remit, in the form and manner
required by the administrative section of the Ohio construction
industry licensing board, a fee of one dollar per credit hour of
instruction for each person who attends the training agency's
continuing education courses.
(H)
No person shall knowingly act as or claim to be a certified
residential-only contractor unless that person holds or has been
issued a residential-only certificate under this section.
(I)
Upon the request of the appropriate specialty section of the Ohio
construction industry licensing board, the attorney general may bring
a civil action for appropriate relief, including a temporary
restraining order or permanent injunction in the court of common
pleas of the county where the person alleged to have violated
division (F) or (H) of this section resides or is acting or claiming
to be a certified residential-only contractor or offering or
purporting to offer continuing education courses, as applicable.
(J)
This section does not require a residential contractor or any other
person to obtain a residential-only certification to work on
residential construction projects in this state.
(K)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a direct labor
subcontractor to be licensed or certified under this chapter.
Sec.
4740.99.
Whoever
violates division (A) of section 4740.13
or
division (H) of section 4740.18
of
the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on the first
violation and a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on subsequent
violations.
Section
2.
That
existing section 4740.99 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.