Permits the Electrical and Elevator Board to enter into agreements with municipalities to share responsibility for enforcing the Electrical Safety Law.

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83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
Senate Bill 87
Sponsored by Senator MEEK (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced. The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability
standards.
Digest: Lets a state agency agree with a local agency how to share duties for enforcing the
Electrical Safety Law. Sets higher fines for not obeying the building code. Lets the state agency that
governs contractors keep more of the money it collects as fines for breaking the law. (Flesch
Readability Score: 60.1).
Permits the Electrical and Elevator Board to enter into agreements with municipalities to share
responsibility for enforcing the Electrical Safety Law. Permits the Construction Contractors Board
to retain a higher percentage of the proceeds of civil penalties the Construction Contractors Board
imposes. Raises the amount of a civil penalty that the Department of Consumer and Business Ser-
vices may impose for a violation of the state building code from $5,000 per violation to $7,500.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to the authority of agencies that regulate building safety in this state; creating new pro-
visions; and amending ORS 455.185, 455.895 and 701.255.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1.
ORS 455.185 is amended to read:
455.185. (1)(a) Notwithstanding ORS 455.148, 455.150 and 455.153, upon request by one or more
municipalities and with the consent of all affected parties, the Director of the Department of Con-
sumer and Business Services may enter into an agreement for the Department of Consumer and
Business Services to uniformly administer and enforce within a geographic area all or a portion
of a building inspection program [ within a geographic area ].
(b) Notwithstanding ORS 455.156, 479.820, 479.854 and 479.855, at the request of one or
more municipalities the Electrical and Elevator Board may enter into an agreement to es-
tablish an electrical licensing enforcement program within a geographic area under ORS
479.510 to 479.945.
(c) [ The] A geographic area described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection may be a
municipality, a region comprising parts of more than one municipality or a region comprising mul-
tiple municipalities. The geographic area need not correspond to the jurisdictional boundaries of
municipalities. [ The] An agreement under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection may provide for
the department or the board, as appropriate, to perform administration and enforcement for a
specified period or for carrying out one or more particular projects.
(2) The terms of an agreement under subsection (1) of this section may specify whether the de-
partment is to utilize department or board resources , as appropriate, or combine resources with
one or more of the municipalities to carry out an agreement. An agreement may combine department
or board and local government resources in any manner that the parties believe will provide for the
efficient and uniform administration of the building inspection program within the geographic area,
including but not limited to full, divided, mutual or joint performance of any of the administrative
or enforcement functions by any of the parties to the agreement. A decision by the director re-
NOTE: Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [ italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.
New sections are in boldfaced type.
LC 1363
SB 87
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garding whether to enter into or consent to an agreement under subsection (1) of this section, and
the content of any agreement that the director enters into under subsection (1) of this section, is
not subject to review by the Attorney General or the Oregon Department of Administrative Services
and is subject to challenge or appeal under ORS chapter 183 only for failure to comply with an ex-
press requirement created under ORS 455.185 to 455.198 or, for agreements between the board
and a municipality, for failure to comply with an express licensing requirement of the board
under ORS 479.510 to 479.945.
(3) An agreement under subsection (1) of this section is not an abandonment of a building in-
spection program for purposes of ORS 455.148 or 455.150.
(4) If the Department of Consumer and Business Services enters into an agreement under sub-
section (1) of this section, the department and a public body that offers construction-related services
in the geographic area may enter into an agreement for providing access to the construction-related
services on the electronic information system described in ORS 455.095 and 455.097. The agreement
may include, but need not be limited to, provision for access that allows the electronic submission
of an application to the public body for a construction-related permit.As used in this subsection,
“public body” has the meaning given that term in ORS 174.109.
(5) An agreement under subsection (1)(b) of this section may:
(a) Identify, recommend or implement an expansion, reduction, specification or appor-
tionment of authority to enforce ORS 479.510 to 479.945 between or among the parties to the
agreement;
(b) Provide for the board and other parties to the agreement to share the proceeds of
civil penalties the board imposes under ORS 455.895 (1)(b) and 479.995, notwithstanding pro-
visions in those sections and ORS 479.850 that specify the disposition of the proceeds; or
(c) Provide for other responsibilities for programs or activities under ORS 479.510 to
479.945.
SECTION 2.
ORS 455.895 is amended to read:
455.895. (1)(a) The State Plumbing Board may impose a civil penalty against a person as pro-
vided under ORS 447.992 and 693.992. Amounts recovered under this paragraph are subject to ORS
693.165.
(b) The Electrical and Elevator Board may impose a civil penalty against a person as provided
under ORS 479.995. Amounts recovered under this paragraph are subject to ORS 479.850.
(c) The Board of Boiler Rules may impose a civil penalty against a person as provided under
ORS 480.670. Amounts recovered under this paragraph are subject to ORS 480.670.
(2) The Department of Consumer and Business Services, or an appropriate advisory board, if
any, may at [ its] the department’s or the board’s discretion impose a civil penalty against any
person who violates the state building code or ORS 446.003 to 446.200, 446.225 to 446.285, 446.395
to 446.420, 446.566 to 446.646, 446.666 to 446.746, 479.510 to 479.945, 479.950 or 480.510 to 480.670,
or this chapter or ORS chapter 447, 460 or 693, or any rule adopted or order issued for the admin-
istration and enforcement of those statutes. Except as provided in subsections (3), (4) and (9) of this
section or ORS 446.995, a civil penalty imposed under this section must be in an amount [ determined
by] the department or an appropriate advisory board [ or the department of ] determines, but not
more than [ $5,000] $7,500 for each offense or, in the case of a continuing offense, not more than
$1,000 for each day of the offense.
(3) Each violation of ORS 446.003 to 446.200 or 446.225 to 446.285, or any rule or order issued
under ORS 446.003 to 446.200 or 446.225 to 446.285, constitutes a separate violation with respect to
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SB 87
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each manufactured dwelling or with respect to each failure or refusal to allow or perform an act
required under ORS 446.003 to 446.200 or 446.225 to 446.285, except that the maximum civil penalty
may not exceed $1 million for any related series of violations occurring within one year from the
date of the first violation.
(4) The department may impose a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 against a public body
responsible for administering and enforcing a building inspection program. As used in this sub-
section, “public body” has the meaning given that term in ORS 174.109.
(5) The maximum penalty established by this section for a violation may be imposed only upon
a finding that the person has engaged in a pattern of violations. The department, by rule, shall de-
fine what constitutes a pattern of violations. Except as provided in subsections (1) and (10) of this
section, moneys received from any civil penalty under this section are appropriated continuously for
and [ shall] must be used by the department for enforcement and administration of provisions and
rules described in subsection (2) of this section.
(6) Civil penalties under this section [ shall] must be imposed as provided in ORS 183.745.
(7) The department or an appropriate advisory board may remit or reduce a civil penalty
imposed under this section [ may be remitted or reduced ] upon such terms and conditions as the de-
partment or the [ appropriate advisory ] board considers proper and consistent with the public health
and safety. In any judicial review of a civil penalty imposed under this section, the court may, in
[its] in the court’s discretion, reduce the penalty.
(8) Any officer, director, shareholder or agent of a corporation, or member or agent of a part-
nership or association, who personally participates in or is an accessory to any violation by the
partnership, association or corporation of a provision or rule described in subsection (2) of this
section is subject to the penalties prescribed in this section.
(9) In addition to the civil penalty set forth in subsection (1) or (2) of this section, any person
who violates a provision or rule described in subsection (2) of this section may be required by the
department or the appropriate advisory board to forfeit and pay to the General Fund of the State
Treasury a civil penalty in an amount determined by the department or advisory board that does
not exceed five times the amount by which such person profited in any transaction that violates a
provision or rule described in subsection (2) of this section.
(10) If a civil penalty is imposed for a violation of a provision of ORS 446.566 to 446.646 and the
violation relates to a filing or failure to file with a county assessor functioning as agent of the de-
partment, the department, after deducting an amount equal to the department’s procedural, col-
lection and other related costs and expenses, shall forward one-half of the remaining civil penalty
amount to the county in which the manufactured structure is located at the time of the violation.
SECTION 3.
ORS 701.255 is amended to read:
701.255. The Construction Contractors Board may retain [ 20] 50 percent annually from the funds
[collected] the board collects under ORS 701.992. The amount [ retained] the board retains under
this section [ shall be ] is continuously appropriated to the board for the board’s costs of [ collection
of] collecting civil penalties [ imposed] the board imposes by order [ of the board ].
SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any other law limiting expenditures, the amount of $500,000
is established for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, as the maximum limit for payment of
expenses from fees, moneys or other revenues, including Miscellaneous Receipts, but ex-
cluding lottery funds and federal funds, collected or received by the Department of Consumer
and Business Services to carry out the provisions of the amendments to ORS 455.185 by
section 1 of this 2025 Act.
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