This year's legislative session has begun. As is typical, a number of bills impacting the construction industry have been filed. Below are summaries of the bills filed so far. While the period for filing bills has passed, this does not mean that entirely new ones may not surface. Amendments made during the legislative process can change them substantially. For more information you may go to www.leg.state.fl.us. From there you go to the House or Senate's website or you can click on the Legislative Information Center. We will be happy to discuss any of these bills with you.
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SB 346. This bill severely restricts use of an Owner Controlled Insurance Programs (OCIP) on public construction projects. Exceptions to these restrictions are projects that exceed $75 million or exceed $30 million for the construction or renovation of two or more public schools in a fiscal year or exceed $10 million for the renovation or construction of one public school, regardless of the fiscal year.
- Any public entity using OCIP must maintain completed operations coverage for not less than five years and will be responsible for payment of all the applicable deductibles on any claims.
- This bill also requires the OCIP insurer to offer coverage for liabilities arising out of current or completed operations for a period extending to the applicable statute of limitations.
- Exempted from the bill are projects of the FDOT and existing projects which had an OCIP in place before October 1, 2004, or advertised for bid prior to that date.
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SB 494. This is a "glitch" bill for the new Florida Building Code. It adds hospice residential facilities and inpatient facilities to those required to meet the Code. It sets forth new requirements for appointing members to the Florida Building Commission. These changes are primarily to require appointment of members from nominees of industry organizations such as Associated Builders and Contractors. It also changes the process for appealing interpretations of the Code. Interpretations would be made by panels composed of certified building officials appointed by the Commission. This bill also makes it clear that private building inspections must be permitted by local governments regardless of any local ordinance or policy.
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SB 544. This bill addresses a number
of construction payment issues related to public
construction. The American Subcontractors Association
is pushing this bill very hard. It amends the
Florida Prompt Payment Act, renaming it the Local
Government Prompt Pay Act. This act covers payments
by local governments to its general contractors
and other vendors. It would add community colleges
and construction work not requiring a license
to its coverage.
It provides for a single punchlist to be established at the end of the job. This is intended to eliminate the problem of "rolling" punchlists. It sets time frames for the completion of the punchlist and requires that the procedure for making the punchlist be part of the contract. All work not on the punchlist is defined as warranty work which is not a basis for withholding payment. With some exceptions, where 10% retainage is held it must be reduced to 5% at the 50% completion point. There are exceptions to this in the event of poor performance by the contractor.
A new Florida Prompt Payment Act would be established to cover the state and its divisions, including state universities, except for FDOT. It picks up the requirements in the Local Government Prompt Payment Act and applies them to the state. This includes such things time periods for review and payment of pay requests, single punchlist and mandatory interest.
The time period for general contractors on public projects to pay their subcontractors and suppliers would be shortened for 30 days to 10 days.
This bill would require that any Notice of Nonpayment under Section 255.05 from claimants not contracting with the general contractor must specify the amount of retainage that is unpaid. This is to set up the other changes that would prevent a claimant from suing a surety or contractor solely to recover retainage until the public entity has paid the retainage and the time limit for payment has passed. It imposes other requirements such completion by the claimant of all work under its contracts and that ninety (90) days have passed since the owners receipt of the contractors last payment request, or claimant has made a written request to the owner but it has not received a timely response. The claimant is granted the right to make a written request to the owner to provide information on all payment requests received by the owner from the contractor, dates of all payments by the owner and whether the owner has received the contractors final payment request.
This bill would also forbid the use of a conditional payment clause in construction contracts. These are also known as "pay when paid" or "pay if paid" clauses. They require that the contractor be paid before it has any obligation to pay its subcontractors or suppliers. This will apply to all construction contracts whether public or private.
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SB 562. This bill addresses issues related to alarm contractors. It adds requirements for continuing education to include 2 hours on preventing false alarms. It also adds some additional requirements for background checks and fingerprinting.
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SB 1328. This bill would require the Florida Building Commission to conduct a review of current construction practices in the state and report its findings by January 15, 2005. The report will include any recommendations for proposed legislation arising from the Commission's review.
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SB 1350. This bill establishes licensing requirements for assessment or remediation work relating to mold. Registrations would be required in separate categories for companies or individuals who do mold assessment, mold remediation or provide mold training. The Construction Industry Licensing Board will set the training qualifications for each. In order to be registered the applicant must meet eligibility requirements of one of several organizations. These include the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the Indoor Air Quality Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers or similar organizations recognized by the CILB. For mold assessment work there must also be an accreditation from a nationally recognized accrediting body. There are also provisions for continuing education and disciplinary action. Under this bill a registrant cannot provide both mold assessment or mold remediation services. It does not apply to contractors operating within the scope of their license.
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SB 1352. Pool and spa contractors would be allowed to subcontract work on swimming pools and spas even if the subcontractors are not licensed as swimming pool or spa contractors. Whoever does this work must be under the supervision of the certified or registered commercial pool and spa contractor, but a direct contract is not required.
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