HB 823 General contractors; waiver or diminishment of lien rights; subordination of lien rights.
Provides that a general contractor may not waive or diminish his lien rights in a contract in advance of furnishing any labor, services, or materials. The bill further provides that, notwithstanding the prohibition against waiving or diminishing such a lien right, a general contractor may, prior to or after providing any labor, services, or materials, contract to subordinate his lien rights to prior and later recorded deeds of trust, provided that such contract is (i) in writing and (ii) signed by any general contractor whose lien rights are being subordinated pursuant to such contract. This bill is identical to SB 319.
HB 732 Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; contractors; prohibited acts.
Provides that a construction contract entered into by a person undertaking work without a valid Virginia contractor's license shall not be enforceable by the unlicensed contractor undertaking the work unless the unlicensed contractor (i) gives substantial performance within the terms of the contract in good faith and (ii) did not have actual knowledge that a license or certificate was required to perform the work for which he seeks to recover payment. This bill is identical to SB 478.
HB 398 Virginia Public Procurement Act; bid, performance, and payment bonds; waiver by localities; sunset.
Adds a sunset date of July 1, 2021, to the provisions (i) authorizing a locality, where the bid, performance, and payment bond requirements are waived, to waive the requirement for prequalification for a bidder or contractor with a current Class A contractor license for nontransportation-related construction contracts in excess of $100,000 but less than $300,000 upon a written determination made in advance by the local governing body that waiving the requirement is in the best interests of the locality and (ii) prohibiting localities from entering into more than 10 such contracts per year.
SB 55 Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; disciplinary actions by regulatory boards.
Requires a regulatory board under the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to determine the factual basis for its decisions through an informal fact-finding conference under the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) unless the regulant and the regulatory board agree to resolve the matter through a consent order or the regulant consents to waive the conference to go directly to a formal hearing. If the conference is waived, or if it fails to dispose of the case by consent, the bill requires the regulatory board to conduct a formal hearing. The bill also provides that, if a regulant is successful in a motion to quash a subpoena duces tecum issued in furtherance of an investigation, the court shall award reasonable costs and attorney fees or $500, whichever is greater.
