NASCLA Model Legislation - Residential Construction Licensing

MISSION STATEMENT

The Mission of NASCLA's Model Legislation Committee is to develop and publish model legislation, accessible in whole or in part, for the creation and operation of agencies or boards throughout the several states whose purpose is the regulation of residential and commercial construction, and, by offering language addressing multiple options for each area of the legislation, to enable the states to draft legislation specific to their needs.

 

NASCLA has received many inquiries over the years from various states regarding the regulation of the construction industry. All regulation is authorized by statute, which necessarily requires legislation. Drafting legislation is extremely time consuming; so much so that states often put it off indefinitely. Any assistance is welcomed by those charged with bringing legislation to fruition. While some states are looking for legislative language to use as a reference, a "go-by," others are looking for well developed language to be used with little editing. It is NASCLA's hope that the following model legislation meets both needs.

The model legislation is offered in modules. States with existing statutes can easily choose specific modules to use as proposed amendments, editing only to bring it into agreement with existing state law. States that do not have existing statutes can use the entire document as a template for legislation enabling the creation of a regulatory board, and setting forth the regulation of the industry in that state. States adopting all or part of the model legislation are referred to as "adopting states" throughout the document.

While NASCLA hopes that adopting states find the language sufficient to require little correction, it also offers one caveat: the model legislation must be edited to bring it into compliance with the adopting state's laws and regulations. The importance of this editing cannot be overstated.

The statutory language is in plain type, with formatting compatible with citations. Comments follow many of the statutory sections. They are in italic type, and are clearly labeled "comments." The purpose of the comments is to address alternative actions and language, and to point out issues to address in choosing the appropriate language to affect the outcome desired by the adopting state. The comments are as important as the statutory language in accomplishing the goals of the adopting state in drafting the statutory language, and should be carefully reviewed.

It is the hope of the Model Legislation Committee that adopting states will find the model legislation to be user-friendly and effective. Through the comments, the committee has tried to lend adopting states the benefit of its experiences in states already regulating the construction industry. The committee welcomes comments from users, as the work of drafting model legislation continues into the next phase.

If your state agency is interested in receiving a complimentary copy of the NASCLA Model Legislation please complete the contact form below and the NASCLA Staff will contact you.

 



















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