CHAPTER 399a
NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS

Table of Contents

Sec. 20-417b. Registration of contractors required. Application. Fees. Renewal.
Sec. 20-417d. Copy of certificate and written disclosure notice to be provided to consumers. Advertising requirements. Contact by prospective consumers. Prohibited acts.

      Sec. 20-417b. Registration of contractors required. Application. Fees. Renewal. (a) No person shall engage in the business of new home construction or hold himself or herself out as a new home construction contractor unless such person has been issued a certificate of registration by the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of sections 20-417a to 20-417j, inclusive. No new home construction contractor shall be relieved of responsibility for the conduct and acts of its agents, employees or officers by reason of such new home construction contractor's compliance with the provisions of sections 20-417a to 20-417j, inclusive.

      (b) Any person seeking a certificate of registration shall apply to the commissioner, in writing, on a form provided by the commissioner. The application shall include (1) the applicant's name, business street address and business telephone number, (2) the identity of the insurer that provides the applicant with insurance coverage for liability, (3) if such applicant is required by any provision of the general statutes to have workers' compensation coverage, the identity of the insurer that provides the applicant with such workers' compensation coverage, and (4) if such applicant is required by any provision of the general statutes to have an agent for service of process, the name and address of such agent. Each such application shall be accompanied by a fee of two hundred forty dollars, except that no such application fee shall be required if such person has paid the registration fee required under section 20-421 during any year in which such person's registration as a new home construction contractor would be valid.

      (c) Certificates issued to new home construction contractors shall not be transferable or assignable.

      (d) All certificates issued under the provisions of sections 20-417a to 20-417j, inclusive, shall expire biennially. The fee for renewal of a certificate shall be the same as the fee charged for an original application, except that no renewal fee is due if a person seeking renewal of a certificate has paid the registration fee under section 20-427 during any year in which such person's registration as a new home construction contractor would be valid.

      (e) A certificate shall not be restored unless it is renewed not later than one year after its expiration.

      (f) Failure to receive a notice of expiration or a renewal application shall not exempt a new home construction contractor from the obligation to renew.

      (P.A. 99-246, S. 2; P.A. 00-132, S. 3, 6; P.A. 01-195, S. 84, 181; P.A. 03-19, S. 54; P.A. 06-73, S. 2-4; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 258.)

      History: P.A. 00-132 amended Subsec. (b) to change "residence or business address" to "business street address", to delete provision re errors and omissions and to add application requirements re workers' compensation coverage and agent for service of process, and amended Subsec. (d) to add provision re when renewal fee is not due, effective May 26, 2000; P.A. 01-195 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (d), effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 03-19 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(1), effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 06-73 replaced references to "sections 20-417a to 20-417i, inclusive, and subsection (b) of section 20-421" with "sections 20-417a to 20-417j, inclusive", where appearing, amended Subsec. (d) to delete exception under Sec. 20-417i(c) to amount of renewal fee and amended Subsec. (f) to replace "contractor" with "new home construction contractor", effective May 30, 2006; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 amended Subsec. (b) to increase application fee from $120 to $240.

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      Sec. 20-417d. Copy of certificate and written disclosure notice to be provided to consumers. Advertising requirements. Contact by prospective consumers. Prohibited acts. (a) A new home construction contractor shall (1) prior to entering into a contract with a consumer for new home construction, provide to the consumer a copy of the new home construction contractor's certificate of registration and a written notice that (A) discloses that the certificate of registration does not represent in any manner that such contractor's registration constitutes an endorsement of the quality of such person's work or of such contractor's competency by the commissioner, (B) advises the consumer to contact the Department of Consumer Protection to determine (i) if such contractor is registered in this state as a new home construction contractor, (ii) if any complaints have been filed against such contractor, and (iii) the disposition of any such complaints, (C) advises the consumer to request from such contractor a list of consumers of new homes constructed to completion by the contractor during the previous twenty-four months and to contact several individuals on the list to discuss the quality of such contractor's new home construction work, and (D) discloses each corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship or other legal entity, which is or has been a new home construction contractor under the provisions of this chapter or a home improvement contractor under the provisions of chapter 400, in which the owner or owners of the new home construction contractor providing the written notice required by this section are or have been a shareholder, member, partner or owner during the previous five years, (2) state in any advertisement, including any advertisement in a telephone directory, the fact that such contractor is registered, and (3) include such contractor's registration number in any such advertisement. The new home construction contractor, or his agent, shall also discuss with the consumer the installation of an automatic fire extinguishing system in a new home.

      (b) A new home construction contractor shall include in every contract with a consumer a provision advising the consumer that the consumer may be contacted by such contractor's prospective consumers concerning the quality and timeliness of such contractor's new home construction work, unless the consumer advises such contractor, in writing, at the time the contract is executed, that the consumer prefers not to be contacted.

      (c) The written notice required in subsection (a) of this section shall be in capital letters not less than ten-point bold face type, and may include a statement in substantially the following form:

"NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR
REGISTRATION NOTICE

      A CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION AS A NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR DOES NOT REPRESENT IN ANY MANNER THAT THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ENDORSES THE QUALITY OF THE CONTRACTOR'S NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION WORK OR THE CONTRACTOR'S COMPETENCY TO ENGAGE IN NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION.

      ACCORDINGLY, YOU ARE ADVISED TO:

      (1) REQUEST FROM THE CONTRACTOR A LIST OF CONSUMERS OF NEW HOMES CONSTRUCTED TO COMPLETION BY THE CONTRACTOR DURING THE PREVIOUS TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS,

      (2) CONTACT SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS ON THE LIST TO DISCUSS THE QUALITY AND THE TIMELINESS OF THE CONTRACTOR'S NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION WORK, AND

      (3) CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION TO VERIFY THE REGISTRATION INFORMATION PRESENTED BY THE CONTRACTOR AND TO ASCERTAIN THE CONTRACTOR'S COMPLAINT HISTORY WITH THE DEPARTMENT.

      IN ADDITION, YOU ARE ADVISED TO DISCUSS WITH THE NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR:

      (1) WHETHER THE CONTRACTOR HAS A CUSTOMER SERVICE POLICY AND IF SO, THE IDENTITY OF THE PERSON DESIGNATED TO ASSIST YOU IN RESOLVING ANY COMPLAINT ABOUT THE CONTRACTOR'S WORK,

      (2) WHETHER THE CONTRACTOR WILL HOLD YOU HARMLESS FOR WORK PERFORMED BY ANY SUBCONTRACTOR HIRED BY THE CONTRACTOR, AND

      (3) THE INSTALLATION OF AN AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM.

      THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONTAIN AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF THE INQUIRIES YOU SHOULD MAKE BEFORE CONTRACTING WITH A NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO ASSIST YOU IN YOUR SELECTION OF A NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR MAY BE OBTAINED BY CONTACTING THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION."

      (d) No person shall: (1) Present, or attempt to present as such person's own, the certificate of another; (2) knowingly give false evidence of a material nature to the commissioner for the purpose of procuring a certificate; (3) represent such person falsely as, or impersonate, a registered new home construction contractor; (4) use or attempt to use a certificate which has expired or been suspended or revoked; (5) engage in the business of a new home construction contractor or hold himself or herself out as a new home construction contractor without having a current certificate of registration under sections 20-417a to 20-417j, inclusive; (6) represent in any manner that such person's registration constitutes an endorsement of the quality of such person's work or of such person's competency by the commissioner; or (7) fail to refund a deposit paid to a new home construction contractor not later than ten days after a written request mailed or delivered to the new home construction contractor's last known address, if (A) the consumer has complied with the terms of the written contract up to the time of the request, (B) no substantial portion of the contracted work has been performed at the time of the request, (C) more than thirty days has elapsed since the starting date specified in the written contract or more than thirty days has elapsed since the date of the contract if such contract does not specify a starting date, and (D) the new home construction contractor has failed to provide a reasonable explanation to the consumer concerning such contractor's failure to perform a substantial portion of the contracted work. For purposes of this subdivision, "substantial portion of the contracted work" includes, but is not limited to, work performed by the new home construction contractor to (i) secure permits and approvals, (ii) redraft plans or obtain engineer, architect, surveyor or other approvals for changes requested by the consumer or made necessary by site conditions discovered after the contract is executed, (iii) schedule site work or arrange for other contractors to perform services related to the construction of the consumer's new home, and (iv) do any other work referred to in the contract as a "substantial portion of the contracted work".

      (P.A. 99-246, S. 4; P.A. 00-132, S. 4, 6; P.A. 01-195, S. 85, 181; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 93; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(d); P.A. 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1; P.A. 06-73, S. 6; P.A. 09-18, S. 1.)

      History: P.A. 00-132 amended language in Subsecs. (a)(1)(C) and (c)(1) providing for disclosure re most recently constructed homes, effective May 26, 2000; P.A. 01-195 made technical changes in Subsec. (d), effective July 11, 2001; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 amended Subsecs. (a) and (c) by adding provisions re discussion of installation of automatic fire extinguishing system; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Department of Consumer Protection with Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 06-73 amended Subsecs. (a)(1)(C) and (c)(1) to replace "a list of consumers of the last twelve new homes constructed to completion by the contractor during the previous twenty-four months, or if the contractor has not constructed at least twelve new homes to completion during the previous twenty-four months, then a list of all consumers for whom the contractor has constructed a new home to completion during the previous twenty-four months" with "a list of consumers of new homes constructed to completion by the contractor during the previous twenty-four months", amended Subsec. (d)(5) to replace "sections 20-417a to 20-417i, inclusive, and subsection (b) of section 20-421" with "sections 20-417a to 20-417j, inclusive," and made a technical change in Subsec. (d)(4), effective May 30, 2006; P.A. 09-18 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding Subpara. (D) re contractor legal entity disclosure, effective July 1, 2009.

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