Committee approves bill reforming Contractors Board

Friday, April 9, 1999 | 11:21 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Builders with a history of shoddy construction complaints would have to post bigger bonds to work in Nevada under a bill approved by a Senate panel.

Senate Bill 32, endorsed Thursday by the Commerce and Labor Committee, now goes to the full Senate for approval.

The bill now includes a preamble, proposed by Commerce and Labor Chairman Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, that states all licensing boards must protect consumers and not the licensees. And any board member who violates the preamble could be removed.

State Contractors Board chief Margi Grein said the measure will enable her agency to better oversee the 14,600 licensed contractors in Nevada.

The board could require a higher "disciplinary" bond for contractors with several substantiated complaints against them.

Reno homeowner-contractor Frank Gross said reform is long overdue.

During earlier hearings, Gross testified he had a spotless record as a builder but bought a home with a lot of defects that had been built by someone else.

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