Senators demand answers on builders

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 10:18 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A Senate committee chairman told the state Contractors Board today to get tougher on shoddy builders who are contributing to the growing complaints about home-building defects in Southern Nevada.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said, "Whatever is going on now, ain't working." He said those contractors who don't repair the defects should lose their state licenses.

He suggested the Contractors Board may have to be changed to get results. "We're talking about building a new ship," he said, referring to the structure of the present regulatory system.

But Margi Grein, executive secretary of the board for the last 10 months, told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee there has been a reorganization of the agency and investigations have been stepped up. Complaints are being handled quicker, she said. In the last six months, there have been 40 licenses revoked compared to only six in the prior six months.

"We have started a clean sheet of paper," she said.

Discussion on bills involving the home-building industry, which has been the subject of nearly 3,000 complaints to the board last year, occupied the committee.

Sen. Ray Shaffer, D-North Las Vegas, said a "lot of things have happened in the past" at the Contractors Board but things are changing. He said Grein was doing a good job.

Townsend said part of the defective homes problem may be because building inspectors are not doing their jobs. That will be examined later, he said.

Townsend said the board may need different members. And he suggested the position of an administrative judge -- "a hanging judge" -- be created to deal with complaints from homeowners who can't get the contractors to do the repairs.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored a bill that would limit the rights of homeowners to sue, said there is "lots of shoddy building going on in Las Vegas." There are "two handfuls of builders" causing problems, he said, and he questioned why Grein was not pulling their licenses.

She replied that a 1997 law prohibits disciplinary action against a home builder while mediation is going on. She said she wants to see that law repealed.