2007 California Business and Professions Code Article 3. Exemptions

CA Codes (bpc:7040-7054.5)

7040.  (a) This chapter does not apply to an authorized
representative of the United States government, the State of
California, or any incorporated town, city, county, irrigation
district, reclamation district or other municipal or political
corporation or subdivision of this state when the entity or its
representative is acting within the scope of the entity's or
representative's official capacity.
   (b) Nothing in this section authorizes the entity or it's
authorized representative thereof either to enter into or authorize a
contract with an unlicensed contractor for work which is required by
this chapter to be performed by a licensed contractor.



7041.  This chapter does not apply to officers of a court when they
are acting within the scope of their office.



7042.  This chapter does not apply to public utilities operating
under the regulation of the State Railroad Commission on
construction, maintenance and development work incidental to their
own business.



7042.1.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter,
gas, heat, or electrical corporations and their subsidiaries that are
regulated as public utilities by the Public Utilities Commission
shall not conduct work for which a contractor's license is required,
except under any one or more of the following conditions:
   (1) The work is performed upon the gas, heat, or electrical
corporation's properties.
   (2) The work is performed through a contract with a contractor or
contractors licensed pursuant to this chapter or the work is
performed for low-income citizens pursuant to a program authorized by
order of the Public Utilities Commission.
   (3) The work is undertaken by the gas, heat, or electrical
corporation in furtherance of the generation, transmission, or
distribution of electricity, gas, or steam, whether within or without
the service area of the corporation, if any work performed within a
structure and beyond a customer's utility meter is necessary to
protect the public safety or to avoid  interruption of service.
   (4) The work is otherwise exempt from the provisions of this
chapter.
   (5) The work is performed to comply with programs or procedures
ordered or authorized by the Public Utilities Commission not
inconsistent with the objectives expressed in Chapter 984 of the
Statutes of 1983.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Gas, heat, or electrical corporation properties" means
properties which a gas, heat, or electrical corporation owns or
leases, or over which it has been granted an easement for utility
purposes, or facilities which a gas, heat, or electrical corporation
owns or operates for utility purposes.
   (2) "Subsidiaries" means subsidiaries of a gas, heat, or
electrical corporation regulated as public utilities by the Public
Utilities Commission which carry out activities solely for utility
purposes.
   (c) It is the intention of the Legislature in enacting this
section that public utility regulations be clearly based on the
principle that the energy conservation industry should be allowed to
develop in a competitive manner, as declared in Chapter 984 of the
Statutes of 1983.


7042.5.  This chapter does not apply to public utilities operating
under the regulation of the Public Utilities Commission on
construction, maintenance, and development work incidental to their
own business, or to those activities of a cable television
corporation subject to regulation pursuant to Section 768.5 of the
Public Utilities Code,  except underground trenching by a cable
television corporation within the public streets, other than that
necessary solely for the connection of its distribution system to, or
within the properties of, subscribers or potential subscribers.
   As used in this section, a cable television corporation is a
corporation or person that transmits television programs by cable to
subscribers for a fee.



7043.  This chapter does not apply to any construction, repair or
operation incidental to the discovering or producing of petroleum or
gas, or the drilling, testing, abandoning or other operation of any
petroleum or gas well, when performed by an owner or lessee.



7044.  This chapter does not apply to any of the following:
   (a) An owner of property, building or improving structures
thereon, or appurtenances thereto, who does the work himself or
herself or through his or her own employees with wages as their sole
compensation, provided none of the structures, with or without the
appurtenances thereto, are intended or offered for sale.
   (b) An owner of property, building or improving structures
thereon, or appurtenances thereto, who contracts for such a project
with a subcontractor or subcontractors licensed pursuant to this
chapter.
   However, this exemption shall apply to the construction of
single-family residential structures only if four or fewer of these
structures are intended or offered for sale in a calendar year.  This
limitation shall not apply if the owner of property contracts with a
general contractor for the construction.
   (c) A homeowner improving his or her principal place of residence
or appurtenances thereto, provided that all of the following
conditions exist:
   (1) The work is performed prior to sale.
   (2) The homeowner has actually resided in the residence for the 12
months prior to completion of the work.
   (3) The homeowner has not availed himself or herself of the
exemption in this subdivision on more than two structures more than
once during any three-year period.
   In all actions brought under this chapter, proof of the sale or
offering for sale of any such structure by the owner-builder within
one year after completion of same constitutes a rebuttable
presumption affecting the burden of proof that such structure was
undertaken for purposes of sale.  Except as otherwise provided in
this section, proof of the sale or offering for sale of five or more
structures by the owner-builder within one year after completion
constitutes a conclusive presumption that the structures were
undertaken for purposes of sale.
   In addition to all other remedies, any (1) licensed contractor, or
association of contractors, (2) labor organization, (3) consumer
affected by the violation, (4) district attorney, or (5) the Attorney
General, shall be entitled to seek injunctive relief prohibiting any
violation of this chapter by an owner-builder who is neither
licensed nor exempted from licensure by this section or any other
section according to the provisions specified in Section 7028.3 or
Section 7028.4.  The plaintiff in any such action shall not be
required to prove irreparable injury and shall be entitled to
attorneys' fees and all costs incurred in the prosecution of such
action, provided the plaintiff is the prevailing party.  The
defendant in any such action, shall be entitled to attorneys' fees
and all costs incurred in the defense against such action, provided
the defendant is the prevailing party.
   The registrar pursuant to Section 7090 may take disciplinary
action as provided in this chapter against any person whenever the
grounds or cause for disciplinary action arose upon any project
undertaken by him or her as a licensee licensed pursuant to this
chapter.
   Any person, firm, or corporation which has violated Section 7028
by engaging in contracting work as an owner-builder without having a
license or an exemption from licensure under this section or any
other section shall not be entitled to become a licensee under this
chapter for a period of one year following the violation.



7044.1.  This chapter does not apply to a real estate licensee
acting within the course and scope of his or her license pursuant to
the Real Estate Law (Part 1 (commencing with Section 10000) of
Division 4).  However, nothing in this section shall authorize a real
estate licensee or a property manager to act in the capacity of a
contractor unless licensed by the board.



7044.2.  This chapter does not apply to an admitted surety insurer
whenever that surety insurer engages a contractor to undertake the
completion of a contract on which a performance or completion bond
was issued by the surety insurer, provided all actual construction
work is performed by duly licensed contractors.



7045.  This chapter does not apply to the sale or installation of
any finished products, materials, or articles of merchandise that do
not become a fixed part of the structure, nor shall it apply to a
material supplier or manufacturer furnishing finished products,
materials, or articles of merchandise who does not install or
contract for the installation of those items.  The term "finished
products" shall not include installed carpets or mobilehomes or
mobilehome accessory structures, as defined in Section 7026.2.
   This chapter shall apply to the installation of home improvement
goods, as defined in Section 7151.



7046.  This chapter does not apply to any construction, alteration,
improvement, or repair of personal property.  The term "personal
property" shall not include mobilehomes or mobilehome accessory
structures as defined in Section 7026.2.


7048.  This chapter does not apply to any work or operation on one
undertaking or project by one or more contracts, the aggregate
contract price which for labor, materials, and all other items, is
less than five hundred dollars (0), that work or operations being
considered of casual, minor, or inconsequential nature.
   This exemption does not apply in any case wherein the work of
construction is only a part of a larger or major operation, whether
undertaken by the same or a different contractor, or in which a
division of the operation is made in contracts of amounts less than
five hundred dollars (0) for the purpose of evasion of this
chapter or otherwise.
   This exemption does not apply to a person who advertises or puts
out any sign or card or other device which might indicate to the
public that he or she is a contractor or that he or she is qualified
to engage in the business of a contractor.



7049.  This chapter does not apply to any construction or operation
incidental to the construction and repair of irrigation and drainage
ditches of regularly constituted irrigation districts, reclamation
districts, or to farming, dairying, agriculture, viticulture,
horticulture, or stock or poultry raising, or clearing or other work
upon the land in rural districts for fire prevention purposes, except
when performed by a licensee under this chapter.
   The provisions of this chapter do apply to the business of
drilling digging, boring, or otherwise constructing, deepening,
repairing, reperforating, or abandoning water wells.



7051.  This chapter does not apply to a licensed architect or a
registered civil or professional engineer acting solely in his or her
professional capacity or to a licensed structural pest control
operator acting within the scope of his or her license or a licensee
operating within the scope of the Geologist and Geophysicist Act.




7052.  This chapter does not apply to any person who only furnishes
materials or supplies without fabricating them into, or consuming
them in the performance of, the work of the contractor.



7053.  Except as provided in Article 10 (commencing with Section
7150), this chapter does not apply to any person who engages in the
activities herein regulated as an employee who receives wages as his
or her sole compensation, does not customarily engage in an
independently established business, and does not have the right to
control or discretion as to the manner of performance so as to
determine the final results of the work performed.



7054.  This chapter does not apply to any person who performs work
in the installation, maintenance, monitoring, selling, alteration, or
servicing of alarm systems, as defined in subdivision (n) of Section
7590.1, and who holds an alarm company operator's license issued
pursuant to Chapter 11.6 (commencing with Section 7590).




7054.5.  The licensing provisions of this chapter do not apply to
any person registered under Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 9800)
if that person's activities consist only of installing satellite
antenna systems on residential structures or property.