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Home My WebLink About13-022ORDINANCE NO. 13-022 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2-5, "BUILDING AND BUILDING REGULATIONS" OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES AND COMPILED LAWS OF ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA, BY AMENDING SECTION 2-5-9 "PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY; AMENDING SEa. ~ aON 2-5-12 "SAME - EXPIRATION"AND ADDING SEa. ~ aON 2-5-12(5); AND SECTION 2-5-15 "RECIPROCITY"; PROVIDING FOR FILING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE; PROVIDING AN EFFEa. ~ ar/E DATE; PROVIDING FOR ADOPTION; AND PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION. WHEREAS, Section 125.01, Florida Statutes, authorizes the Board of County Commissioners to establish programs providing for the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of St. Lucie County; and, WHEREAS, Chapter 2-5 (Building and Building Regulations) of the St. Lucie County Code of Ordinances and Compiled Law provides for the regulation and control of the construction and home improvement industries. WHEREAS, Section 2-5-9 establishes general procedure for obtaining certificate of competency; and, WHEREAS, Section 2-5-12 requires a certificate holder to renew his license within twelve months of the expiration date; and, WHEREAS, Section 2-5-15 requires a letter of reciprocity to be submitted to the planning and services development director; and, WHEREAS, a significant number of contractors obtain their required experience by working for someone who was related by blood or marriage; and WHEREAS, previously a contractor related by blood or marriage could not provide the letter, documents, experience; and WHEREAS, a contractor who allowed his certificate or competency expire did not ever have to retake a required examination which he had previously taken and obtained a passing score; and WHEREAS, the Florida Building Code is usually updated every three (3) years. Therefore, if a contractor has not been active in the field for over five (5) years, they would have to retake the previous examination to demonstrate continued competency in the field. ~O?~v,~- m~ry0 t's~mZ(A C ~ xt ,~ I'T7 O~~rS u, C z~,,~,~m C ? m _ ~,mN a~wC2 m ~,~ Z ~ ~a~ ti,~r ?W m ,o ~ cn „ O o T O ~ S m < c~ a ~ o ~ z ~ 0 Und.rlined p..s.~...n .dd.d. il~ p..~u.n add.d. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, acting for and on behalf of the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners: ARTICLE I LICENSING AND EXAMINATION OF CONSTRUae ~ iON CONTRACTORS PART II. CHAPTER 2-5 "LICENSING AND EXAMINATION OF CONSTRUa. ~ iON CONTRACTORS" IS HEREBY AMENDED AS FOLLOWS: Section 2-5-9(2)(e). Procedure for obtaining certificate of competency. Three (3) letters of recommendation f. ~..rnptrEable-ba~~1 ...,_.-orprcJ'_.,.~tcnef p~.:,~~.,s, two (2) of the letters shall be from reputable business or professional persons not related by blood or marriage to the applicant. At least one (1) of the three l3) letters of recommendation shah be from a contractor certified or registered by the State of Florida or the state in which the applicant most recently resided before becoming a resident of the State of Florida and shall have the contractor's license number included in the letter. A letter from a local Contractor who holds a Certificate of Competencv is accepted in place of the State of Florida Contractors as Iona as the Certificate of Competencv is of the same trade that is beins verified. If the contractor who is verifvina the experience is related by blood or marriaae, the contractor must show proof of beins active as a contractor registered or certified by the State of Florida or the State in which the contractor most recently resided or had a local Certificate of Competencv at the time of verification and must be of the same trade that is being verified. TL :.:~~ Ail three (3) letters of recommendation shall address the applicant's knowledge, experience, and ability as a contractor. All three (3) letters must be notarized. Section 2-5-12(4) Same -Expiration. (4) If a certificate holder fails to renew his certificate of competency within twelve (12) months of its expiration date, the certificate holder shall be required to reapply for a certificate of competency in the same manner as for an initial certificate of competency. ~.,~: +re-a .. ,. ~ -his-...:. l:fieele-of~o. r ... ,~tt~ed-t,1.;.. , 111 ~ ;. L~ ~„ r ~l:.,. , ~~. A certificate holder who is required to resister with the State of Florida must have continuing education within the five years from the date the certificate of competency expired or the certificate holder would Underlined passa{as an added. ~ passepa an added. have to retake the required examination which he had previously taken and obtained a passing score. A certificate holder who fails to renew his specialty contractor certificate of competency within twelve (12) months of its expiration shall be required to reapply for a certificate of competency in the same manner as for an initial certificate of competency. The certificate holder would have to retake the required examination which he had previously taken and obtain a passing score if the application is submitted after five (5) years from the expiration date. The board of county commissioners shah prescribe the application fee for such reapplication by resolution. ,(~ A certificate holder may apply for Inactive status pursuant to section 2-5-13. Section 2-5-15 Reciprocity. (1) The eemirtanitp-dtvelo,.,,,~rrt planning & services development director shall issue letters of reciprocity to contractor licensing officials in other jurisdictions for those parties who have been issued a St. Lucie County certificate of competency. A letter of reciprocity shall state the name and address of the certificate holder, the type and class of certificate issued, the title, date, location, and grade for the examination taken, and the current status of the certificate. (2) Remains the same. (3) In lieu of meeting the requirements of subsection 2-5-11(1)(b), the county shall accept original letters of reciprocity from other jurisdictions only for those applicants who have obtained a grade of seventy (70) percent or higher on a competency examination which has been approved by the appropriate county examining board. Such letters of reciprocity shall be on letterhead of the other jurisdiction's contractor licensing official and shall be signed by the ofFcial or his designee. The letter of reciprocity shall contain the applicant's name and, address, the date and place the applicant took the competency examination, the name of the examination, the grade obtained on the examination, a copy of the applicant's current credit report. and the current status of the applicant's license. The date of the competency examination shall not be older than five f 5~ years when it is submitted. If the date of the competency examination is alder than five (5) years, the applicant mu$t provide proof of having been working in their trade for that period. Upon receipt of proof of employment in the trade for the last five nears. the letter of reciprocity shall be accepted. A letter of reciprocity shall be no older than six (6) months when it is submitted to the ~,;,~,,,„tt~ity-deve}.;,r,,,",~ planning & services development director. {4) In addition to the reciprocity procedures set forth above, an applicant who holds a current and valid certificate of competency issued by the City of Fort Pierce or the City of Port St. Lucie shall be issued a County certificate of competency in UMerlined peate~es en added. f1,w4~11ee1h pesY{e, an edNd. the same contractor category upon submission of following to the Community Development Director Planning & Services Development Director or his designee: (a) remains the same (b) remains the same (c) remains the same. PART B. SEVERABILITY AND APPLICABILITY. If any portion of this ordinance is for any reason held or declared to be unconstitutional, inoperative, or void, such holding shall not affect the remaining portions of this ordinance. If this ordinance or any provision thereof shall be held to be inapplicable to any person, property, or circumstance, such holding shall not affect its applicability to any other person, property, or circumstance. PART C. FILING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. The Clerk is hereby directed forthwith to send a certified copy of this ordinance to the Bureau of Administrative Code and Laws, Department of State, The Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida 32304. PART F. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall take effect on the date it is filed with the State. PART G. ADOPTION. After motion and second, the vote on this ordinance was as follows: Chairman Tod Mowery AYE Vice Chair Frannie Hutchinson AYE Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky AYE Commissioner Paula Lewis AYE Commissioner Kim Johnson AYE PART H. CODIFICATION. Provisions of this ordinance shall be incorporated in the St. Lucie County Code of Ordinances of St. Lucie County, Florida, and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section", "article", or other appropriate word, and the sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered to accomplish such intention; provided, however, that parts B through F shall not be codified. PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 16T" day of July 2013. 4 ~c1~F. cIRcU BOARD OF COUNTY COMMiSSiONERS ATTEST: , O _ F ~~'-_ !~ ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA - _- r, De ut~C ~~;. , ~ ~ ~ Chairman , -~~- T ~ - 3' - ~r~ I - ,~' 1 PPROVED AS TO FORM AND . ~ _: ~~C CORRECTNESS: ~'cj~ co" 1~i1~ BY: ~41-County Attorney Underlined passages are added ... _..... ,,. passages are added. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT 0 STATE RICK SCOTT Governor July 22, 2013 honorable Joseph E. Smith Clerk of the Circuit Court St. Lucie County 2300 Virginia Avenue Fort Pierce, Florida 34982 Attention: Ms. Kelly Phelan, Executive Recording Secretary Dear Mr. Smith: KEN DETZNER Secretary of State Pursuant to the provisions of Section 125.66, Florida Statutes, this will acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 18, 2013 and certified copy of St. Lucie County Ordinance No. 13-022, which was filed in this office on July 22, 2013. Sincerely, Liz Cloud Program Administrator LC/elr R. A. Gray Building • 500 South Bronough Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250 Telephone: (850) 245-6270 • Facsimile: (850) 488-9879 www. dos.state. fl.us