|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Senate Committee Holds More than 300 contractors crammed into a hearing room in the Grant Sawyer Building on March 19 and 20 to hear testimony on SB 241, the Coalition for Fairness in Construction’s "Right to Repair" bill. They were joined by about 25 "Safe Homes Nevada" folks and representatives of various law firms. Testimony went as expected, with the entire pro-SB 241 testimony coming in at just over an hour. |
|
||
|
Steve Hill, chairman of the Coalition, briefly outlined
the need for changes to Chapter 40, the section of Nevada law that deals with
construction defects. He was followed by Robert Lewis of Lewis Homes, and Bruce
King of Pete King Corporation. All echoed that defect lawsuits are unnecessary,
that contractors want the responsibility to repair defects.
Jim Wadhams, SNHBA’ lobbyist, discussed the major provisions of SB 241. The Coalition’s prepared testimony concluded with several homeowners who had their construction problems resolved without a lawsuit. Attorney Scott Canepa spoke on behalf of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association, and presented a detailed Powerpoint presentation on the Contractor’s Liability Task Force hearings and recommendations. At one point Mr. Canepa referred to an article in a 2000 issue of Plumbing & Mechanical Magazine about hurricane damage as proof that Nevada contractors aren’t building up to code. As of this writing, there have been no reports of hurricanes in Clark County. |
|||
|
|
Canepa testified that SB 241 should not be passed, and
used the phrase, "Morally repugnant" to describe sections that,
according to his take on the bill, would force homeowners to actually suffer
damage or injury prior to claiming a construction defect.
The only real surprise came at the end of the hearing when Randolph Townsend (R-Reno), chairman of the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee, said he wanted to look at a bill from the 2001 session that dealt with the right to repair. A bill that had been the subject of long and intense debate. A bill that did not pass. That bill was SB 516. |
||
|
"The Right to Repair" bill was drafted by the
Nevada Subcontractors Association. The bill made it out of Townsend’s Senate
committee after several long and intense hearings, and got the nod of the Senate
before being buried in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Bernie Anderson (D- Sparks) didn’t have much choice in the decision not to do anything with SB 516 since the 120 day deadline was fast approaching and there existed conflicting views from the construction industry on exactly what they wanted to leave in or take out. That’s the kiss of death for a bill as the legislature rushes toward the end of the session, especially a hotly contested bill like SB 516 had been. One of the most vocal critics of SB 516 was the Nevada State Contractor’s Board. Executive Director Margi Grein testified that board could find itself overwhelmed if SB 516 passed as written. Grein estimated that it would cost $5 million dollars a year for the board to implement the requirements of SB 516. In the final days of the 2001 session, the text of SB 516 was replaced with different language. Since no agreement could be reached on construction defects, SB 516 was used as a vehicle to pass a bill dealing with design professionals. On Thursday, March 20, the committee again took up testimony on SB 241, this time with appearances by representatives of the Nevada State Contractor’s Board and Clark County.
|
|||
|
|
Call (702) 615-7644 |
