ALJDEC

00F-R0021X-ROC · Registrar of Contractors · 2000-03-07

STATE OF ARIZONA IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

HEARING: March 7, 2000.

APPEARANCES: Respondent, Rib Roof, Inc., failed to appear.

The Registrar of Contractors was represented by Assistant Attorney General, Mary DeLaat Williams, Esq.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Robert I. Worth _____________________________________________________________________

Evidence and testimony were presented, and based upon the entire record, the following Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommended Order are made.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The uncontroverted evidence presented at the hearing revealed that Verne Francis Moser (herein called “Moser”) was and is listed as a corporate officer (Secretary) on the Class B-01 license number 100780 issued by the Registrar of Contractors to Respondent, Rib Roof, Inc. on February 1, 1994.

2. Moser is the same individual who had been listed as the corporate Secretary and who had served on the Class B-01 license number 116712 of A M W Construction, Inc. issued by the Registrar on August 12, 1996.

3. The contracting license of A M W Construction, Inc. was shown to have been revoked for cause by the Registrar on November 16, 1998 as a result of disciplinary proceedings under Case Number 98-3012.

4. The underlying cause of the aforementioned license revocation was the failure to pay monies when due to the Complainant in that administrative action. Credible evidence tended to demonstrate that, at the present time, the monies claimed owing and unpaid are in the amount of $13,129.21, which sum is substantially less than the total set forth as a condition in the prior provisional revocation order.

5. Notice is taken of the Registrar’s license records which further reveal that the Class B-01 license of Respondent, Rib Roof, Inc., has been suspended by operation of law since January 31, 2000 for non-renewal. Such license suspension does not preclude the pursuit by the Registrar of these administrative disciplinary proceedings which are expressly authorized by the provisions of A.R.S. §32-1154(C). Moreover, the presently suspended status of Respondent’s license may and should be considered when formulating an appropriate penalty to be imposed in this case, whether with or without reasonable payment conditions.

6. By the failure of Respondent to appear at and participate in the scheduled hearing of this matter, no evidence in defense or in mitigation of the charged violations was presented to the tribunal.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. The Registrar of Contractors is empowered pursuant to the provisions of A.R.S. §32-1154(A)(21) to impose disciplinary penalties against the holder of a contracting license on which a person, as defined in A.R.S. §32-1101(A)(5), had also been listed as a person on another license that has been previously revoked by the agency.

2. The manifest purpose of the explicit statutory provisions contained in A.R.S.§32-1154(A)(21) that enable the imposition of penalties against new or other existing licenses owned or operated by identical individuals is to prevent instances of “license hopping” where listed persons who had been serving in key capacities with an entity whose contracting operations caused damage or injury to others attempt to jump off or abandon the former license and continue to or begin to engage in construction-related activities under a different license.

3. The undisputed evidence of record adequately established that Verne Francis Moser, as the Secretary under Rib Roof’s Class B-01 license number 100780 not only is a “person” listed on such license as defined in A.R.S. §32-1101(A)(5), but also is the same individual who had appeared in this capacity on the previously revoked Class B-01 license number 116712 of A M W Construction. Consequently, the Registrar is authorized and empowered to impose appropriate disciplinary penalties against Rib Roof’s presently held Class B-01 license.

4. Under all the circumstances, including the failure by Rib Roof to attend the scheduled hearing, a license revocation appears to be fully warranted hereunder, such revocation to be conditioned upon its payment of the present balance to the Complainant in the action against A M W Construction.

RECOMMENDED ORDER

In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that Respondent’s Class B- license number 100780 license shall be revoked on the effective date of the Order entered in this matter.

It is further recommended that if on or before this Order’s effective date, Respondent, Rib Roof, Inc. pays or tenders the amount of $13,129.61 to the named Complainant/creditor in the prior proceeding that had resulted in the revocation of the license held by A M W Construction, then no license revocation shall take place, but instead the entire Citation and Complaint against Rib Roof, Inc. in this case shall be closed.

Dated: March 13, 2000.

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

______________________________________ Robert I. Worth Administrative Law Judge

Original transmitted on _____________________

by: _____________________________ , to:

Michael P. Goldwater, Director Registrar of Contractors 800 West Washington, 6th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85007

ATTN: Joyce Armijo -----------------------

Office of Administrative Hearings 1400 West Washington, Suite 101 Phoenix, Arizona 85007 (602) 542-9826