ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

07F-T0625-ROC · Registrar of Contractors · 2007-10-19

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

HEARING: October 15th, 2007; 1:30 p.m. APPEARANCES: Complainants, Mr. Ronald and Ms. Carol Stanley, represented themselves. Respondent Sinobase Corporation, doing business as Deluxe Granite, was represented by Mr. Junting Lei, owner and Qualifying Party. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Grant Winston _____________________________________________________________________ The administrative hearing of this matter was held in the Office of Administrative Hearings, Tucson. Testimony was heard and other evidence admitted to the record, and, based on the entire record, the following Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommended Order are made. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Respondent Sinobase Corporation, doing business as Deluxe Granite, is, and during all time material hereto was, a contractor licensed by and doing business in the State of Arizona, holding Class K-05 License number 192030. 2. Complainants, Mr. Ronald and Ms. Carol Stanley, did not deal directly with the Respondent in the matter of the custom, granite countertops which were installed in their Green Valley, Arizona home by Respondent. 3. Complainants dealt with a Mr. Tom Wyatt, who is a cabinet distributor in Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Wyatt hired Respondent’s owner and Qualifying Party, Mr. Junting Lei, to install the granite countertops in the Stanleys’ home. Complainants paid $6,000.00 for the job, and Mr. Lei installed the countertops. 4. After installation it was evident that the workmanship was defective, and Complainants filed the instant Complaint with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors on or about October 31st, 2006. 5. The Complaint was assigned to Registrar of Contractors Inspector Richard C. Allen, and he conducted a job site inspection on December 11th, 2006. As a result of his inspection findings Inspector Allen issued a written Corrective Work Order to Respondent dated December 26th, 2006. The CWO directed Respondent to make a number of corrections to the faulty workmanship and properly complete the project. The CWO allowed for 15 calendar days to perform the work, which was a reasonable amount of time. 6. Respondent returned to the job site twice to attempt corrective work, but was not entirely successful. The Complainants requested this administrative hearing, which was duly scheduled, noticed and held. 7. Inspector Allen testified at the hearing. He performed a pre- hearing job-site inspection on October 11th, 2007. He testified that on that date, although some items in his CWO had been corrected others had not. Specifically, Inspector Allen testified that there exists excessive lippage at the cook-top granite and backsplash areas; “saw chatter” or rough spots around the cut for the sink opening; a gap in excess of acceptable industry standards (>3/32”) at a seam on the left side of the sink; some excessive amounts of hardened glue which had oozed out from the underlayment, and a section of granite on the right side of the sink which, when installed, was turned a quarter turn, making its appearance incongruous with the surrounding granite. Inspector Allen testified that this last defect was more than mere cosmetic unsightliness, and failed to meet industry standards. 8. Complainants testified and offered several photographs of the defective installation, which were admitted into the evidentiary record. After three attempts by the Respondent to properly install their granite countertops, they are understandably exasperated with Mr. Lei, and do not wish him to return for a fourth effort, and would prefer to have another appropriately licensed contractor correct the defects of his installation. 9. Mr. Lei testified that in his opinion all aspects of his work now meet all industry and agency standards. The greater weight of evidence is to the contrary. 10. Notice is taken of Respondent’s prior license record with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. This administrative hearing was held under authority of and pursuant to A.R.S. 32-1156, and A.R.S. 41-1092. 2. Respondent is charged in the instant Citation and Complaint with possible violations of A.R.S. 32-1154.A.7, 23 and 3 (namely A.A.C. R4-9-108, Workmanship Standards). 3. The greater weight of evidence proved that Respondent did violate A.R.S. 32-1154.A.3 by the poor workmanship in his countertop installation at Complainants’ home in violation of A.A.C. R4-9-108. 4. Respondent also violated A.R.S. 32-1154.A.23 by failing to properly correct the defects in his workmanship as ordered by the Inspector, without any valid justification. 5. There is no evidence of any violation of A.R.S. 32-1154.A.7 (wrongful or fraudulent act) independent of the violations already concluded to have occurred. RECOMMENDED ORDER In view of the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law it is hereby recommended that Respondent’s Class K-05 License number be suspended until such time as he causes another appropriately licensed contractor to correct the defective workmanship of his granite countertop installation at the Complainants’ home. It is further recommended that in the event the Respondent causes the corrective work to be properly accomplished on or before the effective date of this Order (40 days after the date of service appearing on the Registrar’s certification on the Order), then the above-provided license suspension shall not occur, and Citation and Complaint T07-0625 shall be closed. In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge’s Decision and Order by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, then the effective date of the Order shall be 40 days after the date of that certification. Done this day, October 19th, 2007.

______________________________________ Grant Winston Administrative Law Judge

Original transmitted by mail this ____ day of ____________, 2007, to:

Registrar of Contractors Fidelis V. Garcia Legal Department 800 West Washington, 6th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85007

By ___________________________

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Office of Administrative Hearings 100 N. Stone Ave., Suite 704 Tucson, Arizona 85701 (520) 628-5488