ALJDEC - Licensing
2023A-11686-CHC-ROC · Registrar of Contractors · 2024-01-25
IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
Adam Anthony Rivera,
COMPLAINANT,
v.
Bjelde Construction LLC,
License No. ROC 260364,
RESPONDENT.
No. 2023A-11686-CHC-ROC
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION
HEARING: January 18, 2024.
APPEARANCES: Adam Anthony Rivera represented himself. No one appeared on behalf of Respondent Bjelde Construction LLC.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Kay A. Abramsohn
EXHIBITS ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE: Notice of Hearing attachments.
_____________________________________________________________________
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Respondent Bjelde Construction LLC holds License number 260364 which was issued by the Registrar of Contractors (the Registrar).
2. Complainant got several bids on his project, which was the building out/remodeling of an existing unattached structure on Complainant’s property; the structure was built on a concrete pad but had no plumbing or electrical hook ups.
3. Complainant determined that Respondent had given the best price on the project.
4. On or about April 2022, the parties entered into a construction contract for the amount of $91,594.00; the deposit to begin the project was $27,500.00.
5. After Respondent was onsite discussing the project and taking measurements, Complainant, in good faith, gave Respondent a deposit of $30,000.00. Additionally, Complainant gave Respondent his only copy of the blueprints for the existing structure.
6. While there was some communication about the project, the permit, and the status of initiation of work, Respondent never began construction work on the project.
7. On or about October 12, 2023, Complainant filed a complaint (Complaint) with the Registrar against Respondent alleging abandonment.
8. Registrar Investigator Doug Barrett conducted an investigation into the complaint. Mr. Barrett set a job-site inspection for October 19, 2023.
9. Respondent failed to appear for the job site inspection.
10. Mr. Barrett found that no construction work had been performed on the project by Respondent and there were no materials on site which would have been brought there by Respondent for the project. Mr. Barrett pencil cited Respondent for abandonment.
11. On November 13, 2023, the Registrar issued a Citation against
Respondent’s license. Through the Citation, the Registrar alleged that Main may have violated Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 32-1154(A)(1). The Citation shows that if the Administrative Law Judge finds that the alleged charge is valid, the Registrar may suspend or revoke Respondent’s license.
12. Respondent filed a timely answer to the Citation.
13. The matter was referred to the Office of Administrative Hearings (the OAH) for an evidentiary hearing.
14. On December 7, 2023, the Registrar issued a Notice of Hearing setting the matter for hearing on January 18, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. The Notice of Hearing shows that the hearing was set to consider the charges made in the Citation and Complaint.
15. At hearing, Complainant testified on his own behalf and Mr. Barrett testified regarding his investigation of the complaint.
16. No one appeared on behalf of Respondent. No one filed a request to appear telephonically on behalf of Respondent. Although the hearing did not start until approximately 9:15 a.m., no one appeared on behalf of Respondent through an authorized member, officer, employee, or attorney, and no one contacted the OAH to request that the start of the hearing be further delayed. Consequently, Respondent did not present any evidence to defend its license.
17. Administrative notice is taken of Respondent’s existing and prior License record as of January 18, 2024. Respondent’s prior and existing License record reflects that License No. 260364 was first issued to Respondent on December 31, 2009. Respondent’s existing and prior License record also reflects multiple open complaints, both construction and non-payment complaints. While there was one complaint case listed that has been resolved, there have been four disciplinary actions of suspensions, and the License has been revoked; the earliest date of multiple disciplinary actions of revocations is listed December 7, 2023).
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. This matter lies within the Registrar’s jurisdiction. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 32-1101 et seq.
2. Complainant bears the burden of proof to establish Respondent’s statutory violation by a preponderance of the evidence. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. section
41-1092.07(G)(2); A.A.C. R2-19-119(A) and A.A.C. R2-19-119(B)(1); see also Vazanno v. Superior Court, 74 Ariz. 369, 372, 249 P.2d 837 (1952). “A preponderance of the evidence is such proof as convinces the trier of fact that the contention is more probably true than not.” Morris K. Udall, Arizona Law of Evidence section 5 (1960).
3. The undisputed evidence established that Respondent abandoned the construction contract, which is a violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 32-1154(A)(1).
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that on the effective date of the final Order in this matter,
Respondent Bjelde Construction LLC’s License No. 260364 is revoked.
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 41-1092.08(I), the licensee may accept the Administrative Law Judge Decision by advising the Office of Administrative Hearings in writing not more than ten (10) days after receiving the decision. If the licensee accepts the Administrative Law Judge Decision, the decision shall be certified as the final decision by the Office of Administrative Hearings.
In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order will be forty (40) days from the date of that certification.
Done this day, January 25, 2024.
/s/ Kay A. Abramsohn
Administrative Law Judge
Transmitted electronically to:
Tom Cole
Registrar of Contractors
c/o Legal Department
[email redacted]
Doug Barrett
[email redacted]
Adam Anthony Rivera
[email redacted]
Bjelde Construction LLC
[email redacted]
By: OAH Staff