32-1121

32-1121. Persons not required to be licensed;
penalties

A. This chapter shall not be construed to apply to:

1. An authorized representative of the United States government, this state or any
county, incorporated city or town, reclamation district, irrigation district or other
municipality or political subdivision of this state.

2. Trustees of an express trust that is not formed for the purpose of conducting
business as a contractor or officers of a court, if they are acting within the terms of
their trust or office.

3. Public utilities operating under regulation of the corporation commission or
construction, repair or operation incidental to discovering or producing petroleum or
gas, or the drilling, testing, abandoning or other operation of a petroleum or gas well,
if performed by an owner or lessee.

4. Any materialman, manufacturer or retailer who furnishes finished products,
materials or articles of merchandise and who does not install or attach such items or
installs or attaches such items if the total value of the sales contract or transaction
involving such items and the cost of the installation or attachment of such items to a
structure does not exceed one thousand dollars, including labor, materials and all other
items, but excluding any electrical fixture or appliance that was designed by the
manufacturer, that is unaltered, unchanged or unmodified by any person, that can be
plugged into a common household electrical outlet utilizing a two pronged or three
pronged electrical connector and that does not use any other form of energy, including
natural gas, propane or other petroleum or gaseous fuel, to operate or is attached by a
nail, screw or other fastening device to the frame or foundation of any residential
structure. The materialman, manufacturer or retailer shall inform the purchaser that the
installation may also be performed by a licensed contractor whose name and address the
purchaser may request.

5. Owners of property who improve such property or who build or improve structures
or appurtenances on such property and who do the work themselves, with their own
employees or with duly licensed contractors, if the structure, group of structures or
appurtenances, including the improvements thereto, are intended for occupancy solely by
the owner and are not intended for occupancy by members of the public as the owner's
employees or business visitors and the structures or appurtenances are not intended for
sale or for rent. In all actions brought under this chapter, except an action against an
owner-occupant as defined in section 33-1002, proof of the sale or rent or the offering
for sale or rent of any such structure by the owner-builder within one year after
completion or issuance of a certificate of occupancy is prima facie evidence that such
project was undertaken for the purpose of sale or rent. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "sale" or "rent" includes any arrangement by which the owner receives
compensation in money, provisions, chattels or labor from the occupancy or the transfer
of the property or the structures on the property.

6. Owners of property who are acting as developers and who build structures or
appurtenances to structures on their property for the purpose of sale or rent and who
contract for such a project with a general contractor licensed pursuant to this chapter
and owners of property who are acting as developers, who improve structures or
appurtenances to structures on their property for the purpose of sale or rent and who
contract for such a project with a general contractor or specialty contractors licensed
pursuant to this chapter. To qualify for the exemption under this paragraph, the licensed
contractors' names and license numbers shall be included in all sales documents.

7. Architects or engineers who are engaging in their professional practice as
defined in chapter 1 of this title and who hire or offer to hire the services of a
contractor for preconstruction activities relating to investigation and discovery
including:

(a) Subsurface utility location and designation services.

(b) Potholing.

(i) Soil samples.

(ii) Rock samples.

(iii) Pavement samples.

(d) Locating existing features of a building or structure including existing
electrical, mechanical, plumbing and structural members.

8. A person licensed, certified or registered pursuant to chapter 22 of this title
or a person working under the direct supervision of a person certified or qualified
pursuant to chapter 22 of this title to the extent the person is engaged in structural
pest control.

9. The sale or installation of finished products, materials or articles of
merchandise which are not fabricated into and do not become a permanent fixed part of the
structure. This exemption does not apply if a local building permit is required, if the
total price of the finished product, material or article of merchandise, including labor
but excluding any electrical fixture or appliance that was designed by the manufacturer,
that is unaltered, unchanged or unmodified by any person, that can be plugged into a
common household electrical outlet utilizing a two pronged or three pronged electrical
connector and that does not use any other form of energy, including natural gas, propane
or other petroleum or gaseous fuel, to operate or is attached by a nail, screw or other
fastening device to the frame or foundation of any residential structure, is more than
one thousand dollars or if the removal of the finished product, material or article of
merchandise causes damage to the structure or renders the structure unfit for its
intended use.

10. Employees of the owners of condominiums, townhouses, cooperative units or
apartment complexes of four units or less or the owners' management agent or employees of
the management agent repairing or maintaining structures owned by them.

11. Any person who engages in the activities regulated by this chapter, as an
employee of an exempt property owner or as an employee with wages as the person's sole
compensation.

12. A surety company or companies which are authorized to transact business in this
state and which undertake to complete a contract on which they issued a performance or
completion bond, provided all construction work is performed by duly licensed
contractors.

13. Insurance companies which are authorized to transact business in this state and
which undertake to perform repairs resulting from casualty losses pursuant to the
provisions of a policy, provided all construction work is performed by duly licensed
contractors.

14. Any person other than a licensed contractor engaging in any work or operation on
one undertaking or project by one or more contracts, for which the aggregate contract
price, including labor, materials and all other items, but excluding any electrical
fixture or appliance that was designed by the manufacturer, that is unaltered, unchanged
or unmodified by any person, that can be plugged into a common household electrical
outlet utilizing a two pronged or three pronged electrical connector and that does not
use any other form of energy, including natural gas, propane or other petroleum or
gaseous fuel, to operate or is attached by a nail, screw or other fastening device to the
frame or foundation of any residential structure, is less than one thousand dollars. The
work or operations which are exempt under this paragraph shall be of a casual or minor
nature. This exemption does not apply:

(a) In any case in which the performance of the work requires a local building
permit.

(b) In any case in which the work or construction is only a part of a larger or
major operation, whether undertaken by the same or a different contractor, or in which a
division of the operation is made in contracts of amounts less than one thousand dollars,
excluding any electrical fixture or appliance that was designed by the manufacturer, that
is unaltered, unchanged or unmodified by any person, that can be plugged into a common
household electrical outlet utilizing a two pronged or three pronged electrical connector
and that does not use any other form of energy, including natural gas, propane or other
petroleum or gaseous fuel, to operate or is attached by a nail, screw or other fastening
device to the frame or foundation of any residential structure, for the purpose of
evasion of this chapter or otherwise.

(c) To a person who utilizes any form of advertising to the public in which the
person's unlicensed status is not disclosed by including the words "not a licensed
contractor" in the advertisement.

15. A person who is licensed, certified or registered pursuant to title 41, chapter
16 and who is not otherwise required to be licensed under this chapter or an employee of
such person.

16. A person who functions as a gardener by performing lawn, garden, shrub and tree
maintenance.

B. A person who is licensed to perform work in a particular trade pursuant to this
chapter shall not be required to obtain and maintain a separate license for mechanical or
structural service work performed within the scope of such trade by such person.

C. Any person who does not have an exemption from licensure pursuant to subsection
A, paragraph 14, subdivision (c) of this section is subject to prosecution for a
violation of section 44-1522. The attorney general may investigate the act or practice
and take appropriate action pursuant to title 44, chapter 10, article 7.