CHAPTER 69

AN ACT to amend and reenact § 54-129, as amended, of the Code of Vir-
ginia, relating to registration, examination and issuance of certificate
to engage in business as a contractor in this State so as to provide for
issuance of temporary certificates in certain cases. S

[S 53]

Approved February 20, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 54-129, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended and
reenacted as follows:

§ 54-129. Any person desiring to be registered as a general contractor
or a subcontractor in this State shall make and file with the Board thirty
days prior to any regular or special meeting thereof a written application
on such form as may then be by the Board prescribed for examination by
the Board, which application shall be accompanied by thirty dollars. The
Board may require the applicant to furnish evidence of his ability, char-
acter and financial responsibility, and if the application is satisfactory to
the Board, then the applicant shall be entitled to an examination to deter-
mine his qualifications. If the result of the examination of any applicant
shall be satisfactory to the Board, the Board shall issue to the applicant
a certificate to engage as a general contractor or a subcontractor in this
State as provided in the certificate. The Board may grant an unclassified
certificate, or limit the certificate granted to any applicant to any of four
classifications, namely, (1) building contractor, (2) highway contractor,
(3) public utilities contractor, or (4) specialty contractor, as the common
use of the terms is known, and it shall be the responsibility of the Board,
or the members thereof, to ascertain from reliable sources whether or not
the past performance record of an applicant is good, whether or not he
has the reputation of paying his labor and material bills, as well as carrying
out other contracts that he may have entered into. Before the issuance
of a certificate, it shall be the further duty of the Board, or the members
thereof, to ascertain from reliable sources whether or not the applicant
has complied with the laws of the Commonwealth pertaining to the domes-
tication of foreign corporations and all other laws in any manner affecting
persons, firms, associations or corporations engaged in the practice of
general contracting or subcontracting as set forth in this chapter.

The Executive Secretary of the Board may issue a temporary cer-
tificate to engage as a general contractor or a subcontractor in this State
as provided in the certificate to any person who is a resident of the Com-
monwealth of Virginia or is a domestic corporation of the Commonwealth
of Virginia who had not theretofore made application for examination,
provided such person file with the Board the application and evidence of
ability, character and financial responsibility as hereinabove referred to,
and further provided that such person give bond in sufficient amount with
an approved corporate surety in favor of the person or persons for whom
such contractor proposes to bid upon or perform work, such bond to be
conditioned on the faithful performance of the work to be undertaken,
and provided further that no such certificate shall be issued when the cost
of ye work to be undertaken thereunder exceeds one hundred thousand

rs.

Such temporary certificate shall be valid and deemed to comply with
the requirements of this chapter until the next meeting of the Board, at
which time the holder thereof shall submit himself to the examination re-
quired by this section and shall comply with all other requirements for
the issuance of a certificate imposed by this chapter; provided that if
either the application or the result of the examination of such person is
not satisfactory to the Board and the Board does not issue a certificate to
the person, the temporary certificate shall permit the person to complete
any work upon which he has been awarded a contract or is performing
80 long as the required bond is in force.