CHAPTER 428

An Act to amend and reenact 8§ 54-113 and 54-129 of the Code of Virginia,
relating to contractors; and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding
anew section numbered 54-145.1, relating to the same subject. g

TS 303]

Approved April 3, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 54-113 and 54-129 of the Code of Virginia be amended and
reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia be amended by adding a new sec-
tion numbered 54-145.1, the amended and new sections being as follows:

§ 54-113. Meaning of terms.—The following terms used in this
chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, are for the purposes hereof
defined as given below:

(1) “Board” shall mean the State Registration Board for Contractors.

(2) “General contractor” or “subcontractor” shall mean any person,
firm, association or corporation that for a fixed price, commission, fee or
percentage, undertakes to bid upon, or accepts or offers to accept, * orders
or contracts for performing or superintending: (a) any work on or in any
building or structure, requiring the use o f paint, stone, brick, mortar, wood,
cement, structural iron or steel, sheet iron, galvanized iron, metallic pip-
ing, tin, lead, or other metal or any other building material; (b) any pav-
ing, curbing or other work on sidewalks, streets, alleys, or highways, on
public or private property, using asphalt, brick, stone, cement, concrete,
wood or any composition; (c) the excavating of "earth, ‘rock, or other ma-
terial for foundation or any other purpose; (d) the construction of any
sewer of stone, brick, terra cotta or other material; (e) any work involving
the erecting, installing, altering or repairing, electric wiring, devices or
appliances permanently connected to such wiring; or the erecting, re-
pairing or maintaining of lines for the transmission or distribution of elec-
tric light and power; (f) any work involving the installing, altering or
repairing of any plumbing, steam fitting or other piping, when the amount
of the bid or cost of the undertaking, order, contract or * subcontract * is
twenty thousand dollars or more; and any person, firm, association or
corporation who shall bid upon, accept, offer to accept, or engage in *
the doing or superintending of any work above mentioned in the State,
costing twenty thousand dollars or more, shall be deemed to have engaged
in the business of general contracting or subcontracting in this State.

(3) “Person” shall mean any person, firm, corporation or association.

(4) The singular personal pronoun shall be taken to include any per-
son, firm, association or corporation.

§ 54-129. Application for registration; fees, examination and issu-
ance of certificate———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, character and financial responsibility, and if the application
is satisfactory to the Board, then the applicant shall be entitled to an ex-
amination to determine his qualifications. If the result of the examina-
tion of any applicant shall be satisfactory to the Board, the Board shall is-
sue 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 con-
tractor, (2) highway contractor, (8) 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, 1t shall be the
further duty of the Board, or the members thereof, to ascertain from re-
liable sources whether or not the applicant has complied with the laws of
the Commonwealth pertaining to the domestication of foreign corporations
and all other laws in any manner affecting persons, firms, associations or
corporations engaged in the practice of general contracting or subcontract-
ing as set forth in this chapter.

§ 54-145.1. Notwithstanding the penalty provided in § 54-142, the
courts of record having equity jurisdiction shall have jurisdiction to enjoin
any person, firm, association or corporation violating the provisions of
Chapter 7, Title 54 of the Code.