PRINTER'S NO. 3047
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2140
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY DRISCOLL, MILLARD, DELLOSO, KENYATTA, HOHENSTEIN,
YOUNGBLOOD, DeLUCA, HILL-EVANS, CIRESI AND ISAACSON,
DECEMBER 17, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, DECEMBER 17, 2019
AN ACT
Providing for bonding requirements for contractors performing
work on adjoining properties.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Contractor
Bonding for Adjoining Properties Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Adjoining property." Real property which is physically
connected to the adjacent real property in which construction
work is being performed and which is zoned residential or dual-
use by a municipality or municipal authority.
"Contractor." Any person who owns and operates a home
improvement business or who undertakes, offers to undertake or
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agrees to perform any home improvement. The term includes a
subcontractor or independent contractor who has contracted with
a home improvement retailer, regardless of the home improvement
retailer's net worth, to provide home improvement services to
the home improvement retailer's customers. The term does not
include any of the following:
(1) A person for whom the total cash value of all of
that person's home improvements is less than $5,000 during
the previous taxable year.
(2) A home improvement retailer having a net worth of
more than $50,000,000 or an employee of that retailer that
does not perform home improvements.
"Home improvement."
(1) The term includes all of the following done in
connection with land or a portion of the land adjacent to a
private residence or a building or a portion of the building
which is used or designed to be used as a private residence
for which the total cash price of all work agreed upon
between the contractor and owner is more than $500:
(i) Repair, replacement, remodeling, demolition,
removal, renovation, installation, alteration,
conversion, modernization, improvement, rehabilitation or
sandblasting.
(ii) Construction, replacement, installation or
improvement of driveways, swimming pools, pool houses,
porches, garages, roofs, siding, insulation, solar energy
systems, security systems, flooring, patios, fences,
gazebos, sheds, cabanas, landscaping of a type that is
not excluded under paragraph (2)(vi), painting, doors and
windows and waterproofing.
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(iii) Without regard to affixation, the installation
of central heating, air conditioning, storm windows or
awnings.
(2) The term does not include:
(i) The sale of goods or materials by a seller who
neither arranges to nor performs, directly or indirectly,
any work or labor in connection with the installation or
application of the goods or materials.
(ii) The sale of services furnished for commercial
or business use or for resale, if the service takes place
somewhere other than at a private residence.
(iii) The sale of appliances, including stoves,
refrigerators, freezers, room air conditioners and others
which are designed for and are easily removable from the
premises without material alteration.
(iv) Any work performed without compensation by the
owner of the owner's private residence or residential
rental property.
(v) Any work performed by a landscaper certified by
the Department of Agriculture under the act of December
16, 1992 (P.L.1228, No.162), known as the Plant Pest Act,
except to the extent that the work involves any of the
following at a private residence:
(A) The construction, replacement, installation
or improvement of buildings, driveways, swimming
pools, porches, garages, roofs, siding, insulation,
solar energy systems, security systems, flooring,
patios, nondecorative fences, doors, lighting
systems, concrete walkways and windows.
(B) The placement of retaining walls, fountains
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or drainage systems.
(vi) Emergency work under section 7 of the act of
December 17, 1968 (P.L.1224, No.387), known as the Unfair
Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
(vii) The conversion of existing commercial
structures into residential or noncommercial structures.
"Home improvement retailer." A person who sells materials
for use in home improvement contracts.
Section 3. Bonding requirement.
(a) General rule.--A contractor performing a home
improvement project or a new home construction project on
adjoining property shall purchase a surety bond of $500,000 for
each property adjoining the property on which the home
improvement project or a new home construction project is being
performed. The bond shall only be used to cover damages to a
property caused by a home improvement project or a new home
construction project on an adjoining property.
(b) Proof.--Proof of bonding must be submitted to the
municipality in which the home improvement project or a new home
construction project is being performed at the time of issuance
of any building permit.
Section 4. Violation and penalties.
If a contractor is found to be in violation of section 3, the
contractor shall be subject to the following:
(1) A civil penalty of $10,000 for the first offense.
(2) A civil penalty of $20,000 for each subsequent
offense.
Section 5. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 180 days.
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