GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1997
SESSION LAW 1998-216
AN ACT TO AMEND THE ARTICLE ON REFRIGERATION CONTRACTORS AND RELATING TO THE CONVEYANCE OF PROPERTY BY THE NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF CPA EXAMINERS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 87-58(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) As applied in this
Article, 'refrigeration trade or business' is defined to include all persons,
firms or corporations engaged in the installation, maintenance, servicing and
repairing of refrigerating machinery, equipment, devices and components
relating thereto and within limits as set forth in the codes, laws and
regulations governing refrigeration installation, maintenance, service and
repairs within the State of North Carolina or any of its political subdivisions,
provided however, that this subdivisions. This Article shall
not apply to the replacement of lamps and fuses and to the installation and
servicing of domestic household refrigerators and freezers or domestic
ice-making appliances connected by means of attachment plug-in devices to
suitable receptacles which have been permanently installed, and provided,
further, that the installed. The provisions of this Article shall
not repeal any wording, phrase, or paragraph as set forth in Article 2 of
Chapter 87 of the General Statutes. North Carolina General Statutes,
Chapter 87, Article 2; and provided, further, that this This Article
shall not apply to employees of persons, firms, or corporations or persons,
firms or corporations, not engaged in refrigeration contracting as herein
defined, that install, maintain and service their own refrigerating machinery,
equipment and devices. The provisions of this Article shall not apply to
any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of selling, repairing
and installing any air-conditioning units, comfort cooling devices
or systems systems. for the purpose of cooling offices,
buildings, houses, works, manufacturing plants, or any machinery, manufactured
article or processing of material."
Section 2. G.S. 87-58(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d) In order to protect the public health, comfort and safety, the Board shall prescribe the standard of experience to be required of an applicant for license and shall give an examination designed to ascertain the technical and practical knowledge of the applicant concerning the analysis of plans and specifications, estimating cost, fundamentals of installation and design as they pertain to refrigeration; and as a result of the examination, the Board shall issue a certificate of license in refrigeration to applicants who pass the required examination and a license shall be obtained in accordance with the provisions of this Article, before any person, firm or corporation shall engage in, or offer to engage in the business of refrigeration contracting. The Board shall prescribe standards for and issue licenses for refrigeration contracting and for transport refrigeration contracting. A transport refrigeration contractor license is a specialty license that authorizes the licensee to engage only in transport refrigeration contracting. A refrigeration contractor licensee is authorized to engage in transport refrigeration and all other aspects of refrigeration contracting.
Each application for examination shall be accompanied by a
check, post-office money order or cash in the amount of the annual license fee
required by this Article. Regular examinations shall be given in the months of April
and October of each year and additional examinations may be given at times the
Board deems wise and necessary. Any person may demand in writing a
special examination and upon payment by the applicant of the cost of holding
the examination and the deposit of the amount of the annual license fee, the
Board in its discretion will fix a time and place for the examination. A
person who fails to pass any examination shall not be reexamined until the next
regular examination."
Section 2.1. G.S. 87-58 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(j) The Board in its discretion upon application may grant a reciprocal license to a person holding a valid, active substantially comparable license from another jurisdiction, but only to the extent the other jurisdiction grants reciprocal privileges to North Carolina licensees."
Section 3. G.S. 87-60 reads as rewritten:
"§ 87-60. Reissuance of revoked licenses; replacing lost or destroyed licenses.
The Board may in its discretion reissue license to any person,
firm or corporation whose license may have been revoked: Provided, three or
more members was revoked if a majority of the Board vote votes
in favor of such reissuance for reasons deemed sufficient by the
Board. A new certificate of registration to replace any license which may
be lost or destroyed may be issued subject to the rules and regulations of the
Board."
Section 4. G.S. 87-62 reads as rewritten:
"§ 87-62. Only one person in partnership or corporation need have license.
(a) A corporation
or partnership may engage in the business of refrigeration contracting provided
if one or more persons connected with such the corporation
or partnership is registered and licensed as herein required; and provided
such required, and the licensed person shall execute executes
all contracts, exercise exercises general supervision over
the work done thereunder and be is responsible for compliance
with all the provisions of this Article. The Board may determine the
number of businesses and the proximity of the businesses one to another over
which the licensed person may be responsible.
(b) For purposes of this section, the licensee's connection to the corporation or partnership shall be in the form of a written contract that is executed prior to the corporation or partnership engaging in refrigeration contracting.
(c) Nothing in this Article shall prohibit any employee from becoming licensed pursuant to the provisions thereof."
Section 5. G.S. 87-64 reads as rewritten:
"§ 87-64. Examination and license fees; annual renewal.
Each applicant for a license by examination shall pay to the
Board of Refrigeration Examiners a nonrefundable examination fee in an amount
not to exceed the sum of forty dollars ($40.00). In the event the applicant successfully
passes said the examination, the examination fee so paid shall
be applied to the license fee required of licensees for the current year in
which the examination was taken and passed.
The license of every person licensed under the provisions of
this statute shall be annually renewed. On or before November 1 of each year
the Board shall cause to be mailed an application for renewal of license to
every person who has received from the Board a license to engage in the
refrigeration business, as heretofore defined. On or before January 1 of
each year every licensed person who desires to continue in the refrigeration
business shall forward to the Board a renewal fee in an amount not to exceed
forty dollars ($40.00) together with the application for renewal. Upon
receipt of the application and renewal fee the Board shall issue a renewal
certificate for the current year. Failure to renew the license annually
shall automatically result in a forfeiture of the right to engage in the
refrigeration business. Any licensee who allows his the license
to lapse may be reinstated by the Board upon payment of a fee not to exceed forty-five
dollars ($45.00); provided any seventy-five dollars
($75.00). Any person who fails to renew his a license
for two consecutive years shall be required to take and pass the examination
prescribed by the Board for new applicants before being licensed to engage
further in the refrigeration business."
Section 6. G.S. 93-12 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(17) The Board shall have the power to acquire, hold, rent, encumber, alienate, and otherwise deal with real property in the same manner as a private person or corporation, subject only to approval of the Governor and the Council of State as to the acquisition, rental, encumbering, leasing, and sale of real property. Collateral pledged by the Board for an encumbrance is limited to the assets, income, and revenues of the Board."
Section 7. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 22nd day of October, 1998.
s/ Marc Basnight
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor
Approved 1:51 p.m. this 31st day of October, 1998