As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session S. B. No. 54
2025-2026
Senator Schaffer
A B I LL
To amend section 4740.99 and to enact section
4740.18 of the Revised Code to establish a
certification for specialty residential
construction contractors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 4740.99 be amended and section
4740.18 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 4740.18. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Residential-only certification" means a certification
the Ohio construction industry licensing board issues under this
section to a residential heating, ventilating, and air
conditioning contractor, residential refrigeration contractor,
residential electrical contractor, residential plumbing
contractor, or residential hydronics contractor.
(2) "Residential contractor" means an individual or
residential contracting company that satisfies both of the
following:
(a) Has responsibility for the means, method, and manner
of construction, improvement, renovation, repair, or maintenance
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on a residential construction project with respect to one or
more trades and who offers, identifies, advertises, or otherwise
holds out or represents that the individual or residential
contracting company with which the individual is associated is
permitted or qualified to perform or have responsibility for the
means, method, and manner of construction, improvement,
renovation, repair, or maintenance with respect to one or more
trades on a residential construction project;
(b) Does any of the following:
(i) Performs construction, improvement, or renovation on a
residential construction project with respect to the
individual's or residential contracting company's trade;
(ii) Employs tradespersons who perform construction,
improvement, or renovation on a construction project with
respect to the individual's or contracting company's trades;
(iii) Uses direct labor subcontractors who perform
construction, improvement, or renovation on a residential
construction project with respect to the individual's or
contracting company's trades.
(3) "Residential contracting company" means a company in
the construction industry that contracts with a person for a
residential construction project involving heating, ventilating,
and air conditioning, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing, or
hydronics.
(4) "Residential construction project" means a project
involving a residential building subject to Chapter 3781. of the
Revised Code and the rules adopted under that chapter.
(5) "Direct labor subcontractor" means an individual who
engages in construction, improvement, renovation, repair, or
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maintenance of a residential construction project under terms
specified in an agreement with a residential contractor and to
whom both of the following apply:
(a) The residential contractor has the right to control or
direct only the result of the construction, improvement,
renovation, repair, or maintenance performed by the individual;
(b) The income the individual earns from the construction,
improvement, renovation, repair, or maintenance is subject to
the "Self-Employment Contributions Act of 1954," 26 U.S.C. 1401
et seq., and the regulations adopted under it.
(6) "Residential building" and "industrialized unit" have
the same meanings as in section 3781.06 of the Revised Code.
(B) The administrative section of the Ohio construction
industry licensing board shall issue a residential-only
certificate to any individual who does all of the following:
(1) Completes an application that includes an individual's
name, the name of the residential contracting company associated
with the individual, the amount of time the individual has
engaged in the residential contracting business, and any other
information that may be required by the appropriate specialty
section of the board;
(2) Maintains and provides proof of contractor's liability
insurance in the name of the associated residential contracting
company that includes complete operations coverage in an amount
not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars;
(3) Maintains and provides proof of contractor's liability
insurance in the name of the associated residential contracting
company that includes, in addition to the coverage required by
division (B)(2) of this section, coverage for construction,
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improvements, renovations, repairs, or maintenance performed by
the company's direct labor subcontractors in an amount not less
than two hundred fifty thousand dollars;
(4) Pays a certification fee of one hundred dollars,
except if the certificate is to expire in less than five years,
the certification fee shall be reduced proportionally based on
the duration of the certification period. The certification fee
shall not be less than twenty dollars.
(C) Each certificate issued under this section shall
include the the following:
(1) The individual's name and certificate number;
(2) The name of the residential contracting company
associated with the individual;
(3) The license number associated with any other licenses
held by the individual under this chapter.
(D) All residential-only certificates an individual holds
under this section shall expire every fifth year on the same
date, which shall be the expiration date of the original
residential-only certificate the individual holds. An individual
holding a valid, unexpired residential-only certificate may
renew the certificate by submitting an application to the
appropriate specialty section of the board not more than ninety
days before the expiration of the certificate, along with a
renewal fee of one hundred dollars. The application shall
include proof of both of the following:
(1) That the applicant continues to meet the certification
requirements related to contractor's liability insurance under
divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section;
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(2) That the applicant has completed twenty hours of
board-approved continuing education in the preceding
certification period for each certification the individual
holds. If the certification period is less than five years, the
number of board-approved continuing education hours required
shall instead be the product of four hours times the number of
full years that elapsed since the certification was issued. In
no case shall the number of board-approved continuing education
hours required for renewal of a residential-only certification
be less than four.
(E) Upon application within one calendar year after a
certification has expired, the appropriate specialty section may
waive any of the requirements for renewal of a residential-only
certification if the section finds that the applicant
substantially meets the renewal requirements or that failure to
timely apply for renewal is due to excusable neglect. A section
that waives requirements for renewal of a certification may
impose conditions upon the certificate holder and assess a late
filing fee of not more than two hundred dollars. An applicant
shall satisfy any condition the section imposes before a
certification is reissued.
(F) A continuing education course may be counted for the
renewal of a residential-only certificate only if both of the
following apply:
(1) The course is offered by a training agency approved by
the administrative section of the Ohio construction industry
licensing board that pays to the board an annual fee of twenty-
five dollars for the purposes of establishing and maintaining
that approval.
(2) The course of study or program of instruction
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comprising the continuing education course is approved by the
appropriate specialty section of the Ohio construction industry
licensing board following payment by the training agency of a
one-time fee of ten dollars plus one dollar per credit hour.
(G) In addition to the fees prescribed by division (F) of
this section, an approved training agency shall remit, in the
form and manner required by the administrative section of the
Ohio construction industry licensing board, a fee of one dollar
per credit hour of instruction for each person who attends the
training agency's continuing education courses.
(H) No person shall knowingly act as or claim to be a
certified residential-only contractor unless that person holds
or has been issued a residential-only certificate under this
section.
(I) Upon the request of the appropriate specialty section
of the Ohio construction industry licensing board, the attorney
general may bring a civil action for appropriate relief,
including a temporary restraining order or permanent injunction
in the court of common pleas of the county where the person
alleged to have violated division (F) or (H) of this section
resides or is acting or claiming to be a certified residential-
only contractor or offering or purporting to offer continuing
education courses, as applicable.
(J) This section does not require a residential contractor
or any other person to obtain a residential-only certification
to work on residential construction projects in this state.
(K) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require
a direct labor subcontractor to be licensed or certified under
this chapter.
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Sec. 4740.99. Whoever violates division (A) of section
4740.13 or division (H) of section 4740.18 of the Revised Code
is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on the first violation and a
misdemeanor of the fourth degree on subsequent violations.
Section 2. That existing section 4740.99 of the Revised
Code is hereby repealed.
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