If the Registrar of Contractors investigates a homeowner’s complaint against a licensed contractor, and if the Registrar’s investigator finds items that he or she believes need to be corrected, then the Registrar will issue something called a written directive.
The written directive will list the workmanship items in the complaint that need to be addressed. (It will often have a separate section showing the complaint items that do not need to be addressed.)
The statute that discusses the written directive is A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(22). Here is what that provision states:
22. Failure to take appropriate corrective action to comply with this chapter or with rules adopted pursuant to this chapter without valid justification within a reasonable period of time after receiving a written directive from the registrar. The written directive must set forth the time within which the contractor is to complete the remedial action. The time permitted for compliance may not be less than fifteen days from the date of issuance of the directive. A license may not be revoked or suspended nor may any other penalty be imposed for a violation of this paragraph until after a hearing has been held.
Here are some things to point out:
- A contractor who receives a written directive can have a defense to any alleged non-compliance, if the the contractor has “valid justification” for not complying.
- Likewise, a contractor can have a defense if the contractor did not have “a reasonable period of time” to comply with the directive.
- The minimum period of time that a contractor must receive is 15 days (“may not be less than fifteen days”). But the contractor may need much more than 15 days, depending on the scope of the written directive. If the Investigator sticks with 15 days no matter what, the contractor may need to deal with that at an administrative hearing.
