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Business and Professions Code Section 7051 (Exempting PCOs from State Contractors Laws)
Business and Professions Code Section 7051 provides Structural Pest Control Operators with an exemption from the provisions and requirements contained in Chapter 12 (Contractors License Law). Therefore Branch 2 Operators can bid on pigeon exclusion jobs claiming this exemption to satisfy the C61/D64 licensing requirement. We need to challenge the constitutionality of Section 7051 from a taxpayer's point of view in that the State is misrepresenting the competence of unskilled and/or untested licensees. ("All specialty contractors licensed in one classification are prohibited from contracting in the field of any other classification unless they are also licensed in that classification." California Code of Regulations, Article 3, Section 830)
While specialty contractors are so constrained, PCOs, being exempted from this prohibition, are free to perform work in any field of construction they choose long as they can relate the work to pest control. For example, a licensed plumber cannot perform the work of a roofer unless that plumber also happens to be a licensed roofer. On the other hand, an exterminator is not prohibited from performing the work of a roofer since he can assert that he constructed the new roof to exclude vertebrate pests from entering the household. The PCO can also perform the work of a glazier by replacing windows, act as a carpenter by reframing doors, as a mason by restoring a foundation, etc. No experience or expertise is required and no further regulation is imposed.
The Department of Consumer Affairs and the Structural Pest Control Board, were created by the legislature for the primary purpose of protecting the California consumer against incompetent providers of services and products. However their protective actions are directed toward the Structural Pest Control Operators instead of consumers and taxpayers in this state. Their perverted mission is blatantly displayed on the home page of the Structural Pest Control Board website where their links to their two powerful trade associations are displayed. These associations work to protect PCOs not the public.
Applicants for a Branch 2 Field Rep's license are not required to have any experience in bird control. The State does not provide bird control information to persons preparing for the Branch 2 examination. The written paper and pencil objective test does not ask questions relating to bird control. No performance testing in bird control is given. Once having been awarded the Branch 2 license, the PCO has no requirement to participate in bird control training as a condition for license renewal. Any knowledge, skill or experience in bird control is purely incidental to the State's licensing requirements for Branch 2 PCOs.
While the State gives PCOs a free pass by exempting them from expertise in bird control and the construction industry, it holds applicant for a C61/D64 to a much higher standard. A person applying for the C61/D64 license must prove he or she has had at least four years experience (within the past ten years), in the field of bird control performed at the journeyman level. A person possessing direct knowledge of his experience in performing this bird work must sign a sworn statement attesting to this work experience. The applicant must then pass the written limited specialty contractors exam to demonstrate his knowledge in construction safety standards, blueprint reading, bid preparation, building construction, etc. He must then take another exam for Home Improvement Certification and then once certified, he must take a third exam in the proper handling and disposal of asbestos. If this rigorous procedure is necessary for contractors, why is it not also important for PCOs? Does CAL/OSHA exempt PCOs from their safety standards? No!
The dual standards do not make for a level playing field and the system needs to be corrected not just for WCOs, but for the public who relies on the State's licensing procedure as a device for screening out incompetent and unscrupulous providers of bird control services and products.
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