74R10026 MRB-D
          By Carona                                              H.B. No. 800
          Substitute the following for H.B. No. 800:
          By Yarbrough                                       C.S.H.B. No. 800
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to municipal requirements regarding the regulation of air
    1-3  conditioning and refrigeration contractors.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 7, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
    1-6  Contractor License Law (Article 8861, Vernon's Texas Civil
    1-7  Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
    1-8        Sec. 7.  REPORTING REQUIREMENT.  (a)  Each air conditioning
    1-9  and refrigeration contractor <person> licensed under this Act shall
   1-10  notify the municipal authority who has control of the enforcement
   1-11  of regulations relative to air conditioning and refrigeration
   1-12  contracting in the municipality in which the person is engaged in
   1-13  air conditioning and refrigeration contracting that the person has
   1-14  obtained a state license.
   1-15        (b)  The notification must be in the form required by the
   1-16  municipality.
   1-17        (c)  The amount of a fee imposed by a municipality on a
   1-18  contractor to provide notice under this section must be an amount
   1-19  reasonable and necessary to implement this section.
   1-20        SECTION 2.  Section 9, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
   1-21  Contractor License Law (Article 8861, Vernon's Texas Civil
   1-22  Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
   1-23        Sec. 9.  Municipal Regulation.  (a)  A license issued by a
   1-24  municipality of this state that complies with the requirements of
    2-1  this section is valid under the terms of the license within that
    2-2  municipality.  However, a license issued under this Act is valid
    2-3  throughout the state, and the holder and people under supervision
    2-4  are not required to hold a municipal license to practice air
    2-5  conditioning and refrigeration contracting in any municipality
    2-6  within this state.
    2-7        (b)  An applicant for a municipal license must:
    2-8              (1)  pass an examination that covers the same subjects
    2-9  as the examination required by the commissioner for an air
   2-10  conditioning and refrigeration contractor license of the class of
   2-11  work that the municipal applicant proposes to perform; and
   2-12              (2)  meet experience requirements that are at least as
   2-13  strict as those required under Section 4(e) of this Act for an air
   2-14  conditioning and refrigeration contractor license.
   2-15        (c)  A municipality may by ordinance adopt and enforce
   2-16  standards for air conditioning and refrigeration contractors that
   2-17  are consistent with the standards established under this Act.  The
   2-18  municipality shall report violations of the ordinance to the
   2-19  commissioner not later than the 10th day after the date on which
   2-20  the municipality takes action to enforce the ordinance.  Conviction
   2-21  of an offense under the municipal ordinance is a ground for the
   2-22  denial, suspension, or revocation of a license issued under this
   2-23  Act.
   2-24        SECTION 3.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
   2-25  section, the change in law made by Section 9, Air Conditioning and
   2-26  Refrigeration Contractor License Law (Article 8861, Vernon's Texas
   2-27  Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, applies to a municipal
    3-1  license that is issued or renewed on or after the effective date of
    3-2  this Act.  A municipality subject to that section shall adopt
    3-3  examination requirements in compliance with that  section not later
    3-4  than January 1, 1996.
    3-5        (b)  To continue to engage in the practice of air
    3-6  conditioning and refrigeration contracting after September 1, 1995,
    3-7  a person who holds a municipal license on the effective date of
    3-8  this Act must satisfy the examination requirements imposed under
    3-9  Section 9(b), Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License
   3-10  Law (Article 8861, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by
   3-11  this Act, not later than June 1, 1996.
   3-12        SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   3-13        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-14  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-15  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-16  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-17  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.