Bill in Response to Berkeley Balcony Collapse Dies in Committee

Legislation written in response to last month’s deadly balcony collapse in Berkeley failed to advance July 14th in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and is therefore stalled until next year. It fell one vote short of passage. Senate Bill 465 would have required contractors, and their insurers, to report to the Contractors State License Board settlements in excess of $50,000, or a binding arbitration resulting in an award of more than $25,000 involving cases of defects, fraud, negligence or incompetence. The bill would have made the provisions operative only if the Legislature appropriated money and granted hiring authority to the board for the purpose of acting on the information. The bill was opposed by the California Building Industry Association.