Arizona Registrar of Contractors History
The Arizona State Registrar of Contractors was established as a regulatory agency in 1931 by the Arizona State Legislature. The agency had 3 employees; the Director, Ben L. Hammock (deceased), and two (2) inspectors. The Registrar of Contractors Office now has a Director, Fidelis V. Garcia, and 146 full time employees, 28 of which are inspectors. The Registrar of Contractors Director is appointed by the Governor. There have been 17 different directors since the agency was established.
The agency's mission is to promote quality construction by Arizona contractors through a licensing and regulatory system designed to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.
The first contractor's license was issued on July 1st, 1931. As of January 1st, 2003, there are 48,521 Arizona state licensed contractors. Originally, both residential and commercial work came under one license. Beginning July of 1981, as a result of legislation passed in July 1980, commercial work was deregulated and only residential work remained regulated until July 1987. As a result of legislation passed during July 1986, the licensing statute was again changed regulating commercial work, but each type of work, residential and commercial, requiring a separate license. However, a new DUAL license category was added May 1st, 1998.
In July of 1981, the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund was established for the purpose of reimbursing homeowners for improper workmanship by residential licensed contractors.
The agency is self funded by the revenue generated. The Registrar of Contractors is currently a "90/10" agency, meaning that 90 percent of the license fees collected are reserved for agency operations and the remaining 10 percent is deposited in the State General Fund.
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