§2156. Applications; licenses; fees; renewals

            A.(1) The board may receive an application from a person pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter at any time. Upon initial application, the license of a person shall be issued after all requirements have been met and approved by the board. The executive director shall compile a list of all applicants for licensure for inclusion in the agenda that are to be considered at a board meeting.

            (2) No application may be considered from any state or local governmental body including, without limitation, any agency of any state or local governmental body including any corporation or other entity owned or controlled by any state or local governing body.

            B.(1) To defray the cost of issuing licenses and of administering the provisions of this Chapter, the board shall fix reasonable fees to be assessed pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, and reasonable penalties to be assessed for late applications for renewal of licenses and other administrative infractions; however, the basic license fee shall be the sum of not more than one hundred dollars and the fee for additional classifications shall be a lesser amount as set by the board.

            (2) All fees received by the board in accordance with this Chapter shall be solely used to effectuate the provisions of this Chapter.

            (3) All fees shall be paid prior to the issuance of a license or other changes or additions to an existing license.

            C. Fees for licenses shall not exceed the following amounts:

            (1) Examination fee                                                 $        50.00

            (2) License fee                                                         $        100.00

            (3) Renewal fee                                                        $        100.00

            (4) Delinquent fee                                                    $        50.00

            (5) Home improvement fee                                      $        50.00

            D. The board may assess an additional surcharge of not more than four hundred dollars in connection with the application for and issuance of a contractor's license to a contractor not domiciled in this state, to be utilized to defray the additional cost of the investigation of the application of the non-Louisiana contractor.

            E. When issuing a license to any contractor, the board shall state the contractor's classification on the license, according to the classification requested by the contractor and for which he has completed all of the requirements.

            F. The licensee shall not be permitted to bid or perform any type of work not included in the classification under which his license was issued.

            G. The licensee may apply for and receive additions to or changes in his classification by applying, successfully completing the written examination, and paying the required fees. Additions or changes to an existing license shall become effective after completion of the requirements and upon board approval.

            H. Licenses and renewals issued pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall expire on the anniversary of the date on which the license was originally issued. Licensees shall elect upon renewal one-, two-, or three-year license renewal terms, and licenses may be issued by the board on a multiple-year basis, not to exceed a three-year renewal term for any license. The license becomes invalid on the last day of the term for which it was issued unless renewed; however, after a license has expired, the person to whom the license was issued shall have fifteen days following the expiration date to file an application for the renewal of the license without the payment of a penalty. Any person who makes an application for the renewal of a license after fifteen days following the expiration date of the license may, at the discretion of the board, have his license renewed after paying the required license fees and a penalty, not exceeding the sum of fifty dollars, that the board may impose.             I. If a license is not renewed within a period of one year from the date of its expiration, any application for renewal shall be considered and treated as a new application.

            J.(1) The board shall assess on each license renewal issued to a contractor an additional fee of one hundred dollars per year to be dedicated and allocated as provided in this Subsection to any public university in this state or any community college school of construction management or construction technology in this state that is accredited by either the American Council for Construction Education or the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. The board shall include on each license renewal form issued to a contractor an optional election whereby the contractor may choose to not participate in the remission of the additional one-hundred-dollar dedication fee.

            (2) Each January, each accredited public university or community college school of construction management or construction technology shall report to the board the number of graduates from its school of construction management or construction technology from the previous calendar year.

            (3) Any and all funds collected pursuant to this Subsection shall be disbursed to the accredited public university or community college schools of construction management or construction technology by August first of each year upon completion of the annual audit of the board. The funds shall be used by the accredited public university or community college schools of construction management or construction technology solely for the benefit of their program and the expenditure of such funds shall be approved by the industry advisory council or board for the program. The funds collected pursuant to this Subsection shall be in addition to any other monies received by such schools and are intended to supplement and not replace, displace, or supplant any other funds received from the state or from any other source. Any school of construction management or construction technology that experiences a decrease in the funding appropriated to them by the accredited public university or community college as determined by the industry advisory council or board for the program shall be ineligible for participation under the provisions of this Subsection, and the monies from the fund for such school of construction management or construction technology shall be redistributed on a pro rata basis to all other accredited and eligible schools.

            (4) The funds collected pursuant to this Subsection shall be distributed as follows:

            (a) One-half on a pro rata basis to each accredited public university's or community college's schools of construction management or construction technology. However, each accredited public university shall receive twice as much funds as each community college.

            (b) One-half pro rata to each accredited public university school of construction management or construction technology based on the total number of graduates from the previous calendar year from each school as reported to the board.

            (5) No funds shall be allocated to any public university or community college school of construction management or construction technology that does not maintain current and active accreditation as required by this Subsection.

            K. The licenses issued pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter are not transferable.

            L. Any other provisions of this Chapter notwithstanding, no license shall be issued to any foreign corporation which has not obtained from the secretary of state a certificate of authority to do business, as provided in Chapter 3 of Title 12 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

            M. Except for the licenses, fees, and assessments authorized by this Chapter, and except for the occupational license taxes authorized by the constitution and laws of this state, and except for permit fees charged by parishes and municipalities for inspection purposes, and except for licenses required by parishes and municipalities for the purpose of determining the competency of mechanical or plumbing contractors, or both, and electrical contractors, no contractor shall be liable for any fee or license as a condition of engaging in the contracting business.

            Added by Acts 1956, No. 233, §6. Amended by Acts 1960, No. 192, §1; Acts 1962, No. 184, §1; Acts 1964, No. 113, §6; Acts 1975, No. 702, §1; Acts 1976, No. 82, §1, eff. July 8, 1976; Acts 1981, No. 668, §1; Acts 1984, No. 915, §1; Acts 1988, No. 635, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1992, No. 681, §1, eff. July 6, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 473, §1; Acts 2001, No. 968, §1; Acts 2004, No. 352, §1; Acts 2005, No. 240, §1; Acts 2008, No. 576, §1; Acts 2013, No. 195, §1; Acts 2014, No. 791, §11; Acts 2018, No. 387, §1; Acts 2019, No. 371, §1; Acts 2022, No. 195, §1.