Rhode Island § 5-65-2 - Contractors’ Registration and Licensing Board

§ 5-65-2. Exemptions from registration — Registered agent for service of process.

(a) The following persons shall be exempt from registration under this chapter:

(1) A person who is constructing, altering, improving, or repairing his or her own personal property.

(2) A person who is constructing, altering, improving, or repairing a structure located within the boundaries of any site or reservation under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

(3) A person who furnishes materials, supplies, equipment, or furnishes products and does not fabricate them into, or consume them, in the performance of the work of a contractor. If the person wants to file a complaint pursuant to this chapter they must be registered pursuant to this chapter.

(4) A person working on one structure or project, under one or more contracts when the price of all of that person’s contracts for labor, materials, and all other items is less than five hundred dollars ($500) and the work is of a casual, minor, or inconsequential nature. This subsection does not apply to a person who advertises or puts out any sign or card or other device that might indicate to the public that the person is a contractor.

(5) This section does not apply to a person who constructs or for compensation with the intent to sell the structure, or who arranges to have constructed a structure to be sold before, upon, or after completion. It shall be prima facie evidence that there was intent to offer the structure for sale if the person who constructed the structure or arranged to have the structure constructed does not occupy the structure for one calendar year after completion.

(6) A person performing work on a single-dwelling-unit property that person owns, whether occupied by that person or not, or a person performing work on that person’s residence, whether or not that person owns the residence. This subdivision does not apply to a person performing work on a structure owned by that person if the work is performed, in the pursuit of an independent business, with the intent of offering the structure for sale before, upon, or after completion.

(7) A person who performs work subject to this chapter as an employee of a contractor.

(8) A manufacturer of a mobile home constructed under standards established by the federal government.

(9) A person involved in the movement of:

(i) Modular buildings or structures other than mobile homes not in excess of fourteen feet (14′) in width.

(ii) Structures not in excess of sixteen feet (16′) in width when these structures are being moved by their owner if the owner is not a contractor required to be registered under this chapter.

(10) Any person or business entity licensed by the state employing licensed trades persons as defined by chapters 6, 20, and 56 of this title, and chapters 26 and 27 of title 28 and working within the purview of the license issued by the governing agency shall be exempt from all the provisions of this chapter except § 5-65-7, requiring insurance. A valid certificate of insurance shall be required to be maintained by the licensing agency during the terms of the issuance date of the license as a condition for a valid license. Failure of the licensee to maintain this insurance shall result in loss of license pursuant to requirements of statutes governing the licensing authority.

(b) No registration shall be issued to a nonresident contractor until he or she has filed with the board a power of attorney constituting and appointing a registered agent upon whom all processes in any action or legal proceeding against him or her may be served, and in the power of attorney agrees that any lawful process against him or her that may be served upon his or her registered agent is of the same force and validity as if served on the nonresident contractor, and that the power continues irrevocably in force until such time as the board has been duly notified in writing of any change to that status.