The 24-member Senate has ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate and House of Representatives bills seeking to amend the Contractors’ License Law.
These measures are Senate Bill (SB) 2247 and House Bill (HB) 7808. They seek to amend Republic Act (RA) 4566, as amended by Presidential Decree (PD) 1746, also known as the Contractors’ License Law.
Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, chairman of the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, said the measure aims to modify the renewal process, increase fees and impose stiffer penalties against contractors who will operate without license.
Under the measure, the issuance of licenses, upon the payment or the corresponding fee and the filing of the application, and after examination and investigation as may be required, the Board within 15 days after the approval of the application “shall issue a license to the applicant permitting him to engage in business as a contractor under the terms of this Act for one year from the date of issuance. applications shall be acted upon within the 10 period provided for under Republic Act 11032, or the ‘’Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.”
The following are prohibited under this act:
(a) Any contractor who, for a price, commission, fee or wage, submits or attempts to submit a bid to construct, or contracts to or undertakes to construct, or assumes charge in a supervisory capacity of a construction work within the purview of this act, without first securing a license to engage in the business of contracting in the Philippines shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P500,000 and the equivalent of one-tenth of one percent of the project cost. Furthermore, the offending party shall be prohibited from obtaining a contractor's license for a period of one year from the time he or she is found guilty under this provision.
(b) The same fine mentioned in the immediately preceding provision shall be imposed upon two or more licensees, each of whom has been issued a license to engage separately in the capacity of a contractor but shall jointly submit a bid or otherwise act in the capacity of a contractor without securing an additional license for acting in the capacity of such a joint venture or combination in accordance with the provisions of this act.
The licenses of the offending parties shall be automatically revoked and they shall be prohibited from obtaining a contractor's license for a period of one year from the time the licensees are found guilty under this provision.
`(c) It shall be unlawful for any person who is a managing partner, officer or employee of a licensed partnership, corporation, firm, association or other organization to individually engage in the constructing business or individually act in the capacity of a contractor within this jurisdiction without having a license in good standing to so engage or act.
Anyone found to be in violation of this provision shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more P500,000.00.
Furthermore, the offending party shall be prohibited from obtaining a contractor's license for a period of one year from the time he or she is found guilty under this provision.
(d) Any person who shall present or file the license certificate of another, give false evidence of any kind to the board or to any member thereof in obtaining a certificate or license, impersonate another, or use an expired or revoked certificate or license shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P500,000 but not more than P1,000,000 and the penalty of imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years.