This chapter shall apply to all persons, partnerships,
corporations or other entities who shall undertake any services in
the Borough of Woodcliff Lake for a fee, the purpose of which is to
add or remove rooms, dormers or other structures, or to improve, modernize
or affect the basic structural integrity of existing rooms, or to
install swimming pools, tennis courts and paddle tennis courts or
any improvements for which a building permit is required, provided
that such work shall be accomplished upon any structure in the Borough
of Woodcliff Lake, including the Municipal Building, where persons
reside or will reside upon completion of the work and further provided
that the persons or firm offering the service shall not be otherwise
licensed by the State of New Jersey pursuant to the terms of law and
regulations promulgated pursuant to statute by state agencies having
control over such services.
Any person or firm to whom this chapter applies, as set forth in §
145-1 above, shall, prior to commencing any work or service in the Borough of Woodcliff Lake, make application to the Construction Code Official for a local contract or license, which shall include the completion of the required information form which shall be verified by the applicant under oath. The failure to obtain such license prior to commencement of work or services shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
All applications shall be submitted, in writing,
upon the form provided by the Construction Code Official and shall
contain the following information covering the period of the last
10 years:
A. The applicant's name, business name and business address
and all names used, whether operating as a sole proprietor, partnership
or corporation.
B. Whether the applicant is an individual, a partnership,
a corporation or any other entity and, if any other entity, a full
explanation and description thereof.
C. If the applicant is an individual, the applicant's
residence address, date and place of birth and social security number.
D. If the applicant is a partnership, the full name,
residence address, date and place of birth of each partner, and his
social security number.
E. If the applicant is a corporation or other entity:
in the case of a corporation, the full name, residence address, date
and place of birth and Social Security number of each major officer
and each stockholder, the name and address of the registered agent
and the address of the principal office (The term "stockholder," as
used herein, means and includes any person owning or having an interest,
either legal or equitable, in 10% or more of the stock issued and
outstanding of the applicant corporation.); in the case of another
entity, the full name, residence address, date and place of birth
of each person owning or having any interest, either legal or equitable,
aggregating in value 10% or more of the total capital of said entity,
the name and address of the registered agent, if any, and the address
of the principal office.
F. Whether the applicant or any partners, officers or
stockholders thereof have ever been convicted of a crime and, if so,
the name of the person convicted, the date of arrest, the crime or
charge involved and the disposition thereof. (The term "officers,"
as used herein, means and includes the President, Secretary and Treasurer
of a corporate applicant.)
G. Whether the applicant or any partners, officers or
stockholders thereof have filed for bankruptcy and, if so, the date
of filing and whether discharged from bankruptcy.
H. The number of years the applicant has been in the
construction business at its present business address and/or at any
prior location, including the addresses of such prior locations, if
any, and all individual, partnership and corporate names under which
the applicant has operated and all corporate officers or major interest
holders exceeding ten-percent interest in said corporation.
I. How much liability insurance is carried by the applicant,
stating the amount of coverage and evidenced by a certificate of insurance,
the name and address of the company that wrote the policy and the
policy number.
J. A statement of the municipalities in which the applicant
has been required to obtain a license to work and whether any license
issued by a municipality has been revoked for any reason and, if so
revoked, the reasons for revocation.
K. A statement of the amount of workmen's compensation
insurance to be carried on this particular job as required by law,
setting forth the name and address of the company that underwrites
the policy, the policy number and the expiration date of the policy.
L. In detail the last five consecutive jobs undertaken
by the applicant, setting forth name address and phone number of the
party for whom the work has been done.
M. Any existing judgments or pending litigation taken
against the applicant as a sole proprietor, partner or principal of
any corporation.
The following shall constitute the grounds for
which the Construction Code Official may revoke a license or deny
the issuance of an initial license or the renewal thereof:
A. Failure to carry workers' compensation insurance or
contractor's or manufacturer's liability insurance.
B. Failure to comply with construction standards required
by state laws or regulations or local ordinance or codes after having
been given 30 days' written notice to cure such noncompliance and
after the contractor having failed to effect compliance without just
cause, except when the Construction Code Official shall determine
the people's safety or financial loss may be imminent.
C. Failure to comply with the lawful instructions of
the Construction Code Official regarding:
(2) Altering plans submitted for the obtaining of the
building permit without first receiving the approval of the Construction
Code Official.
(3) Failure to obtain a building permit where required.
(4) One owner/resident complaint against the contractor
for unworkmanlike or unsafe services, which complaint has been personally
verified by the Construction Code Official or his deputy.
D. Failure to give truthful answers to any application or form or to give misleading responses thereto or failure to give appropriate and factual responses to information required under §
145-3 of this chapter.
E. Failure to carry contractor's or manufacturer's liability
insurance in the minimum amount of $300,000 and to file a copy thereof
with the Construction Code Official.
F. Failure to correct a violation within 10 working days
after receiving written notice thereof from the Construction Code
Official.
In the event that the Construction Code Official
has revoked or denied a license to an applicant or has refused to
renew such license upon submission of the required fee, the aggrieved
contractor may appeal such denial, in writing, to the Mayor and Council.
Upon such appeal, the following steps shall be taken:
A. Upon receipt of the written appeal, the Borough Clerk
shall set a date for the Mayor and Council to hear such appeal. This
date may be adjourned for a reasonable time (not to exceed 20 days)
at the requirement of the Mayor and Council or the contractor.
B. At the time, date and place set for the hearing, the
Mayor and Council shall conduct an inquiry into the reasons for the
denial by the Construction Code Official and shall hear the contractor
as to why such denial was unreasonable or improper. At the hearing,
the contractor shall be entitled to call witnesses and to be represented
by counsel.
C. At the conclusion of the hearing, the contractor and
the Construction Code Official shall be dismissed from the hearing
room and the Mayor and Council shall immediately determine whether
or not the denial of the license was proper under the circumstances
and, if determined to be improper, the Council shall direct the Construction
Code Official to issue the license. If the Council determines that
the license denial was proper, it shall, in its discretion, take one
of the following actions:
(1) Uphold the denial without further action.
(2) If circumstances warrant, issue the license conditioned
upon the contractor's adherence to steps imposed by the Mayor and
Council which are designed to reasonably ensure compliance by the
contractor with this chapter.
(3) If circumstances warrant, direct the issuance of the
license at such time as any deficiencies, which were the grounds for
denial, have been cured by the contractor. The Council shall set forth
the deficiencies in its ruling.
D. Within 10 business days of the hearing date, the Council
shall notify the Construction Code Official and the contractor, in
writing, of its determination and any conditions which have been placed
upon the issuance of the license by the Mayor and Council.
In addition to the enforcement of this chapter,
the Construction Code Official shall ensure the following:
A. That the information contained in the application
for the local contractor's license is current and verifiable.
B. That the applications for the local contractor's licenses
are public documents and made available for inspection and copying
by any interested person.
Any person or firm which fails to obtain a local
contractor's license when required to do so by this chapter shall,
if any work is commenced on any project covered by this chapter, be
subject to a penalty of a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment for not
more than six months, or both.