By Richard Mize
Copyright © (2015), The Oklahoma Publishing Company
A move to register and regulate builders fell to defeat in the state Senate Wednesday even though builders themselves were asking for it.
House Bill 1828 by Rep. Steve Martin, R-Bartlesville, was defeated soundly with just eight senators voting for it and 37 against. The measure earlier passed out of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee 6-2 with changes meant to move it along for more work.
Mike Means
Tough challenge
Proponents' aim was to get it to a House-Senate conference committee to make it palatable, said Mike Means, executive vice president of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association.
"We knew it was going to be tough," Means said. "We knew we had some members opposed to it, and they were very vocal, and once it starts it goes downhill fast."
The Oklahoma Professional Residential and Commercial Builders Registration Act was modeled after the state builders group's Certified Professional Builder program, including its continuing education requirements. The state Construction Industries Board would have handled registration.
