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--- version:HB 260+++ version:(document, no version)@@ -1,350 +1,105 @@- The Alaska State Legislature+April 13, 2026- menu+Alaska House Committee on Finance+State Capitol+120 4th St+Juneau, AK 99801- Home+RE: Comments on House Bill 260- Senate+Dear Co-Chairs and Members of the House Finance Committee:- Current Members+The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) appreciates the opportunity+to provide comments on the legislation for your committee’s consideration, HB 260.- Past Members+Founded in 1926, IAPMO® is a standards development organization and trade association that produces+the most progressive and technically advanced plumbing, mechanical and water -efficiency codes in the+world. Its membership includes contractors, engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, plumbing and+mechanical inspectors, and building officials, dedicated to protecting the public’s health by promoting safe,+efficient, and effective plumbing and mechanical systems.- By Session+The State of Alaska relies on the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) as the foundation of its state plumbing+code, demonstrating a long-standing commitment to nationally recognized, science-based safeguards for+drinking water, sanitation, and building safety. It is considered the industry gold standard and is the only+plumbing code accredited by the American Natio nal Standards Institute, ensuring the highest standards+for openness, balance, consensus, and due process in its development.- Alphabetical+Given Alaska’s vast and remote geography, its reliance on fuel-burning heating appliances, and the unique+engineering demands of a subarctic climate, maintaining a modern, resilient plumbing code is especially+critical to protecting public health. The risks posed by inadequate plumbing systems are not theoretical --+they are documented extensively in national public health data, and Alaska residents face some of the+nation’s most acute exposure to several of these hazards.- House+• Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from fuel -burning plumbing appliances -- including gas water+heaters and boilers -- is among the most serious. According to the Centers for Disease Control and+Prevention (CDC), more than 400 Americans die annually from unintentional CO poisoning+unrelated to fires, more than 100,000 visit emergency rooms, and more than 14,000 are+hospitalized each year.+1 CDC and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission data show that+between 2016 and 2020, Alaska had the highest death rate from accidental non- fire carbon+monoxide poisoning of any state in the nation. 2 The U PC’s requirements governing the+installation and ventilation of water heaters and fuel -burning appliances -- requirements+verified through the work of licensed plumbing professionals -- are a primary safeguard+against this preventable cause of death.+• Legionnaires’ disease, a severe and potentially fatal pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria that+colonize improperly maintained hot-water systems, is the leading cause of reported drinking water+disease outbreaks in the United States. 3 The CDC reports approximately 6,000 confirmed cases+annually, though the most recent population- based study estimated 8,000 to 18,000- Current Members+1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Factsheet, https://www.cdc.gov/carbonmonoxide/factsheet.html+2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics (CDC WONDER) and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, carbon+monoxide mortality data, 2016–2020+3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Legionnaires’ Disease Surveillance and Outbreak Data, https://www.cdc.gov/legionella- Past Members+hospitalizations per year, with a case fatality rate of approximately ten percent. 4 Legionella+proliferates in plumbing systems that are improperly designed or maintained at incorrect+temperatures, conditions the UPC directly addresses. IAPMO is the only code development+organization to convene a dedicated Legionella Task Group, and the 2021 UPC added a specific+appendix on water temperature and Legionella risk -- reflecting the code’s continuous,+science-driven evolution.+5- By Session+• Cross-connections -- points where potable and nonpotable water supplies can intermingle through+backflow -- present a third category of pervasive risk. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -+funded research found that nearly 96 percent of surveyed homes had cross-connections to health+hazards, and that on average 73 percent of household water uses were unprotected. 6 CDC+surveillance documented 57 waterborne disease outbreaks attributable to cross -connections+between 1981 and 1998, resulting in nearly ten thousand illnesses.7 Properly installed backflow+prevention devices, specified and verified by trained, licensed plumbers applying the UPC,+are the essential safeguard.- Alphabetical+The specific provisions of the UPC matter in ways that are acutely relevant to Alaska’s conditions. The+UPC’s resiliency provisions are specifically designed to exceed minimums in areas of freeze protection+and pipe burial depth requirements, which matters a great deal in a state where frost penetrates far deeper+than anywhere else in the nation. The UPC is a single, comprehensive, self-contained codebook covering+all installation types, from residential to commercial. This “turn-key” design is particularly valuable in remote+Alaskan communities where a plumber in the field may not have ready access to multiple reference+volumes. The UPC is also the only plumbing code to include dedicated Appliance Venting and Combustion+Air Provisions -- a chapter with direct life-safety consequences in Alaska’s climate -- and the only code to+include the Water Demand Calculator, a statistically validated tool for rightsizing plumbing systems. These+benefits reflect the UPC’s foundational orientation toward the most challenging real-world conditions, and+they represent specific protections that Alaskan enjoy today.- Bills & Laws+However, none of these protections are self-executing. They depend entirely on qualified professionals --+journeyman plumbers and plumbing contractors who have completed rigorous apprenticeships, passed+state examinations, and committed to continuing education -- who bring to each installation the training+needed to apply the UPC’s requirements correctly and the professional accountability to do so reliably.+The UPC and the workforce that implements it are inseparable components of Alaska’s public health+infrastructure. A code is only as strong as the professionals who carry it into the field, and that protection+can never be taken for granted.- Bills+IAPMO supports efficient and cohesive adoption of building codes for the public health and safety of+Alaskans. For any additional assistance or information, please contact me at david.yow@iapmo.org.- All Introduced+Sincerely,- Actions by Date+David Yow+IAPMO Director of Government Relations- Awaiting Actions+Cc: The Hon. Andy Josephson- Bills sent to Conf Committee-- Bills in Committee-- Governor's Vetoes-- Passed Legislation-- Prefile Bill Summary-- Requestor Summary-- Statistics-- Sponsor Summary-- Subject Summary-- Laws-- Constitution-- Constitutional Convention Files-- Statutes-- Executive Orders - Current-- Executive Orders - Historical-- Administrative Code-- Journals-- Session Laws & Resolves-- Session Laws & Resolves 2025-- Session Laws & Resolves 2026-- 1981 - Previous Year Session Law-- 1983 - Previous Year Legislative Resolves-- Tools-- Statute Information Retrieval System-- Bill Tracking Management Facility-- Past Legislatures (Archives)-- Committees-- Hearing Schedule-- Standing Committees-- Finance Committees-- Special Committees-- Joint Committees-- Conference Committees-- Other Committees-- Minutes-- Publications-- Get Started-- Information Offices-- Legislative Affairs-- Legislative Agencies-- Links-- Legislative Branch-- Executive Branch-- Judicial Branch-- Alaska Delegation--Home--Bill & Laws--Bills--HB 260 Detail--FullText-- txt--HB 260: "An Act relating to penalties for violating a requirement for a certificate of fitness; relating to joint and several liability for unpaid construction wages; and relating to the jurisdiction of the office of administrative hearings over certificate of fitness administrative fine hearings."--00 HOUSE BILL NO. 260-01 "An Act relating to penalties for violating a requirement for a certificate of fitness;-02 relating to joint and several liability for unpaid construction wages; and relating to the-03 jurisdiction of the office of administrative hearings over certificate of fitness-04 administrative fine hearings."-05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:-06 * Section 1. AS 08.18.121 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:-07 (i) If a registered contractor is found to have knowingly violated a provision of-08 AS 18.62, the contractor's registration shall be suspended for a period of 90 days. A-09 contractor's registration shall be permanently revoked upon a second finding that the-10 contractor knowingly violated a provision of AS 18.62.-11 * Sec. 2. AS 18.62.080 is repealed and reenacted to read:-12 Sec. 18.62.080. Administrative fine and procedure. (a) The department may-13 impose an administrative fine of not more than $1,000 on an employer or employee-14 who violates a provision of this chapter or a regulation adopted under this chapter.--01 (b) The department shall issue a written notice of an administrative fine-02 imposed under (a) of this section, together with a statement of the reason for the fine, a-03 copy of the applicable procedures, and notice of an opportunity to request a hearing,-04 including the contact information for making the request, within 30 days after the date-05 of the notice of the fine.-06 (c) If a person who is issued a notice of an administrative fine under (b) of this-07 section fails to request a hearing within 30 days after the date of the notice, the right to-08 a hearing is waived, and the administrative fine is not subject to judicial review. A-09 hearing request must be in writing and must clearly state the issues to be raised at the-10 hearing. The department shall schedule a hearing before a hearing officer not earlier-11 than 10 days after receiving the request for a hearing.-12 (d) A decision of a hearing officer under this section is a final administrative-13 decision subject to review by a superior court under AS 44.62 (Administrative-14 Procedure Act).-15 * Sec. 3. AS 23.10 is amended by adding new sections to read:-16 Article 9. Payment of Construction Wages.-17 Sec. 23.10.700. Employer's liability for compensation. (a) A project owner-18 that enters into a construction contract with a contractor shall be jointly and severally-19 liable with the contractor for unpaid wages owed to an employee of the contractor and-20 an employee of a subcontractor at any tier for work performed on a project within the-21 scope of the construction contract. The provisions in this subsection may not be-22 waived.-23 (b) This section does not apply to-24 (1) an employee covered by a bona fide collective bargaining-25 agreement that provides a grievance procedure resulting in a final and binding-26 decision and that provides a mechanism for recovering unpaid wages and benefits on-27 behalf of the employee covered by the agreement;-28 (2) a construction contract that relates to real property used by the-29 project owner as the project owner's principal residence or to real property consisting-30 of five or fewer residential units on a single tract of land; or-31 (3) a project owner if the construction contract relates to real property--01 consisting of one commercial unit.-02 Sec. 23.10.710. Claims for unpaid construction wages. (a) An employee of a-03 contractor or subcontractor, or an authorized representative of the employee, may-04 bring suit against a project owner, contractor, or subcontractor in any court of-05 competent jurisdiction to recover unpaid wages. The employee retains all remedies to-06 which the employee might otherwise be entitled, including those remedies provided-07 under AS 08.18, AS 23.05, AS 34.35, or this chapter, for any balance claimed.-08 (b) In an action brought under this section, there is a rebuttable presumption-09 that a person performing work on a project within the scope of a construction contract-10 is an employee. A party claiming otherwise may rebut the presumption by establishing-11 that the person is an independent contractor under AS 23.30.230(a)(12).-12 (c) Nothing in this section impairs the right of a project owner to bring an-13 action against a contractor, or a project owner or contractor to bring an action against a-14 subcontractor, to seek recovery of actual and liquidated damages for the amounts paid-15 by the owner or contractor for unpaid wages.-16 (d) Before filing suit against a project owner or contractor under (a) of this-17 section, an employee or the authorized representative of the employee shall send-18 written notice of the alleged unpaid wages by certified mail to the owner and the-19 contractor. The notice must describe the nature of the allegation and state that the-20 project owner and the contractor have 21 calendar days from the certified delivery date-21 to remit wages owed. Notice provided under this subsection does not limit the liability-22 of the project owner or contractor or preclude a person from later amending a-23 complaint after an action is commenced to include additional parties to the action.-24 Sec. 23.10.720. Payroll records. (a) A subcontractor performing work on a-25 project within the scope of a construction contract entered into by a project owner and-26 contractor shall provide the following records to the project owner or contractor upon-27 the owner's or contractor's request:-28 (1) payroll reports that, at a minimum, include sufficient information-29 for the contractor to determine whether a subcontractor has paid in full all wages-30 earned by employees of the subcontractor who performed work within the scope of the-31 construction contract;--01 (2) the name, address, and telephone number of the subcontractor and-02 the name of any additional subcontractor employed by the subcontractor to perform-03 work on the project;-04 (3) the names of all workers who performed work on the project and-05 whether each worker is paid or classified as an employee or an independent contractor;-06 (4) the anticipated start date and scheduled duration of the work on the-07 project;-08 (5) an affidavit that attests to whether the subcontractor or any of the-09 subcontractor's current principals, including project owners and contractors, have,-10 within the preceding five years, participated in a civil, administrative, or criminal-11 proceeding involving the violation of a law providing for payment of wages or-12 imposing a criminal penalty for the violation and the outcome of the proceeding,-13 including damages, fees, or penalties paid to workers or a government agency, if any;-14 in this paragraph, "principal" means a person that commissions a construction project-15 and that is responsible for the project's scope, standards, and objectives.-16 (b) A subcontractor may provide records described in (a) of this section to an-17 authorized representative of an employee only if-18 (1) the record contains information pertaining specifically to the-19 employee on whose behalf the authorized representative is acting; and-20 (2) the subcontractor would be lawfully required to disclose the record-21 under AS 23.10.430 to the employee if the employee was acting on the employee's-22 own behalf.-23 (c) A subcontractor's failure to comply with (a) of this section does not relieve-24 the project owner or contractor of liability under AS 23.10.700.-25 (d) Nothing in this section affects the duty of a project owner or contractor to-26 timely pay a subcontractor, except that a project owner or contractor may withhold-27 payment to a subcontractor in an amount equal to the amount of wages owed to-28 employees of the subcontractor that the owner or contractor has paid on behalf of the-29 subcontractor.-30 (e) A contractor or subcontractor may not disclose personally identifying-31 information about workers who perform work on a construction project except to the--01 extent necessary to comply with federal and state laws.-02 Sec. 23.10.740. Definitions. In AS 23.10.700 - 23.10.740,-03 (1) "construction contract" means an express or implied agreement for-04 the construction, reconstruction, alteration, maintenance, movement, or demolition of-05 a building, structure, or improvement or the excavation or other development of or-06 improvement to land;-07 (2) "contractor" means a person that enters into a construction contract-08 with a project owner or the person's successors, heirs, or assigns;-09 (3) "project owner" means a person with an ownership interest,-10 whether the interest or estate is in fee simple, as a vendee under a contract to purchase,-11 or as a lessee or another interest or estate less than fee simple, that enters into a-12 construction contract with a contractor; "project owner" does not include a public-13 agency employing a contractor or subcontractor for work under AS 22.05.025 or-14 AS 35 or a financial institution that acquires ownership of a property through-15 foreclosure or a deed in lieu of foreclosure and that does not undertake, contract for, or-16 direct construction work beyond activities necessary to preserve or secure the-17 property;-18 (4) "subcontractor" means a person that is a party to an express or-19 implied contract with a contractor, or with a contractor's subcontractor at any tier, to-20 perform any portion of work within the scope of the contractor's construction contract-21 with a project owner;-22 (5) "wages" has the meaning given in AS 23.90.900.-23 * Sec. 4. AS 44.64.030(a) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:-24 (52) AS 18.62.080 (certificates of fitness).-25 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to-26 read:-27 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to work performed by employees of a contractor-28 or subcontractor under a contract entered into on or after the effective date of this Act.--Welcome to-The Alaska State Legislature--This web site is the place to track bills, locate and contact your legislators, and access committee information. Questions? Try our help wizard or call 907-465-4648.--SMS Bill Tracking-- Text a bill number (ex: HB1) to 559-245-2529 to enroll in text alerts. 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A., et al., “Estimate of Burden of Legionnaires’ Disease, United States,” Clinical Infectious Diseases 66, no. 11 (2018): 1625–1632+5 International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, Uniform Plumbing Code, 2021 Edition, Appendix N+6 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cross-Connection Control Manual (EPA 816-R-03-002), https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-+09/documents/epa816r03002.pdf+7 Craun, G. F., et al., “Waterborne Disease Outbreaks in the United States,” Journal of Water and Health / CDC surveillance summaries, 1981–1998
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