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Legislation & Advocacy
The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) has been the heart of the kitchen and bath industry for more than 45 years. The NKBA's mission is to enhance member success and excellence, promote professionalism and ethical business practices and provide leadership and direction for the industry.
Red Flags Rule - Identity Theft Rules
The Federal trade Commission (FTC) has issued a set of regulations, known as the "Red Flag Rule", requiring that certain entities develop and implement written identity theft prevention and detection programs to protect consumers from identity theft. the enforcement date of the Red Flag Rule is November 1, 2009.
For more information, click here.
2008 Building Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Non-Residential Buildings
Looking for important information regarding Energy Efficiency Standards, you can download the complete Regulations and Standards Document from the California Energy Commission, simply click here. The Residential section can be found from pages 136 to 156.
State Board of Equalization
New Registration Requirements for Qualified Purchasers to
Report Use Tax
New legislation, Assembly Bill x4 18 (Stats. 2009, Ch. 16), added section 6225 of the Revenue and Taxation Code which requires a “qualified purchaser” to register with the Board of Equalization and report and pay use tax directly to the Board of Equalization. Under this section, a “qualified purchaser” includes businesses with at least $100,000 in annual gross receipts from business operations.
If sales tax would apply when a particular item is purchased in California, use tax applies when a similar purchase is made from a retailer outside the state and no tax is charged. Use tax is not a new tax. It has been part of the Revenue and Taxation Code since the 1930’s. Only the registration requirement is new under AB x4 18.
The Board of Equalization has drafted a special notice with information regarding the new use tax registration requirements for qualified purchasers. The special notice, along with a use tax registration form, is available by clicking here.
If you have any questions, please contact our Taxpayer Information Section at 800-400-7115 (TDD/TTY: 800-735-2929).
Independent Contractor Withholding
February 8, 2010 - A proposal to require businesses to withhold 3 percent of payments to independent contractors amounts to an interest-free loan to the state from small businesses. The California Chamber of Commerce has pointed out to state leaders that this Proposal is Small Business Job Killer.
Independent contractors are self-employed individuals and businesses, ranging from small businesses and entrepreneurs to large firms. Examples include: builders, real estate agents, computer programmers, accountants, automotive mechanics, attorneys, medical doctors, engineers. As businesses, independent contractors pay more kinds of taxes than employees, such as self-employment taxes and local business taxes; pay income taxes throughout the year through quarterly estimated tax payments; and are subject to penalties for not paying or underpaying.
Because of recent budget agreements, independent contractors must pay 70 percent of their taxes by June of each year for the next two years.
California EPA Regulations:
Changes Made in Lead Paint Renovation Rules
The EPA has adopted a number of amendments to the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rules (RRP) of which members should be familiar.
As anticipated, the opt-out provision in the rule, which allowed owners to waive the requirements for lead paint remediation has been eliminated. Accordingly, all pre-1978 housing must now be renovated by following the RRP Rules. In addition, the EPA has modified the record-keeping requirements so that contractors must now give copies of the records documenting compliance with the rules to the owner or occupant within 30 days after final invoice or completion of the project. These changes take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Lastly, the EPA has published notice of two new regulations under consideration. The first would require dust-wipe testing after most renovations and results evidencing lead levels below regulatory hazard standards be furnished to the owner or occupant. The second proposed rule is to extend required lead-safe work practices to renovations on all commercial and public buildings.
For additional information about these and other rule changes, visit the EPA's website.
Lead in Plumbing: SB 1334 and SB 1395 to ensure water used for cooking and drinking is free from lead transferred from pipes, plumbing fittings, and fixtures.
Senate Bill 1334, Calderon. Drinking water: pipes and fittings: lead content
Requires all pipes, plumbing fitting or fixtures, or flux to be certified by an independent American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited third party for compliance with lead standards. Requires the certification to include testing materials in accordance with DTSC protocols for implementing the lead standards compliance testing and evaluation program outlined in SB 1395 (see next item).
Senate Bill 1395, Corbett. Lead plumbing: monitoring and compliance testing.
Allows DTSC to annually select up to 75 drinking water plumbing fittings and fixtures for testing to determine compliance with the lead plumbing provisions in SB 1334. DTSC is required to post the findings on its Web site and to provide a report to the California Department of Public Health.
Lead in Lighting: Assembly Bill 1109, Huffman. Reduces certain toxic materials, such as mercury and lead, in lighting products. Energy resources: lighting efficiency: hazardous waste; the California Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act.
Requires lighting manufacturers to provide certifications to retailers that their products do not exceed European Union limits for cadmium, lead, mercury, or hexavalent chromium. Under the measure, manufacturers may list the certification on packaging.
Title-24 Energy Code Summary of Changes-Effective 1-1-10
Changes to the residential standards:The U-factor and SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) requirements have been increased. The base-line, standard window required for compliance with most prescriptive packages is dual pane/vinyl window with Low-E, spectrally selective coating. Standard dual pane/metal framing windows even with a thermally broken gasket isolating the glazing from the framing will not comply with the new standards.
The new Title-24 residential lighting requirements divide the home into three distinct zones that are treated very differently. The first zone is the kitchen. The kitchen lighting requirements retain the same compliance formula as in the 2005 standards known as the 50% rule. 50% of the total kitchen lighting watts must be high efficacy (compact fluorescent, LED, Linear fluorescent). The balance of the kitchen lighting can be low-efficacy. However there is now a new provision for lighting that is internal to the cabinets for illuminating the inside of the cabinet up to 20 watts of low or high efficacy lighting power per linear foot of illuminated cabinet. These fixtures internal to the cabinets can be low efficacy if desired with no penalty.
The second zone includes all the bathrooms, garages, laundry rooms, and utility rooms which must have either high efficacy fixtures or they must have vacancy sensors installed that control the low efficacy fixtures. Note that these must be vacancy sensors, not occupancy sensors. A vacancy sensor is a variation of an occupancy sensor however instead of automatically turning on with someone enters a room you must manually operate the switch to turn the lights on. Then after you leave the room the sensor detects that the room is vacant and will automatically turn the lights off. The logic behind this manual-on function is that often you may want to quickly enter into a bathroom that is well-lit during the daytime to simply wash your hands or retrieve some toiletries and not need to turn on the lights at all, thus saving energy. If you need the light switched on then you have that option but the sensor won’t turn them on for you but will turn them off automatically after you leave.
The third zone includes all the hallways, dining rooms, family rooms, home office, and bedrooms. These rooms have the most lenient requirements as they must have either high efficacy lighting or low efficacy fixtures controlled by a vacancy sensor or be controlled by a dimmer. The dimmer option allows the most cost effective way to comply while providing the most flexibility and options in allowable fixtures.
New indoor ventilation requirements mandate that all low-rise residential buildings must have a whole house ventilation system that provides a calculated minimum amount of outdoor air by using either a continuously running bathroom fan or a supply or return air ventilation thru a central HVAC system. The minimum ventilation volume must be a minimum of 1 cfm for each 100 sq. ft. of floor area plus 7.5 cfm for each occupant. The number of occupants is determined by multiplying the number of bedrooms and then adding one. For example a 3 bedroom, 1,800 square foot townhouse would require 48 cfm of continuous ventilation.
New HVAC systems must prescriptively comply with new refrigerant charge, proper airflow, and fan watt draw verification inspections performed by certified HERS raters. Duct testing is another HERS verification inspection that was an optional compliance credit in the 2005 standards but now is a standard prescriptive requirement in the 2008 standards. In addition for the first time the new standards will track the time of energy use in the compliance algorithms. A home that experiences its greatest energy use and solar load during peak electrical cost periods will be severely penalized in the new energy code and find it very difficult to comply. Homes that are use strategies to shift energy use to off-peak hours will realize large credits in the compliance calculations that can be used to offset other design priorities such as larger windows or a challenging on-site building orientation.
New HERS measures have been introduced requiring third-party, independent verification such as airtight air handler boxes, high efficient furnace fans, refrigerant charge indicator displays (CID) and correctly sizing the air conditioner, all new for 2008. These HERS measures are Title-24 credits that can be traded-off for other more flexibility in other areas of the home or can also be used to bring the project into compliance with state and utility incentive programs that provide financial rewards for exceeding the basic Title-24 requirements.
For the first time Title-24 compliance documentation must be electronically uploaded to a database registry which can be accessed by building department officials to verify compliance. This will begin in August for tract homes required multiple orientation submittal and HERS measures but will expand to all projects requiring HERS measures in October. Overall the new 2008 Title-24 Building Energy Standards are roughly 20% more restrictive than the previous 2005 standards they replace.
Bill Introduced To Limit Formaldehyde in Furniture
A bill has been introduced in the Senate to reduce indoor emissions of formaldehyde, a chemical used in adhesives found in domestic and imported composite wood products. The standard for formaldehyde proposed in the bill would apply to particleboard, plywood and medium-density fiberboard, all commonly used materials in household furniture and could potentially cause a slight increase in furniture prices for consumers. Under the proposed legislation, composite wood products sold in the U.S. would have to meet formaldehyde-emission standards of about 0.09 parts per million by January 2012, matching standards recently adopted by California.
California Establishes Energy-Efficient Standard for Televisions
The California Energy Commission has adopted standards under which no TV with a screen size less than 58 inches may be sold in the state after 2011 unless it meets limits on energy consumption. The standard tightens further in 2013. (Larger screens were left for future examination.) Sets sold in California under the standard would consume 33% less electricity in 2011 and 49% less in 2013 than the average set sold today, according to the commission. The standard replaces a rule that only considered energy use when sets were in standby mode.
Interior Design Legislation
The following states have been affected by some form of restrictive Interior Design Legislation, this year: Washington State, Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
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Locally & Nationally
California Homebuyer Tax Credit Goes into Effect May 1, 2010
Governor Schwarzenegger in March signed into law AB 183 by Assembly Member Ana Caballero, D-Salinas, and co-authored by Senator Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, which establishes a tax credit of $10,000 or 5 percent of the purchase price of a newly built home and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time purchasers of existing homes. The credit will be available beginning May 1 and be good through December 31, 2010, or when funding is exhausted, whichever comes first. The $200 million allocated for the program is split evenly with $100 million going to purchasers of new homes and $100 million going to first-time buyers of existing homes.
CHF and BIA/HBA's Launch Series of Seminars to Educate on
California's New Mandatory Green Building Standards
The California Homebuilding Foundation and local BIA/HBA's, in cooperation with The Department of Housing and Community Development and ConSol, present the "New Residential Building Codes" seminar to provide comprehensive compliance training on all you need to know to continue building in California. The seminars will look at HCD's mandatory Residential Green Building Standards, changes made in the CEC's energy regulations for residential dwellings, and major changes related to the state's adoption of the 2010 California Residential Code. Attendees will receive a variety of compliance tools, regulation summaries and checklists, and a CD containing the 193-page set of recently adopted CalGreen regulations. Click below to find dates and locations, and to register for a seminar coming to an area near you!
Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors
Government entities on both the state and federal level are taking an active interest in investigating misclassification of employees as "independent contractors." Classifying workers as "independent contractors" allows employers to avoid paying withholding taxes. This includes Social Security and Medicare taxes, in addition to paying unemployment taxes on wages paid to an employee. Businesses do not generally have to withhold or pay any taxes on payments to independent contractors. There are specific requirements that must be met in order to avoid classifying someone as an employee.
If you hire or subcontract work to others or if you are an independent contractor, you should be aware of the recent step-up of enforcement activities by government agencies when dealing with this issue. You can read our comments and cautions by visiting NKBA.org/legislation.
How the health care bill affects small business
From Business Week
The health care reform law won't be fully implemented until 2018. While some self-employed people and small employers won't see any effects for a few years, others will feel the impact almost immediately. Here are some milestones entrepreneurs will want to watch. More
The New Green Building Standards (CALGreen) is Here.
CALGreen, the first green building code in the nation, has officially been adopted and is now mandatory in all California cities and counties.
These new measures address planning, design and construction in the areas of:
- Site development
- Energy efficiency
- Construction waste reduction, disposal & recycling
- Building maintenance & operations
- Indoor moisture control
- Environmental comfort
- Water efficiency and conservation
- Material conservation and resource efficiency (including water resistance and moisture management)
- Pollutant control
- Indoor & outdoor air quality
- and more!
To learn more, click on the following link: http://www.bsc.ca.gov/CALGreen/greencode.htm
The code is currently voluntary unless otherwise adopted by local jurisdictions as mandatory. State mandatory compliance is effective as of January 1, 2011.
CALGREEN requires that every new building constructed in California reduce water consumption by 20 percent, divert 50 percent of construction waste from landfills and install low pollutant-emitting materials. It also requires separate water meters for nonresidential buildings’ indoor and outdoor water use, with a requirement for moisture-sensing irrigation systems for larger landscape projects and mandatory inspections of energy systems (e.g., heat furnace, air conditioner and mechanical equipment) for nonresidential buildings over 10,000 square feet to ensure that all are working at their maximum capacity and according to their design efficiencies. The California Air Resources Board estimates that the mandatory provisions will reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalent) by 3 million metric tons equivalent in 2020.
In an interview with Green Technology (an online magazine), Dave Walls, executive director of the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC), discusses this groundbreaking work and how it will be implemented. To view the article, Click Here.
Order the California Codes and Regulations Reference Manual for Interior Designers
The 2011 California Codes and Regulations for Interior Designers Resource Manual, 4th Edition, is published by the California Legislative Coalition for Interior Design (CLCID). This edition was revised to reflect the CALGreen mandatory regulations. Additional changes, found in this edition, are in graphics and improved formatting which make the material easier to follow.
Book Details: Our updated and illustrated manual is a great resource for studying for the IDEX California® as well as an effective reference manual for all your interior design projects.
For more information on the Reference Manual or to purchase a copy,
