Spouse-Owned Corporation and a Weekend RME
A licensed roofing contractor, Marcus, is a full-time employee and RME for Roofing Solutions Inc. His spouse forms a new corporation, M&L Roofing Corp., to do residential roof repairs. M&L has no other licensed qualifier. Marcus has six years of roofing experience and passed the Hawaii trade and business law exams. He plans to remain full-time at Roofing Solutions and act as M&L's RME on weekends and evenings. M&L has already obtained its Hawaii entity registration and general excise tax license and has submitted a contractor license application naming Marcus as RME. The board requests clarification of Marcus's employment relationship. M&L has a $25,000 signed contract that it wants to start next week. M&L's application lists Marcus as a full-time employee.
1. Can Marcus be M&L's RME while remaining full-time at Roofing Solutions? Explain.
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No. The RME must be a full-time employee of the licensed entity, actively involved in its day-to-day operations. Weekend and evening work for a spouse's corporation is not full-time, even if Marcus is the owner's spouse. Hawaii also does not allow one person to serve as RME for more than one contractor at the same time. Marcus is already the RME for Roofing Solutions Inc., so he cannot also qualify M&L Roofing Corp. The board will likely deny or suspend the application until a compliant RME is named. Marriage or ownership does not create an exception.
2. What must M&L and Marcus change to obtain the license, and what happens to the $25,000 contract if they proceed without a valid license?
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To obtain the license, M&L must either hire a different individual who is licensed in roofing and will work full-time for M&L, or Marcus must leave Roofing Solutions and become a full-time employee of M&L, ending his RME role there. M&L must also keep its entity registration and tax license current and provide the board with accurate employment information. If M&L starts the $25,000 contract without a valid license, it is unlicensed contracting. The contract may be unenforceable by M&L, the board can impose penalties, and the homeowner may file a complaint. The board can also deny the pending application for misrepresenting the RME relationship.