Contractors Board Unveils Reforms : Regulation: The state agency plans to alter its policies and improve services after mounting criticism from consumers and legislators.

Responding to an avalanche of criticism from consumers and legislators, the Contractors State License Board unveiled a package of changes Tuesday designed to improve the agency’s oversight of the construction industry and restore public confidence.

The license board’s effort to alter its policies and improve services was welcomed during a daylong hearing before a legislative panel that has been reviewing complaints against the agency, which is responsible for licensing and regulating the building trades industry.

Among the changes proposed are a stronger effort to police the accuracy of contractor license applications, tougher examinations and a retooled automatic phone system to provide consumers with better information on builders’ backgrounds.

Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-Burlingame), chairwoman of the Assembly Consumer Protection and Government Efficiency Committee, applauded the license board’s efforts to improve its performance “for the most part.” Changes are vitally needed, she said, “to help restore confidence on the part of the consumer.”

She emphasized that efforts to revitalize the agency have taken on new urgency in the wake of the disastrous Southland wildfires in recent weeks, which will require licensed contractors to rebuild about 1,000 burned-out structures at a cost of more than $500 million. “In times like these, the consumer needs a regulatory agency they can trust,” Speier said.

But the assemblywoman took exception on one front, saying she felt the license board wasn’t working fast enough to tool up a system to spotlight outstanding judgments against contractors. The lack of information on court cases against contractors has been a chief complaint voiced by scores of consumers.

License board officials said such a system likely couldn’t be in place for nearly a year, which Speier said is far too slow. “It should not take a year to implement that,” she complained before eliciting a promise from license board administrators to speed up the process.

As it had at a similar hearing last month, the legislative panel on Tuesday heard testimony from dozens of consumers upset with the license board after it failed to protect them from costly problems with contractors hired to do everything from remodeling a bathroom to erecting an office building.

In a report issued last month, the committee’s staff criticized the license board for abandoning its role as a consumer advocate, failing to check information that contractors supply about their experience and legal histories, and permitting low passing grades for many license exams--as low as 51% in the case of earthwork and paving contractors.

Buffeted by the criticism, the license board has agreed to make more than a dozen changes. They include:

* Launching a six-month pilot project to increase the number of contractor license applications that are reviewed for accuracy. The agency now reviews only 3% of the 20,000 it receives each year. Of the small number reviewed, 54% don’t have the necessary work experience to qualify for a license, a figure that Speier suggested makes the licensing process rife with abuse. The legislative panel would like to see at least 50% of the applications reviewed.

* Printing new license applications by year’s end requiring each prospective contractor to provide a street address where he or she does business. The address was deemed necessary so consumers can serve contractors with legal papers in the event of a dispute that goes to court.

* Reviewing and adjusting the passing scores on the 45,000 written examinations it administers annually. The first to be tackled will be those tests where a passing score is less than 60%. The agency said it expects to have the review completed and any changes in place by June.

* Expanding its automated phone response system by January so that it includes bonding information, as well as a review of past or current disciplinary actions, judgments and arbitration awards.

* Instituting a consumer satisfaction survey, conducting regular quality control reviews of workers in field offices and improving the communications and public relations skills of employees.

David R. Phillips, the board’s top official, said all of the changes should help “demonstrate that this board is consumer friendly.”