§ 18-86. Creation of Pasco County Construction Board.

The construction code enforcement board and the contractor's licensing board of adjustments and appeals are hereby abolished and merged into a new administrative board known as the Pasco County Construction Board.

(a)

Establishment. This article establishes the Pasco County Construction Board. The purpose of this board is to:

(1)

Hear appeals from the building official's denial of Pasco County certificates of competency;

(2)

Hear and decide complaints brought by Pasco County against locally licensed and state registered contractors for violations of this article, state law, technical codes, and to impose discipline;

(3)

Hear and decide complaints against state certified contractors in accordance with state law and make recommendations to the construction industry licensing board regarding local complaints against state certified contractors and/or to suspend local permitting privileges;

(4)

Hear appeals from the building official's decision to suspend a contractor's permitting privileges;

(5)

Hear appeals of locally licensed or state-registered contractors accused of failing to correct material building code violations pursuant to F.S. § 553.781;

(6)

Hear appeals from an owner or permit applicant concerning the decision of the central permitting manager or building official to require a building permit, deny a variance request, deny a building permit, or to pass or fail an inspection. However, appeals from the denial of a building permit based on the flood damage prevention ordinance (chapter 700 of the Land Development Code) may be required to be appealed to the BOCC pursuant to section 317 of the Land Development Code, as determined by the development review director;

(7)

Act in a quasi-judicial capacity to hear administrative complaints brought by the county against persons who have engaged in, permitted, or maintained construction or structures on their properties without required building permits or in violation of chapter 700 of the Land Development Code;

(8)

Act in a quasi-judicial capacity to hear administrative complaints against persons who have caused, allowed, or maintained violations of the minimum housing standards on their properties;

(9)

Review and recommend changes to the board of county commissioners concerning the scope or existence or creation of specialty licensing categories, for which certificates of competency are given;

(10)

Hear and determine matters that may arise concerning the orders or business of the construction code enforcement board or contractor's licensing board of adjustment and appeals;

(11)

Act in a quasi-judicial capacity to hear administrative complaints against persons who have allegedly violated the provisions of the Land Development Code concerning flood damage prevention.

(12)

Hear appeals as the countywide compliance review board, pursuant to F.S. § 553.73(4), in regard to adopted local technical amendments to the Florida Building Code.

(b)

Appointment and membership. The board of county commissioners will appoint ten members to the construction board, including: one general contractor, one general or residential contractor, one aluminum contractor, one roofing contractor, one air conditioning or mechanical contractor, one electrical contractor, one plumbing contractor, and at least three consumer representatives as required by F.S. § 489.131(10).

(c)

Qualifications.

(1)

Each member (except consumer representatives) must:

a.

Hold a state or local license; and

b.

Be actively engaged in the construction business; and

c.

Have five consecutive years of contracting experience prior to appointment; and

d.

Be a resident of, or regularly-conduct business in, Pasco County and be at least 18 years of age.

(2)

Consumer representatives must:

a.

Be a resident of, or regularly conduct business in, Pasco County; and

b.

Be at least 18 years of age; and

c.

Not be, either currently or in the past, a member or practitioner of a profession regulated by the board or a member of any closely related profession.

(d)

Term. The membership term is three years. A vacancy on the board may be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment. The Pasco County Construction Licensing Board Of Adjustments and Appeals as currently comprised in accordance with Pasco County Code of Ordinances chapter 18, will automatically become the Pasco County Construction Board established under this article, with terms of office likewise being carried forward. The absence of any member from three consecutive meetings may be construed as a voluntary resignation and a new member may be appointed to fill the vacancy.

(e)

Quorum. Five members of the board will constitute a quorum. Any action taken with respect to any business will require an affirmative vote of the majority of the members present. A board member may not act in any case in which the member has a personal financial or economic interest in the subject matter of the board's business, or an ongoing, present, or likely future business relationship with a party before the board. Contracts with Pasco County will not be considered a basis for recusal. Members must vote in all other matters before the board.

(f)

Rules of procedure for board hearings.

(1)

A hearing date before the board will be set within 180 days after the service of an administrative complaint or a request for a hearing, unless a different date is agreed to by the county and the subject of the complaint or person requesting board action.

(2)

The chairman has the discretion to delay or continue any board hearing for good cause. A written request for continuance must be delivered to the board's secretary at least 24 hours prior to the start of the scheduled hearing and it must state the specific reasons for the request, unless the reason for the continuance arises during the course of the hearing.

(3)

During hearings all parties will have an opportunity to present evidence and argument, to conduct cross-examination, and submit rebuttal evidence, subject to any time limitations imposed by the board's chairman.

(4)

At the discretion of the board, the general public or nonparty witnesses will have an opportunity to present oral testimony or written communications. If this evidence is considered by the board, the opposing party will be given the opportunity to cross examine, challenge or rebut it.

(5)

All testimony must be under oath, or notarized if it is a written statement.

(6)

The standard of proof applicable to disciplinary hearings is "clear and convincing evidence." [Florida case law indicates that "clear and convincing evidence" requires that the evidence must be found to be credible; the facts to which the witnesses testify must be distinctly remembered; the testimony must be precise and explicit and the witnesses must be lacking in confusion as to the facts in issue. The evidence must be of such weight that it produced in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or conviction, without hesitancy, as to the truth of the allegations sought to be established.] In all other quasi-judicial matters, the county must prove the violation by a lesser standard of "preponderance of the evidence."

(7)

Irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded, but all other evidence of the type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs will be admissible, whether or not the evidence would be admissible in civil court. Any part of the evidence may be received in written form.

(8)

Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining other evidence, but will not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions.

(9)

Documentary evidence may be received in the form of a copy or excerpt if the original is not readily available. Upon request, parties will be given an opportunity to compare the copy with the original.

(10)

All pleadings, motions or other papers filed in the proceedings must be signed by a party, the party's attorney or the party's qualified representative.

(11)

Upon a party's request, the board chairman can issue a subpoena for hearing. Any person subject to a subpoena may, before compliance and on a timely petition, request the board to invalidate the subpoena on the ground that it was not lawfully issued, is unreasonable in scope, or requires the production of irrelevant material.

(12)

At the conclusion of the hearing the board will render an oral decision, which shall be reduced to written form and signed by the chairman within 60 days of the conclusion of the hearing. The written decision of the board is the final order for the purposes of appeal to the courts.

(13)

All meetings will be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order.

(g)

Scheduled meetings. The board will meet at least quarterly.

(h)

Record of proceedings. The building official or his designee will act as an ex officio secretary of the board. The clerk of the circuit court or his designee will keep minutes of all meetings. An audio recording of the meeting will constitute the official record of the proceedings for appeal purposes. Any person desiring to appeal a decision of the board may require a transcript of the proceedings. The cost of transcription shall be established by the clerk and is the responsibility of the requesting party. The record of the board's proceedings will consist of the following:

(1)

All complaints, notices, pleadings, motions and orders.

(2)

All evidence received or considered by the board.

(3)

All staff memoranda or data submitted to the board during the hearing or prior to its disposition except communications by advisory staff.

(4)

All matters placed on the record after ex parte communication.

(5)

The official transcript. The official transcript is the audio recording made during the hearing.

(i)

Ex parte communications.

(1)

Ex parte communication is prohibited. No ex parte communication relative to the merits of a case under board jurisdiction may be made to a member of the board by:

a.

Any county employee officially involved in prosecuting the matter under consideration.

b.

A party to the proceeding, including an authorized representative or counsel, or any person who, directly or indirectly, would have a substantial interest in the proposed action.

(2)

A board member who is involved in the decision process that receives an ex parte communication must place on the record of the proceedings all written communication received or a memorandum stating the substance of all oral communications received and all oral responses made, and must also advise all parties that these matters have been placed on the record. Any party desiring to rebut the ex parte communication must be allowed to do so. A request for rebuttal must be made within ten days after notice of the communication is received. The board member may withdraw from participation in the decision if he deems it necessary to eliminate the effect of the ex parte communication.

(j)

Rehearings. Any person who is the subject of a board order, or the county, may request in writing that the board reexamine the order based upon new evidence not available to the board at the initial hearing or appeal. The request must be made no later than 30 days after the board's written decision on the appeal, and must include a copy of or a statement setting forth the new evidence. Rehearings are granted at the board's discretion. For purposes of this section, new evidence means evidence or documentation not considered at the time of the initial hearing that will substantially add to or clarify the application.

(k)

Requests for reductions/waivers of fine/extension of time. Any person who is the subject of fines imposed by the board or who wishes to request an extension of time to comply with a board order may submit, in writing, his or her request and the reasons for the request. The county may file a written response or give an oral response to the board. The board will consider the written request, and the response if any, at the next regularly scheduled board meeting. The request must be received by the board's secretary at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled start of the meeting. No request for extension of time or reduction/waiver of fines will be considered if the fine has been reduced to a lien. No request for a reduction/waiver of a fine will be considered if the board's order has not been complied with, or if the order was the subject of a previous extension of time, unless the county agrees to the request. Requests for waivers of/reductions in liens must be directed to the board of county commissioners.

(l)

Appeals of board's decisions. Any person who is the subject of a board order, or the county, may, if aggrieved by a decision of the board, appeal the board's decisions to the circuit court. The petition must be filed not later than 30 days after the date of the board's written order, or the board's written decision denying a motion for rehearing, whichever is later. Petitions to the circuit court will be limited to review of the evidence in the record before the board and to errors of law, but will not be a hearing de novo. The appealing party, if not the county, must provide the county attorney's office a copy of any petition filed with the circuit court.

(Ord. No. 07-20, § 1, 9-11-07; Ord. No. 09-07, § 2, 5-27-09)