54.1-1119 - Assessments by Director; assignment to Fund; minimum balance; notice; penalties; costs of administration.

§ 54.1-1119. Assessments by Director; assignment to Fund; minimum balance;notice; penalties; costs of administration.

A. Each initial regulant, at the time of application, shall be assessedtwenty-five dollars, which shall be specifically assigned to the Fund.Initial payments may be incorporated in any application fee payment andtransferred to the Fund by the Director within thirty days.

All assessments, except initial assessments, for the Fund shall be depositedwithin three work days after their receipt by the Director, in one or morefederally insured banks, savings and loan associations or savings bankslocated in the Commonwealth. Funds deposited in banks, savings institutionsor savings banks, to the extent in excess of insurance afforded by theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation or other federal insurance agency,shall be secured under the Security for Public Deposits Act (§ 2.2-4400 etseq.). The deposit of these funds in federally insured banks, savings andloan associations or savings banks located in the Commonwealth shall not beconsidered investment of such funds for purposes of this section. Fundsmaintained by the Director may be invested in securities that are legalinvestments for fiduciaries under the provisions of § 26-40.01.

B. The minimum balance of the Fund shall be $400,000. Whenever the Directordetermines that the balance of the Fund is or will be less than this minimumbalance, the Director shall immediately inform the Board, which shall assesseach regulant at the time of his license renewal a sum sufficient to bringthe balance of the Fund to an amount of not less than $400,000, when combinedwith similar assessments of other regulants. No regulant shall be assessed atotal amount of more than fifty dollars during any biennium.

Notice to regulants of these assessments shall be by first-class mail, andpayment of such assessments shall be made by first-class mail addressed tothe Director within forty-five days after the mailing of the notice toregulants.

C. If any regulant fails to remit the required assessment mailed inaccordance with subsection B within forty-five days of such mailing, theDirector shall notify such regulant by first-class mail at the latest addressof record filed with the Board. If no payment has been received by theDirector within thirty days after mailing the second notice, the license ofthe regulant shall be automatically suspended and shall be restored only uponthe actual receipt by the Director of the delinquent assessment.

Interest earned on the deposits constituting the Fund shall be used foradministering the Fund. The remainder of this interest may be used for thepurposes of providing educational programs about the Uniform StatewideBuilding Code (§ 36-97 et seq.), for providing education on subjects ofbenefit to licensees or members of the public relating to contracting, orshall accrue to the Fund.

(1980, c. 635, § 54-145.3:2; 1984, c. 270; 1987, c. 555; 1988, c. 765; 1990,cc. 3, 437, 911; 1992, c. 810; 1995, c. 771; 1996, c. 96; 1997, c. 885.)