Testimony — Fred Horner, Ohio Roofing Contractors Association, on House Bill 129 (April 25, 2023)

Summary

Fred Horner, President of Advanced Industrial Roofing in Massillon, Ohio and President of the Ohio Roofing Contractors Association (ORCA), gave testimony on House Bill 129 dated April 25, 2023. The testimony says House Bill 129 adds a commercial roofing license section to the specialty contractors licensing structure within the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board. It describes the license as a financially reasonable requirement at only $60 per year, with liability insurance requirements of $500,000. It says the bill would help stop 1099 abuse, and names Valerie Pope, ORCA's Director of Government Affairs, for technical questions.

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                     April 25, 2023
                     House Bill 129 Testimony
                     Fred Horner, Advanced Industrial Roofing
                     President, Ohio Roofing Contractors Association
                     7250 Poe Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45414 – www.ohioroofing.com

Chairman Johnson, Vice Chair Manchester, and Ranking Member McNally and Members of the House
Commerce and Labor Committee:

My name is Fred Horner, and I am President of Advanced Industrial Roofing in Massillon, Ohio.
My company employs over 100 people who perform industrial and commercial roofing projects and
provide architectural sheet metal services. I am also the President of the Ohio Roofing Contractors
Association. My wife and I started my company at a small pink desk in our kitchen. My company has
grown over the years with hard work and effort. Advanced Industrial Roofing now provides over 100
people jobs that help their family, our region, and the state. We also participate in many charitable and
civic causes. We are the kind of independent small business that keeps Ohio communities thriving.

ORCA represents hundreds of roofing contractors across Ohio who do the same great work both
professionally and personally. We have a diverse membership of large and small, union and non-union
contractors who perform all types of roofing in many different markets. As an association, we have been
working for over thirty years to find a fair, efficient, and mutually beneficial commercial roofing licensing
system for our members and for our customers. We strongly believe that House Bill 129 strikes the right
balance.

We appreciate the committee and the House voting for passage of this bill last session.

As a member of the NFIB, ABC and my local builders exchange, I would never work for any piece of
legislation that would keep someone from starting and growing their own small business. I want true
competitors. Competitors who pay their taxes, just like me. Competitors who pay their workers comp,
just like me. Competitors who have insurance coverage and a basic understanding of the roofing codes.

House Bill 129 adds a commercial roofing license section to the existing specialty contractors licensing
structure within the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board. We at ORCA are confident that this
well-tested, contractor-driven system will work well for the licensing of commercial roofing contractors.
ORCA members know exactly what we are getting into since the OCILB has been operating effectively
for almost twenty years.

Not only has the OCILB been an efficient way to manage licensing while protecting the general public
through their oversight of licensed commercial contractors, but the OCILB’s efforts to enforce the law
have also curbed destructive 1099 abuse across the currently licensed trades. By ensuring that all
subcontractors working on a project are licensed appropriately, all of Ohio’s public and private
commercial building owners and the contractors performing work on their projects benefit by having
this mechanism to create a level playing field across this critical part of our economy. The true economic
benefit of construction spending is not realized when employment fraud is allowed to continue
unchecked in the system.



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I’d also like to point out that the roofing profession has continued to become increasingly technical. The
need to have qualified licensed contractors working on such a crucial part of any commercial building is
very important. ORCA Members believe that licensing and continuing education will make Ohio’s public
spaces safer and more efficient, especially for our critical first responders fighting fires or other
disasters.

This bill provides an adequate system of grandfathering. It includes good oversight through a roofing
section board that is required to have both union and non-union contractors equally represented. It is a
financially reasonable licensing requirement at only $60 per year with fair liability insurance
requirements for contractors of all sizes at $500,000. The OCILB has shown time and again that they are
good partners with their contractors and the related industry organizations.

For all commercially licensed contractors - current, grandfathered or future -only one person per
company must hold the license. That individual must assign the license to one company. So even in
cases where the company has not grandfathered, only one person per company must test and maintain
the continuing education requirement. Testing is currently done by a third-party contractor to the state
at multiple locations in multiple languages. The questions are randomly chosen from a pool of questions
approved by each industry-specific section board. These questions are on code issues and business
practices. All of the information is available on the OCILB’s website and there is an experienced and
excellent full-time OCILB program staff to answer questions.

This bill creates an accessible and level playing field for large and small contractors alike, including those
classified as independent contractors. If anything, it may be a detriment to my company to make a small
up-start company look the same on paper as my business that’s been in operation for thirty years. That
is worth it to me if those contractors are allowed the same opportunity I had, to truly be a competitor in
control of their own financial future.

Too many hard-working Ohioans are getting stuck in a system where they are taking all of the risk and
some contract broker is raking in all the profits by calling them a contractor rather than an employee.
We need to protect Ohio’s tax base and its economic growth potential by stopping 1099 abuse. I
welcome the competition! It keeps me on my toes. It’s better for consumers – as long as it’s fair
competition and we all have to play by the same rules. House Bill 129 does just that, and I urge you to
support it.

Thank you again for your time and consideration of this important bill. Valerie Pope, ORCA’s Director of
Government Affairs is here as well today in case you have any questions of a technical nature. I’m happy
to field any questions you may have at this time.




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