Is it hard to get a general engineering contractors license in california?
Answers:
For a sole proprietorship, the license holder must be the same person who has the qualifying experience and passed the test. If you want your name to actually be listed on a license, one option would be to incorporate your business, and have the corporation apply for the license. This could work one of two ways:
1) You and your wife both own shares in the corporation, and she is the Responsible Managing Officer who has the qualifying experience and takes the test. You and she are both listed on the license as corporate officers, but she is the RMO. Once you get your own experience, you could sit for the test and take over as RMO (for example, if anything should happen to her).
2) You, alone, form your own corporation (e.g. "You, Inc.") and the corporation hires your wife who would be the Responsible Managing Employee (RME). She would then submit the experience documentation and sit for the test. Again, if she ever disociated from the business, you would have to replace her with another Qualifying Individual (RMO or RME - but perhaps by that time you would have the experience required to take the test and be your own RMO).
If an RMO owns more than 10% of the stock of the corporation, no Bond of Qualfying Individual is required. An RMO owning less than 10% or any RME is required to post a Bond (in addition to the contractor's license bond), so factor this into your decision.
Incorporating is not expensive if you know what you want and utilize the services of a Legal Document Assistant (LDA). There can be tax advantages as well. Talk to your CPA, or read the book "Own Your Own Corporation" (link below) to learn more about the benefits.
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