Date: 02/02/2006

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB06-1148

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Refer HB 06-1148 to the Committee of the Whole. TPASS


03:24 PM -- House Bill 06-1148

Representative Vigil, prime sponsor, presented HB 06-1148. The bill bans indemnification for negligence caused by another party, allowing a negligent party to indemnify other parties only to the extent of the indemnitor's negligence. The bill exempts project-specific insurance policies, and clarifies that agreements affecting railroad property or real property rentals are not included in the definition of "construction agreement", for the purpose of shifting financial responsibility for negligence. Committee members were provided with a letter of support for the bill from Mountain States Insurance Group (Attachment J).

The following people testified on this bill:

03:27 PM -- Mr. Mike Williams, representing the Denver Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), spoke in opposition to the bill. He explained that the bill takes away a contractual right and replaces it with a right to tortious action, and that the bill places Colorado in the minority when compared to other states on this issue. Committee members were provided with information about other state laws on indemnification (Attachment K) and a U.S. map highlighting states that place statutory restrictions on insurance in a construction setting (Attachment L). Mr. Williams described scenarios and applied current law and the proposed law to the scenarios. He then responded to questions from the committee.

03:39 PM -- Mr. Rob Cooney, representing Preferred Painting, spoke in opposition to the bill. He said he supports indemnification to a certain extent when an entity is contracted to perform work in a building. He noted that in 14 years of work he has not had problems getting insurance for a contract. He responded to questions from the committee.

03:42 PM -- Mr. Gary Meggison, representing the Association of General Contractors of Colorado, spoke in opposition to the bill and gave reasons why the bill is unnecessary.

03:46 PM -- Mr. Rick Richter, representing the Colorado Association of Home Builders, spoke in opposition to the bill and read testimony to explain why it is important to allocate both risk and reward in construction contracts. He responded to questions from the committee.

04:04 PM -- Ms. Teresa Wernimont, representing Colorado Sash and Door, the American Subcontractors Association, and the Colorado Construction Reform Coalition, spoke in support of the bill because it makes parties to a construction contract responsible for their share of fault. She cited testimony from Mountain States Insurance Group, as contained in Attachment J. She responded to questions from the committee.

04:20 PM -- Mr. Robert Wilson, representing the American Subcontractors Association of Colorado, spoke in favor of the bill. He described a construction contract in which he was involved, and answered questions from the committee.

04:28 PM -- Mr. Nareander Kumar, representing the American Council of Engineering Companies in Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. He described the impact of current law on the industry, underscoring how it is unfair.

04:37 PM -- Mr. Mark Fisher, representing Greenco, spoke in support of the bill. He described some benefits of the bill.

04:41 PM -- Mr. Kevin Behrends, representing the Independent Electrical Contractors of Colorado, spoke in support of the bill.

04:43 PM -- Mr. Mark Hamouz, representing the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, provided a written statement to the committee (Attachment M), and spoke in support of the bill. He stressed that the bill includes all members of the industry, making it a very comprehensive measure.

04:48 PM -- Mr. Gilbert Egle, representing the American Subcontractors Association, spoke in support of the bill. He explained the benefits of the bill with regards to drafting contracts.


04:52 PM

The chairman closed public testimony. No amendments were offered by the committee or the bill sponsor. The sponsor made closing comments on the testimony and the bill.
BILL:HB06-1148
TIME: 04:56:05 PM
MOVED:Hefley
MOTION:Refer HB 06-1148 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion carried on a vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:Jahn
VOTE
Boyd
Yes
Clapp
Yes
Decker
Yes
Gardner
No
Hefley
Yes
Jahn
Yes
Judd
Yes
McGihon
Yes
Witwer
No
Carroll M.
Yes
Carroll T.
Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS