We are committed to providing you with information you need to be successful in your profession as a contractor. The purpose of this section is to tell you about important changes to Idaho law that affect you, as well as give you the tools to easily comply.

On July 1, 2002, a law took effect in Idaho with a stated purpose to provide information to homeowners and purchasers of residential building projects. The law imposes specific requirements on "general contractors" involved in residential new construction and remodel projects. Here are the key requirements.

1. You are a 'general contractor' under this law if you enter into an agreement in excess of $2,000 with (a) a homeowner or prospective purchaser for the construction, alteration or repair of residential real property, or (b) a prospective residential purchaser for the sale of a newly constructed home.

2. General contractors must provide a written disclosure statement to the homeowner or prospective property purchaser before entering into a contract to construct, alter or repair residential real property. The disclosure statement must have a variety of general information in the nature of advising people of their rights. You must keep proof of receipt by the homeowner or prospect.

3. General contractors must provide a second written disclosure statement to the homeowner or prospective property purchaser within a reasonable time before closing or final payment. This disclosure statement must list the business names, addresses and telephone numbers of all subcontractors, materialmen and rental equipment providers (a) with a direct contractual relationship with you, and (b) who provided labor or materials in excess of $500 on the job.

4. If requested to do so, all subcontractors, materialmen and rental equipment providers listed on your disclosure statement are required to disclose balances owed on the job or on the account to homeowners, prospective purchasers or their agents. To protect your confidential credit account information with FBS, we will require anyone requesting such information to complete a simple form entitled "Request for Account Balance."

5. Failure to provide complete disclosures as required is an unlawful and deceptive act or practice under the Idaho Consumer Protection Act, and will be subject to penalties.

Obviously, this is serious business. We cannot provide you with legal advice, but our best business advice to all homebuilders, remodelers and others to whom this law applies is to establish a system for providing these disclosures as a matter of routine. To help you with that process, we have developed two simple "fill-in-the-blank" forms that you should feel free to use.

We invite you to review the law (Idaho Code § 45-525) and our forms with your attorney. As stated, our purpose here is to help you comply with this requirement as easily as possible. If the enclosed forms help you by making it easier to comply, we have done our job.