.
a
Jlye 12, ‘1951
.;
Hea Stuart B. Lumpklar. optnioo No. V-1.)86.
County Attornef
Ellis County ~’ Re: Legality of a property owner
~Waxahactie, Texas. emflloyhg mlicensed pereons
to do plumbiq work on prop-
erty nhl& he ~owmsbat which
he does not awn Or oceapy a8
‘his horn&, Qr&er rathorfty of
the exceptto@ &owed in Arti-
cle 6243-101, Siatkh f;.Sub-
Dqar sir: sectiop.&i),
.:. v,c,s. : ,~,,,
Y-i ‘request for an op&&m r&Mctu that a bofldia cop-
f :
tractor ia Wmcahachie ha8 purchaokd certa&a ploperty”uQob w fch
he @tends. to cpaatgact a houee Cot the p~poro of r*ealc, He does
not have any hateration of occupying the lwue8 ae a horcre and does
not now occupy any of the land upon ahi& the &oust ia being built
as a home. The contractor in question I$ not a licensed plumber,
nor are the pereone he propoxes to oee in 1ostaUiag the plumbing,
B&d on the above facts, &u apk’~h~ h&$ag~,ques-
eon: ‘..,
‘Where
a Qersoo Owns pu@peVtI’( ti doe6 not
regard
a c c u & ‘k su c h ( LB h ie ‘homel maphe h a ve
plumbing work done on Such building by LLineelf or
by unlicensed persons or emptoyeus, under +etion‘
3, subsecrson a, of Artlc’le No, 6245*1037”
Article 6243-101, Vernon’s Civil Statate6, “The Plumb-
ing License Law of 1947;’ forbudihg Qlumbfng work by those who
do not hold State lic,enses, was enacted by the 50th Legislature in
1947. Acts 60th Leg., 1947# eh. 315, p, 192. Section 3 of the act in
question provides in part a8 1%110~6:
‘Sec. 3, The folloting kcte, work and conduct
shall Abe expressly perdtted without license:
“(a) Plumbing work done by a propet!
owner ln a building ow%~d or oecupled’by L.L
as his home;*
\
. .
Hoa, Stuart B. LumpkinS, Page 2 (V-1186)
The validity of the Plumbing License Law of 1947 was
expressly sustained in Ex partc George, 152 Tex. Crim. 465, 215
S.W.2d 170 (1948). This office has previously held in Opinion V-
549 (1948) that this statute doe.6 not prohibit a property owner from
doing plumbing work without a license in a building under construe-
tion which is to be occupied by him as his home,
For the exception allowed in Subsection (a) 02 Section 3
of Article &&43-101 to be applicable, wr thinkthe plumbing work
must be dose ill property owned or’ occupied by the ,property cjwnu
as his home o# to’be occupied by.him as his home.’ The basic req-
uisite for &-application of the exceptr?n is that the person propos-
ing to do the plumblmg work musl be doing such work on hia own
property whichhe occupies as hie time or intends to occupy as his
home. Ao Gas bsld in Opinion V-549, he can perform the plumbing
work on property aa to which he possesses tbe present intention of
ownorshlp a$ his home, although he has not as yet occupied or does
not at the pteBe@ occupy the premises as his home. On the other
hand, when the owner ia constructing a house for the purpose of re-
aale aad hag no intention of occupying it as his ho- we agree with
you that the exception doe8 not apply.
Your question is accordingly answered in the negative.
SUMMARY
The provisbna of Section 3(a) of the Plumbing
License Law of 1947 (Article 6343-101, V.C.S.). per-
mitting an ynlicenaed person to do plumbing work in
or on a building owned or occupied by him bs a home,
does mot apply to an unlicensed property owner and
unlicensed third parties employed by him fn doing
lumbing work on a house being bui!t by such owner
Por the purpose of sale, and not intended for use or
occupancy by him as a home.
Very truly yours,
PRICE DANIEL
Attorney General
APPROVED: ~y2a+zx~~
Mary K. Wall
Jelrse P. Luton, Jr, Assistant
Reviewing Assistant
Charles D. Mathews
First Aseistant
MKWfmwb