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The subject of retainage has ignited bitter debate within the construction industry during past legislative sessions.

This year is different.

After an equally smooth ride in the Senate, a bill addressing retainage received unanimous support from House Consumer Protection and Government Efficiency Committee members on Tuesday.

Retainage is a sum of money earned by a contractor or subcontractor for satisfactory work, but withheld until the contract (or a certain portion of the contract) is complete. Senate Bill 405 would limit retainage to 5 percent across the board for all contractors and subcontractors.

Brian Krieg, government affairs representative of the Columbia chapter of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, told committee members the bill is the answer to the question that industry leaders have been asking for years.

“This is a clear and simple solution to the current retainage situation and makes the percentage that can be withheld the same regardless of whether you are an owner, contractor or subcontractor,” he said. “Passage of this bill will speed up payments for work completed and help reduce cash flow difficulties throughout the industry, thereby helping small businesses statewide.”

Krieg was the only person who came to testify before the committee. That’s a dramatic change from past sessions, when retainage bills drew numerous people to the capitol.

The first public hearing on the bill (before the Senate Business and Transportation Committee on Feb. 28) was similarly quiet. Only John Rakowitz, a lobbyist for the Oregon-Columbia chapter of Associated General Contractors, testified.

He told committee members in February there was a reason the hearing room was so quiet: Owners, suppliers, specialty contractors and other groups within the construction industry worked out a reasonable compromise between sessions.

“We think we have a simple approach with this bill,” Rakowitz said. “It treats everyone involved in the chain of commerce the same.”

The vote on the Senate floor on March 11 was 26-4, with only Republicans Betsy Close of Albany, Jeff Kruse of Roseburg, Alan Olsen of Canby and Doug Whitsett of Klamath Falls voting in opposition.

The bill now moves to the House floor for a vote; a date has not been set.

In other legislative news, House Business and Labor Committee members unanimously passed Senate Bill 625 to the floor of the House with a do-pass recommendation on Wednesday.

The bill gives the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services (and local building officials) authority to determine if buildings meet fire and safety standards as well as other state building code requirements.

The Senate Business and Transportation Committee on April 4 approved SB 625, which then was passed, 28-0 (Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, and Whitsett were excused), by the Senate.

The bill is necessary, said Jeffrey Holmes, vice president of operations for Cochran Inc., a commercial electrical contracting firm in Tigard.

“At the beginning of any project, building plans are submitted to governing agencies, and contractors pay a fee to the fire marshal to conduct a plan review that is intended to assure that the proposed building meets all requirements for fire and safety,” he testified in April. “Occasionally, the fire marshal makes additional changes to the approved plan – even after the facility has been built to the previously approved specifications and is expecting to open its doors. These changes are sometimes in direct contradiction to the building code.”