This bill creates a new chapter in Title 49 RCW establishing a payment-accountability scheme for the construction industry. It makes owners and direct contractors jointly and severally liable for unpaid wages, fringe benefit contributions, missed meal and rest compensation, reimbursements, penalties, and damages owed to unrepresented employees of the direct contractor and subcontractors on a covered project, and it creates a civil cause of action to recover those amounts plus interest, mandatory penalties, double damages, noneconomic damages, attorney and expert fees, and costs. A claim for unpaid amounts must be filed within three years of when the amounts became due, and claimants must first send a written notice by first-class certified mail giving an owner and direct contractor 21 calendar days to cure before suing them; if the owner or direct contractor cures within 21 days, no suit may be brought against them. The bill also makes several procedural and substantive changes: agreements that waive or indemnify owners or direct contractors from this liability are invalid; an owner or direct contractor may not avoid liability by asserting independent-contractor status unless the worker qualifies under chapter 49.46 RCW, and there is a rebuttable presumption that a person performing construction labor is an employee. The chapter preserves collective bargaining agreement remedies, prohibits intimidation or retaliation (including use of immigration status) against workers who assert rights or participate in proceedings, and provides remedial relief for retaliation such as reinstatement, back pay, damages, attorney fees, and equitable relief. Subcontractors must provide specified records to owners or direct contractors (including certified payroll sufficient to determine wages paid, contact information, worker names and classifications, names of lower-tier subcontractors, anticipated start and duration, and a five-year affidavit about prior wage-and-hour proceedings and their outcomes or status). Subcontractors may share records with an authorized third-party representative only to the extent the information relates to that worker and only to the extent the subcontractor would be required to disclose it to the worker. Owners and direct contractors may withhold payment if a subcontractor fails to comply with the records request or if the direct contractor has paid a subcontractor’s employees on the subcontractor’s behalf, but failure to comply with a records request does not relieve owner or direct contractor liability under the act. The text available omits the new chapter’s assigned chapter number, the contents of Sec. 4 and any later sections, and any effective date, enforcement details, or additional administrative provisions.

If enacted, the bill makes owners and the companies that contract directly with them legally responsible for unpaid wages, benefit contributions, missed meal/rest pay, reimbursements and mandatory penalties for unrepresented workers on a project, even when those workers are employed by subcontractors. That will likely push owners and direct contractors to require more payroll proof and affidavits from subcontractors, to refuse or withhold payments when subcontractors won’t provide records, and to increase oversight or contract terms to shift or manage the new financial risk and administrative burden. Subcontractors will face new recordkeeping and disclosure duties, the risk of lost payments or additional scrutiny if they don’t comply, and possible downstream liability if they fail to pay workers. Unrepresented workers gain stronger, quicker civil remedies and are more likely to recover unpaid amounts because penalties and double damages are mandatory; authorized third‑party representatives can act for workers but may only get employee‑specific records. The bill leaves some important implementation details unclear in the provided text—such as the chapter number, any agency enforcement roles, and effective dates—so how enforcement and administrative processes will work in practice is not specified here.