This bill amends RCW 18.106.270 to change how infractions under RCW 18.106.020 are penalized and enforced. It sets first-infraction minimum monetary penalties at $100 for a person and $500 for a contractor, caps the maximum penalty at $5,000 for second or subsequent infractions, directs the department to adopt a penalty schedule by rule, and requires collected monetary penalties to be deposited into the plumbing certificate fund. The bill prevents an administrative law judge from waiving, reducing, or suspending the monetary penalty, while authorizing the director to waive or reduce collection for good cause. The bill also creates new administrative suspension triggers and remedial requirements. It permits up to two-year suspension of a certificate, license, endorsement, or registration for an individual or plumbing contractor found by final order to have committed three infractions involving residential service plumbing or residential construction within a 36-month period upon recommendation of the advisory board of plumbers, and allows the department to order up to two-year suspensions where five or more infractions are found within a five-year period. Suspension orders must list each infraction and run from the date of the department’s final order, and the department may require additional remedies (for example, a corrective action plan) before reinstatement. For counting these suspension triggers, multiple infractions or violations discovered in a single inspection or audit are counted as one infraction. The text refers to “the department,” “the director,” and the “advisory board of plumbers” but does not identify which specific agency or offices those terms denote. The bill does not include the text of RCW 18.106.020, so the document does not state what conduct constitutes an “infraction,” nor does it provide details about the advisory board’s composition, authority, or the administration of the plumbing certificate fund. Overall, this is a modification of existing law that changes penalties, adds administrative suspension procedures, and alters enforcement and collection rules.

If enacted, people and plumbing contractors who commit infractions under RCW 18.106.020 will face definite minimum fines for first offenses ($100 for individuals, $500 for contractors), a $5,000 cap for later infractions, and a higher likelihood of losing a certificate or license for repeat problems (three infractions in 36 months for residential plumbing can lead to up to a two-year suspension on board recommendation; five or more in five years can lead to a department-ordered suspension). Administrative law judges would no longer be able to reduce or waive the monetary penalty, so fines are more likely to be imposed as set; the director still can waive or reduce collection for good cause, and the department can require remedial steps like corrective action plans before reinstating credentials. The department would have to adopt a formal penalty schedule by rule and would deposit collected fines into the plumbing certificate fund, which means more fee/fine revenue earmarked there and added rulemaking and enforcement work for the agency and the advisory board of plumbers. Important details are missing from the provided text — the bill does not say which specific state department or director is meant, what exactly counts as an infraction under RCW 18.106.020, how the advisory board operates, or how the plumbing certificate fund is administered — so some practical effects and enforcement procedures remain unclear.