This bill creates a new civil law for construction projects that makes an owner who enters into a construction contract jointly and severally liable with the direct contractor for unpaid wages, fringe benefit contributions, meal and rest periods, reimbursements, and related damages owed to employees of the direct contractor and subcontractors at any tier. Employees, third parties on their behalf, the attorney general, or a county prosecuting attorney may sue to recover unpaid amounts with interest, mandatory penalties, mandatory double damages, noneconomic damages, attorney fees, expert witness fees, and costs. Civil actions must start within three years of the amounts becoming due. The bill adds investigatory and enforcement authority for the attorney general, allows county prosecuting attorneys to bring actions, and requires the Department of Labor and Industries to deny, suspend, or revoke a contractor’s registration after a final judicial judgment finding liability. It creates procedural requirements for subcontractors to provide payroll and other records to owners and to third parties acting on an employee’s behalf (limited to information specific to that employee and as lawfully required), permits owners to withhold payment in limited circumstances related to records requests or payments made by a direct contractor on behalf of a subcontractor, and restricts disclosure of workers’ personally identifying information. The law invalidates many waiver or indemnity agreements, establishes a rebuttable presumption that a person performing work on a covered project is an employee unless they qualify under chapter 49.46 RCW, allows a collective bargaining agreement to waive the section if certain criteria are met, and includes anti-retaliation protections with remedies such as reinstatement, back pay, damages, and fees. Statutory placement and exclusions: sections 1–5 will form a new chapter in Title 49 RCW and the act adds a new section to chapter 18.27 RCW. The chapter excludes construction contracts for an owner’s principal residence and for real property consisting of five or fewer units on a single tract as defined in RCW 84.04.130. Missing or unclear items in the provided text include the truncated payroll/worker record provision, the exact new section and chapter numbers added to the RCW, and any provisions beyond section 4 that may appear later in the bill.

If enacted, owners who hire a direct contractor for a construction project will face a real chance of being on the hook for unpaid wages, fringe contributions, meal/rest violations, reimbursements and related damages owed to workers of that contractor and any subcontractors, which raises their financial risk and likely pushes them to increase contract oversight, demand payroll records and affidavits, and use withholding or stronger contract terms to protect themselves. Direct contractors and subcontractors will have higher exposure to mandatory penalties, double damages, and possible loss of contractor registration after a final judgment, and subcontractors will need to produce worker-specific records and disclose recent wage‑and‑hour proceedings, which will increase compliance costs and recordkeeping burdens. Employees gain more practical enforcement options because they, the attorney general, or county prosecutors can sue for unpaid amounts with enhanced remedies, and anti‑retaliation protections are strengthened. The attorney general and Department of Labor & Industries gain new enforcement tools. Important details about the full scope of required records, some record provisions, and later sections of the bill are missing from the excerpts, so the precise mechanics of record requests, disclosure limits, and some implementation steps remain uncertain.