(1) The legislature finds that it is in the best interests of the people of the state of Idaho to establish a process for licensure of public works contractors to be administered through the public works contractors license board. To assure that experienced and qualified contractors provide services to public entities in Idaho, the board is charged with licensing as provided in this chapter. Effective licensing procedures should assure that contractors of integrity provide work for which they have specific experience and expertise and that public facilities are constructed and rebuilt by efficient and cost-effective means. Licensing should also protect the public health and safety through judicious exercise of investigative, disciplinary and enforcement activities.
(2)  For the interpretation of this chapter, unless the context indicates a different meaning:
(a)  "Person" includes any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, association or other organization, or any combination thereof acting as a unit.
(b)  "Public works contractor," which term is synonymous with the term "builder," "subcontractor" and "specialty contractor," and in this chapter referred to as "contractor" or "licensee," includes any person who, in any capacity, undertakes, or offers to undertake, or purports to have the capacity to undertake any construction, repair or reconstruction of any public work, or submits a proposal to, or enters into a contract with, the state of Idaho, or any county, city, school district, sewer district, fire district, or any other taxing subdivision or district of any public or quasi-public corporation of the state, or with any agency, or with any other public board, body, commission, department or agency, or officer or representative thereof, authorized to let or award contracts for the construction, repair or reconstruction of any public work.
(c)  "Public works construction" includes any or all of the following branches:
(i)   Heavy construction, which is defined as constructing substantially in its entirety any fixed works and structures (not including "building construction"), without limitation, for any or all of the following divisions of subjects: irrigation, drainage, sanitation, sewage, water power, water supply, reservoirs, flood control, reclamation, inland waterways, railroads, grade separations, track elevation, elevated highways, hydroelectric developments, aqueducts, transmission lines, duct lines, pipelines, locks, dams, dikes, levees, revetments, channels, channel cutoffs, intakes, drainage, excavation and disposal of earth and rocks, foundations, piers, abutments, retaining walls, viaducts, shafts, tunnels, airports, air bases and airways, and other facilities incidental to the same;
(ii)  Highway construction, which is defined as all work included in highway construction contracts, including, without limitation, highways, roads, streets, bridges, tunnels, sewer and street grading, street paving, curb setting, surfacing and other facilities incidental to any of the same;
(iii) Building construction, which is defined as all work in connection with any structure now built, being built, or hereafter built, for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons, chattels, personal and movable property of any kind, requiring in its construction the use of more than two (2) unrelated building trades or crafts.
(iv)  Specialty construction, which is defined as any work in connection with any public works construction, requiring special skill and the use of specially skilled trades or crafts.
(d)  "Board" means the board created by this chapter under the name of "public works contractors license board."
(e)  "Administrator" means the administrator of the division of occupational and professional licenses.
(f)  "Year" means the fiscal year ending June 30, each year.
(g)  "Federal aid funds" means a direct grant in aid, matching funds, or loan from an agency of the federal government and designated for a specific public works project. Revenue sharing funds, federal impact funds, timber stumpage fees, and similar indirect allowances and subsidies not designated for a specific public works project shall not be regarded as "federal aid funds" within the meaning of this section.
(h)  "Government obligation" means a public debt obligation of the United States government or the state of Idaho and an obligation whose principal and interest is unconditionally guaranteed by the United States government or the state of Idaho.
(i)  "Public entity" means the state of Idaho, or any county, city, school district, sewer district, fire district, or any other taxing subdivision or district of any public or quasi-public corporation of the state, or any agency thereof, or with any other public board, body, commission, department or agency, or officer or representative thereof.
(j)  "Bid" or "bidder" means any proposal submitted by a public works contractor to a public entity in competitive bidding for the construction, alteration, repair or improvement of any public works construction.