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Abstract
The purpose of this case study was to analyze and evaluate the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB). The CSLB is the largest board in the Department of Consumer Affairs, and it regulates California's largest industry, the construction industry.
The study was designed to determine if Alternative Dispute-Resolution strategies could be used to help this board improve consumer protection as well as create more effective regulation of the construction industry.
The methodology included structured interviews with several groups of relevant principals in the public and private sectors.
The literature review covered the powers of regulatory agencies, a history of the CSLB, mediation and arbitration, and dispute processing.
The study examined the applicability of a whole range of dispute-resolution strategies to the CSLB's programs and operations. Many of these strategies are designed to facilitate dispute prevention rather than, as tended to be the case in the past, providing primarily for handling adversarial situations.
On the basis of the study's findings, a number of recommendations were proposed to improve the functioning of the California Contractors State License Board--for the benefit not only of consumers but also of contractors and the California construction industry as a whole.