The Superior Court of Carroll County removed a subcontractor’s lien filed by JR Construction/Electric, LLC “JR”, after concluding that there was no evidence that a Georgia-licensed electrician worked with or for JR at the time that the subcontracted electrical work was done and, therefore, that the underlying subcontract was void as against public policy. The trial court also granted partial summary judgment in favor of the contractor, Ordner Construction Company, on JR’s claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and expenses of litigation. On appeal, JR contends that it identified evidence that it “joint ventured” with another company that employed a licensed electrician to supervise the project and that, as a result, the trial court erred in concluding that the subcontract was not enforceable under Georgia law. Finding no error, we affirm. In the Code relating to the regulation of certain businesses, including electrical contracting, the State of Georgia declared the practice of electrical contracting to be a business or profession “affecting the public interest.” OCGA § 43-14-1. The State, therefore, regulates the profession for the purpose of “safeguarding homeowners, other property owners, tenants, and the general public against faulty, inadequate, inefficient, or unsafe electrical contracting.” Id. Under these regulations, a person may “engage in the electrical contracting business as an electrical contractor” in Georgia only when that person “has a valid license from the Division of Electrical Contractors.” OCGA § 43-14-8 a. Where the electrical contractor is a partnership, limited liability company, or corporation, as in this case, such an entity may engage in the business of electrical contracting only when “there is regularly connected with such partnership, limited liability company, or corporation a person or persons actually engaged in the performance of such business on a full-time basis who have valid licenses issued to them by the Division of Electrical Contractors.” OCGA § 43-14-8 f. In order to recover on an agreement to perform electrical work, an electrical contracting company must show that it complied with the licensing requirement of OCGA § 43-14-8 f; otherwise, the agreement is void and unenforceable. Associated Elec. Contractors v. Edlen Elec. Exhibition Svcs. , 246 Ga. App. 118, 119 1 539 SE2d 835 2000.1
In this case, JR contracted to install electrical systems at three stores at a shopping center in Carroll County. At the time, JR, a Wisconsin company, did not directly employ a Georgia-licensed electrician. To show that JR complied with OCGA § 43-14-8 f by being “regularly connected” with a Georgia-licensed electrician, JR’s owner, Ricky Kletschka, testified that JR entered into a joint venture with a Georgia company, Moore Electric Contractors, LLC “Moore”, that was owned by his brother, Randy Kletschka, and Barbara Moore. JR claims that Moore employed Danny Barbour, a Georgia-licensed electrician, and that Barbour’s “full time responsibility was as a project manager in charge of supervising and monitoring each Moore Electric project, including the Carroll County project, to insure all actions were performed in accordance with the plans, code and specs.”
