Acco Engineered Sys., Inc. v. Contractors' State License Bd.

*84 Plaintiff and appellant ACCO Engineered Systems, Inc. (Acco) appeals from a judgment denying Acco's petition for a writ of mandamus. Acco's writ petition sought review of an administrative decision adopted by the Registrar of the defendant and respondent the Contractors' State License Board (Board), finding Acco in violation of Business and Professions Code section 7110 1 for failing to obtain a building permit before replacing a boiler.

Acco contends it did not violate section 7110 because it did not willfully disregard the permit requirement. The company argues that both the administrative law judge and the trial judge erroneously interpreted *230 the code section to apply to situations where a contractor inadvertently fails to obtain a permit. Acco further argues that even under the administrative judge's interpretation, *85 the decision is not supported by substantial evidence. We reject Acco's various arguments and affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Acco is a large contracting company that does over $800 million in work a year, ranging from large projects like the renovation of Dodger Stadium or construction on the Wilshire Grand building to smaller…