Protections against public access to Arizona contractors' ROC files

The information contained in a contractor's license file at the Arizona Registrar of Contractors has historically been part of the public record and relatively easy for anyone to access. Under state law, the government is required to disc lose public records in response to a request. This is generally a good thing, because it makes the government transparent.

But it also means that a licensed contractor's personal information has been available to anyone submitting a public-record request. That information has included the contractor's email address, as well as the residential addresses and phone numbers for anyone named on the contractor's license.

New Protections. That changed in August 2017, when A.R.S. § 32-1124.01 went into effect. Now, the ROC is generally barred from disclosing a contractor's residential address, residential telephone number, email address, or social security number.

The statute is consistent with similar statutes that protect the personal information of other licensed professionals, such as real estate agents and brokers.

There are exceptions to the law's protections. It permits the disclosure of a contractor's personal information to another government agency or to a court. And residential addresses and phone numbers may be disclosed when the Registrar determines that "disclosure serves the interests of justice and is in the public interest."

Also, a contractor operating out of a residence should be aware that the statute doesn't protect their personal contact information if that information is also designated as the business's contact information.

The confidentiality provided by the statute also applies to licenses on inactive status.

Support by the ROC. The ROC supported the law's passage, recognizing that list brokers and companies wishing to market to contractors were targeting contractors' email addresses by submitting commercial public-record requests. Those requests were often aimed at entire license classifications. The new law puts an end to that, and all licensed contractors stand to benefit from the new protections.

We applaud the passage of this law; while it still allows consumers to gather pertinent information about their cases, it protects the legitimate interests of contractors.