SB 865 updates Oregon’s laws governing landscape contracting businesses and the State Landscape Contractors Board. The bill clarifies when a landscape contracting business is treated as an independent contractor, creates and refines exempt and nonexempt license classes, requires certain business entities to have a federal tax identification number, and adds consequences if a licensee’s status changes because it hires employees or otherwise moves into the nonexempt class. It also narrows and specifies the kinds of work for which the board’s independent-contractor determination applies, including certain backflow testing, irrigation-related backflow work, landscape irrigation control wiring, outdoor landscape lighting, and tree removal/pruning activities.
The bill also revises the list of activities that are excluded from landscape contracting regulation. It expands and clarifies exemptions for work performed by other licensed professionals and contractors, such as construction contractors, plumbing contractors, residential general contractors, property owners working on their own property, and employees or temporary workers under direct supervision. In addition, SB 865 changes the contract rescission rule for landscape contracting work by allowing a customer to cancel a written contract within three business days after signing, and by requiring the business to provide written notice of that right at the time of contracting. The bill takes effect 91 days after adjournment of the 2025 regular session.
The bill’s impact is primarily on the regulatory framework for landscape contracting businesses, rather than on consumers broadly. It amends ORS 671.525, 671.540, and 671.627 to update licensing classifications, compliance obligations, exemptions, and consumer cancellation rights. Landscape contractors, landscape construction professionals, related trades such as plumbing and construction contractors, and customers entering into landscape contracts are the main affected parties.
The overall sentiment appears favorable and relatively noncontroversial. The bill advanced with strong support in both chambers, passing Senate committee 4-0, the Senate floor 29-1, House committee 7-0, and the House floor 50-3. That voting pattern suggests broad agreement on the need to clarify and modernize the rules governing landscape contracting work.
The main points of contention, to the extent they appear in the voting record, likely involve the scope of licensing regulation and the boundaries between landscape contracting and other licensed trades. The bill’s detailed carve-outs for irrigation, plumbing, construction, and tree work suggest an effort to resolve jurisdictional overlap and compliance uncertainty. The near-unanimous votes indicate that any disagreements were limited and did not prevent passage.
SB 865 amends Oregon’s landscape contracting statutes to refine licensing categories, independent-contractor requirements, exemptions from regulation, and contract rescission rights. It affects ORS 671.525, 671.540, and 671.627 by defining when a business is nonexempt, requiring federal tax identification numbers for certain entities, specifying work categories covered by the board’s status determinations, and expanding or clarifying exemptions for other licensed trades and property owners. It also imposes a clear three-business-day cancellation notice framework for landscape contracting contracts. The bill primarily affects landscape contracting businesses, the State Landscape Contractors Board, related licensed contractors, and consumers contracting for landscaping work.
The bill appears to have been received positively and with little opposition. It passed both chambers with large margins and only a small number of dissenting votes, indicating broad bipartisan or cross-branch support. The vote history suggests lawmakers generally agreed with the need to clarify the regulatory scheme for landscape contracting and related work.
The likely areas of contention are the bill’s line-drawing between landscape contracting and other regulated trades, and the extent of exemptions from board oversight. Specific provisions addressing backflow testing, irrigation wiring, outdoor lighting, tree removal, plumbing supervision, and residential general contractor work indicate that the bill resolves overlapping authority questions that could affect licensing and enforcement. Any opposition appears limited, but it may have centered on whether the bill narrows or expands regulation too much for certain contractors or work types.