39-9-211. Exemptions. This chapter does not apply:
     (1) to an authorized representative of the United States government, the state of Montana, or any incorporated municipality, county, alternative form of local government, irrigation district, reclamation district, or other municipal or political corporation or subdivision of this state;
     (2) to an officer of a court acting within the scope of office;
     (3) to a public utility operating under the regulations of the public service commission in construction, maintenance, or development work incidental to its own business;
     (4) to the repair or operation incidental to the discovery or production of oil or gas or incidental to the drilling, testing, abandoning, or other operation of an oil or gas well or a surface or underground mine or mineral deposit when performed by an owner or lessee;
     (5) to the sale or installation of finished products, materials, or articles of merchandise that are not actually fabricated into and do not become a permanent fixed part of a structure;
     (6) to the construction, alteration, improvement, or repair carried on within the limits and boundaries of a site or reservation under the legal jurisdiction of the federal government;
     (7) to a person who only furnished materials, supplies, or equipment without fabricating them into or consuming them in the performance of the work of the contractor;
     (8) to work or operation on one undertaking or project considered of a casual, minor, or inconsequential nature, by one or more contracts, the aggregate contract price of which, for labor and materials and all other items, is less than $500. The exemption prescribed in this subsection does not apply when the work or construction is only a part of a larger or major operation, whether undertaken by the same or different contractor, or in which a division of the operation is made into contracts of amounts of less than $500 for the purpose of evasion of this chapter or otherwise. The exemption prescribed in this subsection does not apply to a person who advertises or puts out any sign or card or other device that might indicate to the public that the person is a contractor or is qualified to engage in the business of a contractor.
     (9) except when work is performed by a registered contractor, to a construction or operation incidental to the construction or repair:
     (a) of irrigation and drainage ditches of an irrigation district or reclamation district;
     (b) of a farming, dairying, agriculture, viticulture, horticulture, or stock or poultry operation; or
     (c) related to clearing or other work upon land in rural districts for fire prevention purposes;
     (10) to an owner who contracts for a project with a registered contractor;
     (11) to a person working on the person's property, whether occupied by the person or not, and a person working on the person's residence, whether owned by the person or not, but this exemption does not apply to a person otherwise covered by this chapter who constructs an improvement on the person's property with the intention and for the purpose of selling the improved property;
     (12) to owners of commercial properties who use their own employees to do maintenance, repair, and alteration work in or upon their own properties;
     (13) to a licensed architect or civil or professional engineer acting solely in a professional capacity;
     (14) to an electrician or plumber, licensed in Montana, operating within the scope of the license;
     (15) to a contract security company, licensed under Title 37, chapter 60, operating within the scope of the license; or
     (16) to a person who engages in the activities regulated as an employee of a registered contractor with wages as the sole compensation or as an employee with wages as the sole compensation.

     History: En. Sec. 10, Ch. 500, L. 1995.