1. (a) The Board may open a complaint investigation on its own initiative.

2. (b) The Board may utilize its Field Representatives, Director of Enforcement or Enforcement Committee, as appropriate, to investigate an alleged violation of the Plumbing License Law or Board Rules by a person who:

   1. (1) is registered or licensed under the Plumbing License Law;
   2. (2) is the owner of a company subject to the PLL;
   3. (3) performs plumbing without holding a registration or license under the PLL; or
   4. (4) advertises or otherwise offers to perform plumbing work without holding a license under the PLL.

3. (c) Complaints shall be investigated in the order they are received by the agency unless the Director of Enforcement assigns a higher priority to a complaint based on:

   1. (1) an existing condition that poses an immediate risk to public health, safety or property; or
   2. (2) the possible loss of evidence that may occur if the complaint is investigated only in relation to the order that it was received.
4. (d) Licensees and registrants shall cooperate with the Board and its Field Representatives during the investigation of a complaint.

5. (e) The Director of Enforcement shall maintain an electronic or hard copy case file for each written complaint alleging a violation of the Plumbing License Law or Board Rules filed with the Board. The files are subject to the agency's record retention schedule and must include:

   1. (1) the source of the complaint;
   2. (2) the complaint and all documents submitted under §367.13(c)(5) of this title;
   3. (3) the date the complaint is received by the agency;
   4. (4) the evidence collected during the investigation of the complaint;
   5. (5) the geographic area, including the name of any municipality and the county in which the conduct that is the subject of the complaint occurred;
   6. (6) the name of each person contacted in relation to the complaint;
   7. (7) a summary of the results of the review or investigation of the complaint; and
   8. (8) an explanation of the reason the file was closed, if the agency closed the file without taking action other than to investigate the complaint.
6. (f) The Director of Enforcement shall review the statistical information available in the complaint files described in subsection (e) of this section to identify geographical problem areas of the state where enforcement should be focused and make recommendations to the Enforcement Committee and the Executive Director for addressing the problems utilizing the resources available to the agency.
7. (g) Following the investigation of a complaint, the Director of Enforcement shall refer the findings of the investigation with recommendations for disposition of the complaint to the Enforcement Committee.

Source Note:The provisions of this §367.15 adopted to be effective August 29, 2018, 43 TexReg 5531.