Unregistered Landscape Contractor Denied Compensation

Under the Contractor Registration Act (CRA), a builder cannot sue a client to recover compensation if the builder is not properly registered.  RCW 18.27.080.  In this case, an unpaid landscaper seeking to sue its client argued it wasn't a contractor as the term is used in the CRA. 

The court said the landscaper was a contractor and, having not been registered, wasn't allowed to sue the client for compensation.  The decision hinges on a reading of the "contractor" definition in RCW 18.27.010(1).