Under which circumstance is the registrar prohibited from investigating a complaint?

The registrar is prohibited from investigating a complaint when the license has been voluntarily surrendered. This situation arises because once a licensee voluntarily surrenders their license, they essentially forfeit their right to operate as a licensed contractor. Therefore, any allegations or complaints pertaining to their practice would no longer be relevant since they are no longer permitted to engage in the licensed activities.

In this context, it is important to understand that when a license is surrendered, the complaints may become moot because there is no longer an active licensee to respond to them. This means that any investigation would no longer serve a purpose since the individual is no longer practicing.

In contrast, even if a license is active, recent contract awards, or the anonymity of a complaint might still allow for an investigation to take place under appropriate circumstances. The ability to investigate is typically based on the presence of an active license or other factors, rather than the voluntary withdrawal of the right to practice.