Licensed Contractors and Unlicensed Workers: What You Should Know!
The Corona Virus pandemic has hit the ability of getting good construction workers hard. Many contractors and construction workers are out of work while others (small businesses) are too busy to respond to new business opportunities. This has proven to be troubling and frustrating for Project Owners because qualified dependable construction workers are not available and project pricing is up. And, for the unwary Project Owner, this can also bring risk.
Unlicensed Workers
Unlicensed workers have as much or more experience than some licensed contractors and they can usually offer much lower prices than licensed contractors. And State Contractor Licensing Agencies don’t discriminate against unlicensed workers but to protect the public they do set guidelines for hiring unlicensed workers. For example, to mention a couple:
The California State Contractors License Board says that anyone performing construction work, in California, that totals $500.00 or more in labor and materials must be licensed; Hawaii says $1,000.00 or more; and Chicago and New York say no work should be performed without a license “full stop”.
And the California Labor Enforcement Task Force (LETF), performs policing to enforce carrying workman’s’ compensation insurance, providing a safe work environment, proper payment of wages and support the collection of all California taxes, fees and penalties. And assure that anyone performing work for which a contractor’s license is required have a current contractor’s license.
Tip! To be safe, before you hire anyone to work on your property, licensed or not, take the time to educate yourself and have a contract in place before starting the work.
Constructionplace.com offers a virtual Bidding system that automatically populates a Virtual Agreement that can be used by anyone undertaking improvement, remodel or new construction projects.
While unlicensed workers can fill an important role for completing small maintenance jobs and quick repairs around your home, building or facility knowing your Protection Options is important.
Licensed Contractors
A Contractors license does not guarantee that the work performed will be good or acceptable under the terms of the Agreement (Contract Documents). It simply assures that the contractor has met certain basic standards and that the contractor is licensed. It also assures that the contractor has a minimum amount of insurance as required by the respective licensing agency. And some agencies require a Contractor’s License Bond.
Tip! Know your respective Contractors Licensing Requirements
Profiles and Credentials
Licensed or not seeing their respective profiles or credentials is important.
Constructionplace.com has over 20 years of representing businesses, homeowners and contractors throughout the United States using Service Provider qualification methods.
Constructionplace.com provides a Pre-Construction Service virtually to individuals seeking unbiased information before starting their next improvement, remodel or new construction project. More specifically, Constructionplace.com’s mobile web site assists Project Owners or Service Providers in identifying project essentials for Planning and Resources, Costing and Contracting, Work Performance, and Making Payments.
Once a Service Provider adds their Public Profile on Constructionplace.com Project Owners can search for those matching their specific needs as follows:
And Project Owners can invite their favorite Services Providers to add their profile and credentials on Constructionplace.com for fast easy reference any time any place. Also, to expedite Service Provider approvals Project Owners can instantly forward these Constructionplace.com Service Provider Profiles to insurance agencies, construction lenders, homeowner association project managers, etc.
And Services Providers can open and show their Constructionplace.com Profiles on their mobile device any time any place. It’s like having a mobile business card.
Constructionplace.com Service Providers profile options include the following:
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