Look for licensed contractors
September 19, 2009
Great article about the importance of hiring a licensed contractor for your home improvement projects:
http://www.examiner.com/x-18262-Columbia-Home-Improvement-Examiner~y2009m8d26-Look-for-licensed-contractors
Now that summer is almost over you may want to make a few repairs around the house.
The Columbia area is loaded with handymen and small contractors. Most of these are hard working honest people just trying to make a living.
It is a good thing to use people you would like to help out, but you also have to think about yourself and your family.
The first question you should ask a prospective contractor is “are you licensed and insured?”
You may be surprised at how many are not.
Why do people work without a license? It cost a fee to be licensed, but they are usually within the one hundred dollar range.
The catch is in order to get a license you have to have insurance. This cost more and is what holds a lot of handymen back. Jack of all trades and handymen can usually underbid licensed workers because they do not have the overhead of paying for licenses and insurance.
In a lot of cases they charge the same or more as licensed contractors in spite of being unlicensed and uninsured.
What can happen if you use these unlicensed and uninsured workers? First of all if they get injured working on your house they are going to go to your insurance company to pay their medical costs.
If their mistakes damage your home, once again they have no insurance or capitol to correct the mistakes. They have no license to loose so they just continue advertising and doing other jobs. The problems with your job are often left for you to resolve.
A lot of times when you call them back to correct a problem , they created, they are not even in the business anymore.
Unfortunately the reputation of these types of workers has been passed on to all contractors, including those who are licensed and insured and will do a good job.
To obtain a state license as a skilled contractor you have to pass a test and be skilled in the trade. This is the kind of license you want your contractor to have.
Some municipalities only require you to pay a fee to obtain a license to work in their area. While this shows initiative it does not show the contractor is skilled in the trade he is charging you for.
Licensed contractors will stand behind their work and are answerable to their license holder and insurer. They have proven they are skilled in their trade.
It only makes sense to use workers who are trained in their trade, and are licensed and insured.
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