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BEWARE
Do I Really Need A Licensed Contractor?
Only
if you like your home and want to keep it. A license
does more than just ensure that the person you're dealing
with isn't a fly by night operator, it gives you important
legal protections that truly could mean the difference
between keeping and losing your home. Here are just
a few of the potential problems:
Unlicensed
individuals are considered your employees. That means
you are required to provide them with workman's compensation
insurance. If you do not provide this insurance not
only are you in violation of the law, you could be held
responsible for paying them for the rest of their life
should they get hurt.
Unlicensed
individuals have no liability insurance. That means
no protection of your investment from faulty materials
or workmanship. Theft from the job site isn't covered
and a worker's carelessness that leads to injury or
property damage could leave you holding a very large
bill.
Unlicensed
individuals leave you unprotected against a mechanic's
lien. If the contractor you hired to do the work doesn't
pay his suppliers they can put a lien on your house.
Individuals
not licensed do not have bonding protection on their
jobs through the state fund, which means you don't have
this protection.
Unlicensed
individuals can not apply for permits on the job you
hired them for. Without a permit, not only are you again
breaking the law, you are afforded none of the protections
the permitting process offers you. Your job will not
be covered by your homeowner's insurance because insurance
companies won't cover bootleg work.
You
may encounter problems when you attempt to sell your
house. Some counties may even require you to rework
the job, costing you twice.
Officials
can, and do, even require the entire removal of the
non-permitted structures.
Permitting
is done to ensure that the building codes are met. Building
codes are there to ensure that the job is done correctly.
The unlicensed individual probably doesn't even know
what the codes are, and is even less likely to follow
them.
If
the codes aren't followed and the job isn't done correctly
severe injury to you or your family could result from
using the incorrect materials or through faulty workmanship.
People
often "poo-poo" the building codes when it comes to
"simple" projects like a deck or garage but it is no
laughing matter when an improperly built garage or deck
collapses, leaving a family member buried under five
or six hundred pounds of wood.
The
bottom line is that there are lots of reasons not to
hire an unlicensed contractor but only one reason to...price.
We think the safety and well being of our families are
worth a little extra. How about your family?
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