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When Is a Contractors License Required?

Published: 08/04/2010 by Patsy Hamilton

When is a contractors license required? That depends on the type of contractor you need to hire and where you live. The resources here should help you find the answer.

If you happen to be a contractor, you would be smart to obtain any licenses and certifications available. Consumers are smart. They look for those things. Although this article was written with the consumer’s interests in mind, a contractor might find the information useful, too.

Contact the State or Provincial Government Offices

Laws concerning contractor licenses vary from state to state and from province to province. You can visit the official website of the state or provincial office in which you live to get information about licensing requirements for different kinds of projects.

Additional Licenses

A plumbing contractor should be a licensed plumber. An electrical contractor should be a licensed electrician. Those are just a few examples. Whenever you are about to hire someone, you should check that they have the appropriate licenses and they are all up to date.

General Contractor

A general contractors license is usually required for anyone involved in construction or demolition. Those that supervise other licensed specialists are usually required to have some type of license.

A general contractor might not have a license for a specialty like electrical work. His or her function is to create an appropriate team to complete whatever job you need done. So instead of hiring a dozen different contractors to build a house, you can hire just one.

Owners of large businesses or corporations sometimes decide to forego hiring a general contractor and hire subcontractors instead. Often, they find that this is a mistake. The general contractor makes his or her living because of relationships.

They have established relationships with sub contractors. They know what kinds of building permits are necessary for specific jobs. They know who to contact to get the necessary permits. In other words, the general contractor has a lot to offer.

No License Needed

For small low-priced jobs, a contractors license might not be needed. For example, to repair a roof in California, you only need a license if the job costs more than $601.00.

No formal woodworking education is required to provide carpentry services in most areas. Carpenters make their living by establishing a reputation. They will usually come prepared with references and photos of their work.

In Canada, carpentry is one of the 49 “Red Seal” trades. Once an apprenticeship program has been completed in one of the Red Seal trades, craftsmen are allowed to work in any of the provinces, without obtaining an additional contractors license. This program was designed to allow for more mobility among Canadian tradesmen.

A license is not necessary to be a handyman, but a business license might be. When you are comparing contractor bids, check to see that each one has a business license. Otherwise, you have nowhere to turn if the workmanship is unsatisfactory.

Is a business license more important than a contractors license? Both are equally important.

Patsy Hamilton is a home improvement journalist at HomeImprovement411.ca. For more great useful home improvement articles please visit: http://www.homeimprovement411.ca

Article Source: http://www.homeimprovement411.ca/article