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by Wally Conway,
Host
of the Home and Garden Show on WOKV
Few times in the life of a homeowner can be more challenging than
when significant repairs are needed. The number of issues, options
and decisions seems endless, the most daunting of which is contractor
selection.
When choosing a contractor for a repair or renovation the most
fundamental of screening techniques is the assurance that the contractor
is properly licensed. The tales of tragedy brought about by the
illegal actions of unlicensed contactors are enough to scare us
into never making repairs! Thankfully, it is free and easy to eliminate
these thieves from our lives if we do some simple research.
The State of Florida requires that all contractors be properly
licensed under the auspices of The Construction Industry Licensing
Board. Each licensed contractor or company qualified to conduct
business in the state has a license number. The license number makes
it easy to know what a particular contractor or company is licensed
to do, but only if we know the code!
Fortunately the code is easy to break. Nearly every license issued
by the State of Florida is a combination of three letters and six
numbers. The letters identify the type of work the contractor is
licensed to perform and the numbers specify the individual contractor
or company. At the top of the list are:
CGC
Certified General Contractor
(Builders of big buildings)
CBC
Certified Building Contractor
(Builders of small offices and stores)
CRC
Certified Residential Contractor
(Builders of homes)
It's starting to get simple! The licenses begin and end in the
letter "C". A builder can build any building in or below
the license level, so a General Contractor could build a home, but
a Residential Contractor could not build a bank!
Every system in a home or building is also required to be installed
or repaired by properly licensed people. The simple secret code
on this is:
CCC Certified Roofing Contractor
CAC Certified Mechanical Contractor (Heating and Air)
CPC Certified Pool Contractor
CFC Certified Plumbing Contractor
EC Electrical Contractor
To help us even more in avoiding unlicensed contractors the state
requires that a contractor display their license number on every
vehicle, invoice, bid, business card and solicitation. So, you can
tell if a person is licensed before you even speak to them!
Most people assume that the risk posed by unlicensed work is limited
to poor quality or unfinished work. But it gets much worse! The
homeowner who hires unlicensed contractors is responsible for all
unpaid bills, fines, and worst of all, payment for any injury to
the unlicensed contractor! It is illegal and ill-advised to hire
these scoundrels!
A quick link to all this and more, including everything you ever
wanted to know about permitting - but were afraid to ask - is at
www.gohomepro.com.
Forewarned is forearmed, so check it out and keep the risks of unlicensed
and illegal work away from your home!
Copyright © Florida HomePro, Inc. and Wallace
J. Conway. All rights in all media reserved.
About the Author: Wally Conway is your weekly Host of the Home
and Garden Show on WOKV, and author of the book "Secrets of the Happy
Home Inspector", available at GoHomePro.com.
Wally's expertise and experience has been sought after by HGTV's "House
Detective", DIY Network's "Finders Fixers", the National Association
of REALTORS®, newspapers, and corporations. As a speaker, writer, and instructor,
Wally blends the right amount of up-to-date information with just the right
amount of humor, insight, motivation, and real-world application. Visit WallyConway.com
for more information!
Reproduction of this article: Permission is granted to use this article
in any media provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety as shown
above, with the authors resource box/bio included including links to http://www.gohomepro.com
and http://www.wallyconway.com
as the original publisher.
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