Who's that working under your roof? Or on top of your roof ... or way, way up in your maple tree pruning branches? If it's an unlicensed worker you are facing unaffordable perils—both personal and financial.
Homeowners are exposing themselves to a wealth of financial and personal safety risk when using unlicensed workers. While using licensed contractors may cost more up-front, it will save you from unnecessary expenses down the road. Plus, you can't place value on peace of mind.
There are several risks involved in using unlicensed workers:
-You are exposing yourself to the risk of an unknown person entering your home. Someone purporting to be Mr. Fixit could, in reality, be casing your home for a later break-in, assault or home invasion. The likelihood of these horrors occurring is far less if you are dealing with a licensed contractor with ties to the community.
-You could lose thousands of dollars if the work is shoddy or incomplete. State licenses require contractors to have trade experience, often requiring performance tests to ensure competency, and they also require contractors to be knowledgeable about local home improvement laws.
-It's illegal! Unlicensed workers who perform work for you are committing a misdemeanor and can be arrested, which means you are out of luck in terms of any deposit you may have put down and may well be liable for any materials bought from stores or sub-contractors by the unlicensed contractor.
-You could be exposed to enormous damages in court if the unlicensed contractor is injured on the job. State courts have found that an unlicensed worker cannot, by definition, be an independent contractor—and if he's not a contractor, he must be your employee. This means he or she can sue you if injured on the job. In one instance in California an unlicensed worker, injured after only a few hours working on a roofing job, successfully won damages claiming he was an employee of the homeowner! In another case in West Virginia, a licensed cable installer won a $1,000,000+ settlement for injuries he sustained from a fall off a power pole attached to a home, claiming that work performed by an unlicensed electrician on the home's circuit breaker box was the cause of his injury.
"These risks are completely avoidable, if you adhere to the following tips for homeowners looking to hire workers for home improvement projects:
1. Ensure your contractor is licensed. The status of a contractor’s license can often be checked through the state’s Licensing Board Website or have the contractor show you a copy of the license.
2. Ask for references from customers and suppliers who have worked with the contractor; and check for complaints on file with your state's contractor office and the Better Business Bureau.
3. Check to make sure a contractor's insurance coverage is complete and up-to-date, and includes worker's comp, property damage and liability.
4. Pay by credit card if possible, or, if paying by check, make it out to a company, never to "cash."
5. Don't pay cash. Don't pay in full in advance. Don't buy "left over supplies". Don't make a final payment until a thorough inspection of the work is complete.
For more information, please contact Jim Bray at JBray@CutlerHomes.com, Cutler Real Estate or 330-491-2700.
Cutler Real Estate, founded in 1947, is a full service real estate company serving Stark, Carroll, Tuscarawas, Summit, Medina, Portage and Wayne counties. Cutler Real Estate is the largest locally owned real estate firm in Northeast Ohio and one of the 100 largest in the country. Cutler provides a one-stop shopping approach to the real estate market, and is one of only a few in the state providing in-house consumer resources including relocation, commercial investment, auction, new homes, insurance and mortgage and title services through affiliates Mortgage One and Title One. For more information visit their website at CutlerHomes.com
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