PA contractors must register

Statewide new law coming, licenses insurance required

By FRITZ MAYER

PENNSYLVANIA — That contractor who comes to give you a new roof or a new bathroom will soon have to register with the state before legally being allowed to perform work in Pennsylvania.

A new law called Home Improvement Contractor Registration, developed by the PA Attorney General, will require all contractors who do business in excess of $5,000 per year to register with the state, and obtain a license to do contracting work issued by the PA Bureau of Consumer Protection. The license will cost $50 and come with a two-year life.

Attorney General Tom Corbett worked with the Pennsylvania Builder’s Association to come up with the law, which contains the language, “No person shall hold himself out as a contractor nor shall a person perform any home improvement without first registering with the bureau.”

The law also requires that contractors maintain insurance coverage of at least $50,000 in both personal injury liability insurance and property damage insurance. It also requires that contractors use contracts that contain specific information about projects, such as the start and completion dates, and a description of work being performed.

Corbett said that home improvement complaints are among the most frequently heard from consumers and he said, “This legislation will give us new tools to identify and prosecute problem contractors, while also helping consumers avoid frustrating and potentially expensive problems in the future.”

The law passed in October 2008, and goes into effect in July. Meanwhile, local builders associations throughout the state are holding forums on how to comply with the new requirements.

More than 170 tradespeople and interested individuals attended a Wayne County Builders Association (WCBA) January 14 presentation at Ehrhardt’s Waterfront Restaurant in Tafton. Laurie Lourie, executive officer for the WCBA, said that the event provided a lot of information to the members, which at this point is the main concern.

Lourie said that some of the contractors will need to change the contracts they use, but that once they find out about the law’s requirements, they are not “overly concerned” about meeting them. She said, however, that there are still some details to be worked out. For instance, the exact language of the application form will not be completed until February. She said it’s estimated that there are 60,000 to 80,000 contractors in the state that will apply for the license.

Steve Feldman, president of Green Demolitions, which sponsored the event, agreed that the contractors there mostly wanted information about how to comply with the law.

WCBA will be holding another informational session sometime in April, although the date has not yet been determined.

There is no similar legislation pending in New York, where the licensing of contractors normally occurs at the county level. In Sullivan County, electrical contractors are required to be licensed, but not others. However, the Sullivan County Department of Consumer Affairs receives more complaints about home improvement projects that any other category of complaint.

Recent discussions among county legislators about the possibility of licensing all contractors met stiff resistance from some of the town supervisors, who complained that requiring licenses would be a burden to contractors and would add another unnecessary layer of government. The effort has since stalled.