In about five months you will be able to check out that contractor you are going to allow loose in or on your home. The new PA Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act of 2008 will go into effect. It will apply to just about any contractor doing work inside or outside a residence. All contractors will have to register with the State and provide personal and company information to obtain a state registration number. Their contracts with consumers will have to contain certain provisions relative to insurance coverage amounts, amount of any deposit, specific address of the contractor, billing procedures etc. In addition the registration number will have to appear on all estimates, advertising, invoices and contracts.
So you can now have a better picture of that contractor and his professionalism whether he is doing roofing, landscape improvements, painting, carpentry, electrical or heating and air conditioning. Local registration is no longer good enough, make sure you ask for his State registration details as well. But remember this won't go into effect for about another five months.
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Nick & Trudy , too bad it's only a $50.00 registration fee , the bad apples won't pay the fee & Pa doesn't want another licensing authority they just want the $ . Licensing would help weed out the bad apples ! Registration just generates fees !
I really appreciate learning about this from you. I hope this improves the situation
Nick and Trudy - this will be an excellent update for our industry. I have heard sooooo many horror stories in the last couple of years as far as unprofessional work or even worse, contractors leaving during the job... after they had been paid up front ! Hopefully this should clean it up a little bit !
Christopher and Stephanie I totally agree that this will at least allow consumers to verify who is working on their homes, whatever the fee, if it has not been paid and the contractor does not have a license then avoid them. Unfortunately it is usually the elderly who are taken advantage of and end up losing savings, this i believe will put an end to this sort of abuse.