Homeowners looking for protection from unscrupulous contractors may soon get it from state lawmakers.
A bill before the House of Representatives would require carpenters, roofers and drywall contractors be licensed.
But opponents say the bill would be a burden to small businesses.
Republican Representative Ken Hawkins told the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee that licensing contractors would help clean up the profession.
He sponsored the licensing bill, and testified that he had been on a study committee two years ago that began looking at the issue.
Hawkins said back then, many homeowners reported that they had been taken in by unscrupulous contractors.
this is the testimony that we had for our study committee that anyone would like to go in and look at and see the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars of people, that have put deposits down, contractors have started work, gone out of business, declared bankruptcy...opened back up the next day under a new name and took somebody else's money.
The bill would require contractors, roofers, drywall hangers, painters and carpenters to have a state license to build a house, or do renovations.
Currently, plumbers and electricians have to be licensed, and natural gas line installation workers will probably join them in a few months.
Tedd Evans is a master plumber and a member of the state's plumbing board.
Evans is also a building inspector for the town of Bow.
He favors requiring licenses, especially now that the state has a building code for houses.
Evans says he thinks that combination would keep contractors in line.
we're going to give you a license, somewhat on the honor system, because your work may not get inspected. but your guarantee, to hold that license is that you're going to comply with that code and if you don't, you will put your license at risk.
The strongest objections to licensing contractors came from a new state representative.
Democrat Joel Winters of Manchester told the committee he earns his living as a carpenter.
He is also the only Free State Project follower in the Legislature.
Winters testified that he got started in the business by building a shed for a client down in Florida.
under this bill, i wouldn't be able to do that. i'd be a criminal because i made more than 500 dollars. i'd be subject to a year in jail. i'd be subject to a 2,000 dollar fine.
Another objection that arose during the hearing revolved around who in a crew of workers should be licensed.
The Home Builders Trade wanted just the main contractor, the so called "general contractor" to be required to have a license.
Subcontractors would be exempted.
But a Carpenter's union official, Joseph Donahue, doesn't believe such exemptions would be helpful.
...we feel everybody should be licensed. if you're going to be performing the work, you should have a license.
The State Senate is also debating the issue of licensing contractors.
Democratic Senator Lou D'Allesandro of Manchester is sponsoring the measure.
There's no hearing date set yet for that piece of proposed legislation.
In the meantime, consumers who are thinking about building a house or doing renovations should get a contract that spells out the scope and price of work to be performed.
Even opponents of the licensing bill said they thought that was a wise thing to do when dealing with contractors.
