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Cold Weather and Frozen Pipes
Cold weather is a big problem for home and property owners- especially if you’ve moved and your home is setting empty. Why? PLUMBING!
If your home gets too cold, the water in your pipes can freeze overnight and then burst in the day when it...
Gain Space With Clever Designed Kitchen Islands
Kitchen islands are among the most popular items in kitchen remodelling projects. They offer versatility in style and function. People often add them as part of an overall refacing project. You can choose to blend the island with your...
Pressure Washing Decks
Pressure Washing Decks A beautiful wooden deck, properly maintained, can add greatly to the aesthetic and resale values of a home. Just look around, decks are almost everywhere. Not just houses but both municipal and commercial facilities use ...
The Function of Fuse Boxes
Fuse boxes serve the same purpose as circuit breaker boxes. The fuse controls the electrical current from appliances within a home. Fuse boxes are outdated by modern standards. The advantage to having circuit breakers in a home is that instead of...
Ways to Make Your Bathroom More Energy Efficient
There are a number of design features and fittings that can
improve bathroom energy efficiency and reduce energy bills and
greenhouse pollution. Remodelling your bathroom to make it more
energy efficient will improve your home because doing it...
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Catching Crooked Contractors
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 President of Florida HomePro Inspections, and has recently written a book entitled "Secrets of the Happy Home Inspector", available at GoHomePro.com. 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!
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