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Licensing

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John R. Hall
John R. Hall Member Posts: 2,246
in THE MAIN WALL
A contractor friend of mine was telling me about a project in his community that involved the retrofit of a 200-unit apartment building. He said that unlicensed journeyman have applied for permits to change out the condensing units and furnaces in the building. The local licensed contractors are up in arms. The subject will come to a head soon as the local town council is taking up the issue.

My question is: Is this just an example of our free enterprise system or should the work go to licensed contractors? I realize the work has to be inspected and the quality of installation may be the same, but is this practice commonplace?

Thanks

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  • Patrick
    Patrick Member Posts: 17
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    Liscense

    I thought you had to be liscensed to even get the permit, or is this in a area that does not require permits??
  • John R. Hall
    John R. Hall Member Posts: 2,246
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    Apparently the apartment complex owner is entitled to have a licensed/bonded journeyman on its payroll who can pull HVAC permits. The dispute is with the city allowing this practice.
  • Bill NTSG
    Bill NTSG Member Posts: 321
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    In Connecticut

    We have licensed journeyman and licensed contractors. Only the licensed contractors may obtain permits. This is somewhat consistantly enforced. The licensed contractor must also present a certificate of insurance and a certificate of workmans comp. insurance if he [or she] has any employees. To me this protects the legitimate contractor and the customer or in the case of an apartment complex the lives and saftey of the tenants. Most landlords look for the cheap way out.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    It is not unusual

    for housing developments to have maintenance personnel who are not liscensed and work under the housing development agreements with the local community. Many of them hire unlicensed personnel for lower wages. I run into this often. The housing development people pull the permits and have there people do the work. I have not always liked this as I have seen problems develop from personnel who are not qualified nor liscensed doing work that typically requires a liscensed person. This has also happened with some local colleges and even some hospitals.
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