All USA Homeowners are Pro Choice!

TomB. Denver is tempting especially with summer coming. I might be looking for some good people up there. I'll start looking at the licensing.

Arizona licensing. Residential separate license from commercial, or you can qualify for a dual. Four years verifiable exp. No comp for owners, comp for employees only. $2500 bond refundable after 2 years. Must renew every 2years. Initial trade test and business test Must be lic. bonded and insured. Sales taxes lic in each city you work in plus county and state. Phoenix requires permits and lead, asbestos testing on every commericial job. cold climate areas require dry-in inspections. GKRFG, I have family in Plainview or plainville must be near you. we'll get together when I come up there.

Awesome!..Is it enforced?

Do all local municipalities enforce? I know in Ca., all local, (city/county), verify upon permit application.

Ca. is very similar...except for the WC ins. rqrmnts. I was abreviating, For some reason, only roofers were rqrd to have WC....(may have changed by now).

Florida CCC Roofing contractors......... Minimum amounts required for General Liability insurance for Roofing contractors are $100,000 for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage. All contractors are required to carry Worker’s Compensation Insurance. All contractors must be at least 18 years of age and be of good moral character. Beginning November 1, 2007, all applicants for initial licensure or changed of status will be required to have a criminal background check performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigation. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT YOUR FINGERPRINTS HAVE BEEN SCANNED BY THE DEPARTMENT’S VENDOR, PROMISSOR/PEARSON VUE, PRIOR TO SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION. Applicants must document a net worth of $10,000 and submit a financial statement documented by a CPA. Applicants must show they have good credit by submitting a credit report less than 3 months old. Experience Required:

4 years of experience in the trade with at least 1 year having been supervisory work OR

A 4 year construction-related degree from an accredited college and 1 year proven experience applicable to the category for which you are applying OR

1 year as a foreman and not less than 3 years of credits from any accredited college level courses OR

1 year as a workman, 1 year proven experience as a foreman, and 2 years of credits from any accredited college level courses OR

2 years of experience as a workman, 1 year of experience as a foreman, and 1 year of credits from any accredited college level courses OR Have an active Certified Florida contactor’s license (This option only applies to Certified Building, Residential, Air Conditioning, and Swimming Pool contractors as provided in Section 489.111 (2)(c)4-6, Florida Statutes) . B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

GKFG - That's kinda what I figured. Typically, most states attempts at contractor licensing is a joke.

Califormia FINALLY made it mandatory, that all roofing contractors carry WC ins....If your WC lapses, your lic. is suspended. Plain n' simple. To those that whine; It's reaaly no big deal; Your simply pay a minimum premeium, ($600 +/- / yr.). (as everyone else does), if you have no employees.

California is far from perfect in other area's. However they've got the best contractor licensing program in the nation, that I've come accross; Other than Florida; I don't know much about Florida.

California, as I recall; Documented 4 yrs experience in the particualr trade license your applying for. Test involves trade knowledge, as well as business knowledge. Bond...was $10,000...probably twice that these days? WC ins.....for roofers only, I believe. The "sub-game" doesn't happen in Ca...That's cheat'n, You go to jail.

Rockydod- I am not union. Around here the union does very little residential work. I spent 12 years in the flat roof local some years back. If you get in the area give me a call. I'm about 35 miles west of the big city but would love to meet up if possible or just talk some phone roofing.

TobB- Being an Illannoyer I have mixed feelings on the license thing. I was very against it when they first were talking about it. But that was mostly because I was not in business and was doing weekend side work. And because I don't believe in the government getting their slimy fingers into telling us what we can and cannot do. Now that we are stuck with and I have gone into business I have adjusted but all things said I think that it is a good idea if they would actually enforce it. We still have the same old companies running "subcontractors" and skirting the tax and insurance requirements. To get a license you nee GL insurance but only need WC if you have employees. So in that respect nothing has changed. It has kept the side job guys from getting too big but they were never getting a large share of the work any way. I just discovered one "contractor" who just let his license lapse a few years ago and uses his subs license and name to pull permits. That's BS and it will be interesting to see what happens after the licensing board hears about it. Long story short I think licensing has done little good.

Rockydog....The Denver metro & all along the rocky Mountain "Front Range", is a real hot-spot for hail...and it's much closer! If you really want to play that is.

It appears Ill. feels only roofing contractors need to be licesnsed! The test appears to only cover roofing methodoligies and doesn't address what is REALLY needed...Business management knowledge.....What a typical waste of gooberment antics....

Did the implementation of this suedo-licensing do any good? Ill. guys?

Here is an update on Larry's issue It was dated yesterday and that maybe why we haven't heard from Larry

Update - March 21, 2012

Minnesota Association of Exterior Specialists - Contractor Legislative Alert

Today the State Capitol saw a victory for both Minnesota contractors and homeowners with the defeat of portions of Bill SF 2137. Sections 1, 2, 4 and 5, which were of most concern to contractors, were removed entirely, and the committee unanimously passed an amendment proposed by the author, Senator Dahms. Let me also note that Senator Dahms, who was very considerate and understanding, has expressed that he wants to work with us in the future.

Gkrfg, are you union? Not that it matters. Im flying into Chicago in a 6 weeks to take my roofing test. I have an architect friend that promises all kinds of work. Might need some advice when I get there.

After that huge hail storm we had, I kinda like the idea of chasing storms. But I'll set up a permanent office with sales and production. I m really ready to go nationwide. Just a question of putting the right people in the right places and hold them accoutable. All employees, of course. We'll see what happens in the next 2 years.

Alright. It looks like Larry is a lobbist for the Independent Contractors of America. Below is a copy of a proposal taken off of his URL he had posted. It took a lot of BS reading to finally get to his crux. His arguement it seems , is with the unions, when it really should be with the insurance companies. Unless this was reworded at press time,or when the ICCoA posted, I, too, don't agree with the proposal, but it has nothing to do with the unions. I'am the advocate for the homeowner, and I'll happily battle the ins.co's advocate(the adjuster). Actually I would help battle the State against such a proposal, but it's not the union's fault, even if they are strong at the state level.

"Negotiation with insurance provider. A residential contractor shall not represent or negotiate, or offer or advertise to represent or negotiate, on behalf of an owner or possessor of residential real estate on an insurance claim in connection with the repair or replacement of roof systems, or the performance of any other exterior repair, replacement, construction, or reconstruction work. Nothing in this section prohibits a residential contractor from discussing with an insurer the specific terms of a written contract executed between the residential contractor and a policyholder of the insurer once the claim has been accepted by the insurer."

Gee's, you wouldn't believe the reading it took to find this paragraph. save your time unless you like that kind of reading.

I'm with ya Rockydog....Glad you & GRFG got that worked-out...us dinosuaors need to stick together!

I'm as big an ignor-aim-us as anyone...To be honest, I only glazed over the original post, (sort of a pun - intended)....Quite possibly; I just assumed where it was headed....Ya know what they say about "assuming"?

These days, I'm just a little outfit fart'n around in the mountains....I've done the 80+ employee thing, (and yes they were EMPLOYEES)

Ok, so Im a thickheaded guy and couldn't see the humor through the rhetoric our buddy Larry has proposed, is endorsing and unwilling to disclose who he works for, whats his agenda and why he is pushing his platform upon us. I'd like it in American(English). Please.

Rocky, I just assumed that everyone would understand that that line was said "tongue in cheek". I am definately in the dinosaur catagory. I was trying not to pass judgement on how someone chooses to operate their business. I was just defining the 3 models that I see out there. To each his own but I expect that Larry is worried about something that does not concern me at all.

GKRFG, wasn't my intent to blast you personally, but you had a comment there that didnt rest easy. I said my piece. It's Larry topic. and earlier I asked him to put it in layman's terms. Haven't heard anything.

GKRFG, I would like to think that I fall into the old fashion group as far as the way I operate my business and the way I go about selling and installing Roofs. Except I don't do any of it anymore. I have 50-55 employees,all legal. My job now is to make sure I charge enough money to pay comp, liability, taxes and still have enough money to drive to work everyday and keep my wife happy with her own car. You don't have to be a small conttractor to stay in line with the regulations put forth. Most of my Installers make a good wage(Piece work) with good benefits and bonuses. my turnover rate is extremely low except the sales force who are paid commission but they are employees. I give them a car, phone, fuel, advertising and a few leads the rest is up to them, but they are w-2 employees. I take offence to your statement, "Come-on, I can't believe we all dont do it that way" Yes, I do insurance work, but I use the same crews on those jobs as weel as my $100,000.00 custom home jobs. Some of us might not be as smart as others but some of us have self respect and are not full of covert greed.