News
High Desert Contractors Association in the News
Local contractors combine to promote quality, integrity
MITCH DEACON Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE — In an effort to educate the community on the perils of working with unlicensed contractors, local business leaders are organizing the High Desert Contractors Association.
Combining local contractors and other businesses that service the building industry, the association is dedicated to protecting the public interest by promoting responsible leadership, ethical practices and quality workmanship.
“Small contractors that are following the law are having to compete with unlicensed businesses that are not playing by the rules. We should be rewarding people who play the game the right way,” said Jiles Smith, California State Fraud Assessment commissioner.
Contractors in California are required to have a state license, a local business license, general liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance and a performance bond to ensure that work is completed.
“The problem is that most contractors don’t have all the requisites to run their businesses legally and professionally,” said Bob Sole, a founding member of the contractors associations and president of Express Blinds, Draperies and Shutters in Victorville.
The public can easily determine if a business is a licensed contractor by checking the license number or business name at the Web site of the Contractors State License Board at www.cslb.ca.gov.
The association is also working with local contractors to promote best practices in the building industry.
“We want to educate unlicensed contractors and help them get into compliance with the law,” Sole said.
The contractors association plans to set up a booth at the Victorville Home and Backyard Show on June 1-3 at the fairgrounds.
The first official meeting of the contractors association will be June 28 at Spring Valley Lake Country Club. All licensed and unlicensed local contractors are invited to attend.
Source: Daily Press Newspaper
June 29, 2007 - 4:17PM
Crackdown on unlicensed contractors
By MITCH DEACON
SPRING VALLEY LAKE — The campaign against unlicensed contractors is heating up in the Victor Valley.
The High Desert Contractors Association on Thursday convened its first meeting to promote licensed contractors and businesses that service the building industry.
Organizers of the meeting announced an undercover operation that is expected to be launched against contractors working without a license.
“We will be initiating another sting operation in the next 60 to 90 days,” said Bob Sole, president of Express Blinds and Draperies and one of the organizers of the contractors association.
Among the speakers at the meeting were officials from several state agencies who warned the public against hiring contractors without a license.
“Anybody that does a construction job of $500 or more has to have a contractors state license,” said Maria Guzman-Kennedy, Community Outreach Coordinator with the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
“The consumer has no laws to protect them when they hire an unlicensed contractor,” she said.
In addition to the contractors license, contractors in California are required to have a local business license, workers’ compensation insurance and a performance bond to ensure that work is completed.
“Not long ago, a law was enacted requiring contractors to be fingerprinted in order to obtain a license. These are contractors going into your home that are exposed to your family and children, so you want to be sure that you don’t have people in there that are felons, pedophiles or others that you don’t want around,” Guzman-Kennedy said.
Investigators plan to crack down on contractors operating without a license.
“Our sting operations are very successful,” said Steve Tidwell, a field investigator for the Contractors State License Board.
“We rent a house or commercial property, then we research advertisements in local publications, newspapers and magazines. Whatever you’re selling, we need,” Tidwell said.
Source: Hesperia Star Newspaper
A View from Main Street: Time may be right for Contractors Association
by PETER DAY Star Editor
The phrase “standing room only” is a misnomer. It should be called “sitting on the floor only,” as my sore tush would attest. But that’s exactly where I found myself last Thursday night at the first official High Desert Contractor Association meeting in the Spring Valley Lake Country Club dining room.
With about 120 contractors, several local leaders, industry experts and a handful of local news reporters, the sizeable crowd itself served as an emphatic statement: Licensed contractors are yearning for a unified voice and the power to solve the unlicensed contractor issue and other obstacles.
While unlicensed contracting is the hot-button topic for many reasons, it certainly isn’t the only concern of contractors. Spearheaded by several familiar faces — Hesperia Chamber of Commerce President Eric Schroeder, Vice-President Mark Austin and active chamber member Bob Sole, who serves as the new group’s president — the new association will offer an array of benefits, features and much-appreciated solutions.
Besides local meetings with expert guest speakers, the association is expected to offer seminars on employment and contract law, safety and OHSA training and marketing and advertising.
Collectively, the association will have the group buying power to purchase numerous contractor necessities at lesser rates including media and advertising, financial services, accounting services, insurance, payroll services, legal services and more.
While most people may just think of general building contractors when they think of the word “contractor,” there a many other contractor designations as identified as the California Contractors State License Board.
Other types of licensed contractors are general engineering, insulation and acoustical, boiler, hot-water, heating system fitting, framing and rough carpentry, cabinet, millwork and finish carpentry, low voltage systems, concrete, drywall, electrical, elevator, earthwork and paving, fencing, flooring and floor covering, fire protection, glazing, warm-air heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, building moving/demolition, ornamental metal, landscaping, lock and security equipment, masonry, construction zone traffic control, parking and highway improvement, painting and decorating, pipeline, and lathing and plastering.
But there’s more.
There is plumbing, refrigeration, roofing, sanitation system, sheet metal, electrical sign, solar, general manufactured housing, reinforcing steel, structural steel, structural steel, swimming pool, tile, water conditioning, well drilling, and welding.
Limited specialty contractors including awnings, central vacuum, concrete-related, drilling, blasting and oil field work, elevated floors, synthetic products, hardware, locks and safes, machinery and pumps, metal products, doors, gates and activating devices, paperhanging, pile driving/pressure foundation jacking, pole installation and maintenance, prefabricated equipment, pool and spa maintenance, sand and water blasting, scaffolding, service station equipment and maintenance, siding and decking, sign installation, tree service, suspended ceilings, window coverings, wood tanks, trenching, hydro seed spraying, air and water balancing, construction cleanup, and weatherization and energy conservation.
Yes, the time has come for the High Desert Contractors Association. As impressive as the 120-plus who attended last week’s kickoff event were, this group may onto something big.
Really big.