Recently I spoke with The Mass Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation
about RRP Licensing and Home Improvement Contractor Registration. A question came up in one of our RRP trainings did contractors have to acquire their Lead Safe Renovation Contractor License in order to comply with the Mass Home Improvement Law.
According to OCABR registered home improvement contractors in the state of Massachusetts are required to not violate any building laws of the state or any of the political subdivisions. Following is a link to the Mass HIC Law section 17. Read clause 10 right after the link;
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter142A/Section17
(10) violation of the building laws of the commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof;
In my postion as Chairman of Government Affairs for EMNARI contractors ask me all the time to keep them up to date on regulatory matters. The Department of Labor Standards (formerly DOS) is responsible for the administering and enforcing the RRP Law. OCOBR said this is one of the laws governing contractors therefore they are suppose to follow it. Most HIC registered contractors I spoke with are not aware of this.
A recent visit to the Department of Labor Standards web site RRP license list reveals that there are less than 1700 contractors actually licensed to do RRP work in Mass. I do not know if OCABR will refuse to issue HIC registration numbers to unlicensed RRP contractors in the future. Nor is it clear if existing HIC holders will be face revocation if they fail to get their RRP LSRC license.
In the Mass RRP Lead Law 454 CMR 22.00 there are several references that require those seeking to be RRP licensed that they have to be a registered home improvement contractor.
Another concern one of our RRP students brought up was will homeowners be able to claim that they were mislead by a contractor with a HIC but no LSRC license? Educated consumers seeking to wiggle out of final payments or get money back could make this an issue.
The safe bet would be to make sure your company is up to date on required licensing so this scenario will not cause you to have a bad day. If you are still holding out (for your own reasons) on becoming RRP certified and licensed maybe it is time to reconsider. Here is the wording from the Mass Lead RRP Law 454 CMR 22.00 that says contractors need to be licensed;
From 454 CMR 22.00 section 22.03 #3
(3) General Requirements for Licensure of Lead-safe Renovation Contractors. No person, firm, corporation or other entity shall perform, offer, or claim to perform Renovation Work in Target Housing or Child-occupied Facilities unless that person, firm corporation or other entity has been licensed as a Lead-safe Renovation Contractor in accordance with 454 CMR 22.04.
To even offer (bid or price) to work on target housing (pre-1978) contractors are required to be licensed. The State requires this licensing for remodelers, roofers, painters, electricians, plumbers, siding window and gutter contractors, weatherization, handyman ect and also landlords who own multifamilies, property management maintenance personnel.
mark the coach
"one voice for the residential construction industry"
