Are Un-Licensed or Under-Licensed Contractors You Hire a Liability for Your Communities?

It is important for property managers such as yourself to be aware of the licensing rules and liabilities when it comes to your landscape contractor or any contractor working for your commercial or association property. Not only does this ensure protection of your company and the property you manage but also ensures that the work you are receiving is of quality and done properly, avoiding un-licensed or under-licensed contractors attempting to fly under the radar.

Benefits of Hiring Licensed Professionals That are Licensed for the Work they are Proposing and Performing

Hiring a licensed contractor has a number of benefits that are well worth the search to check for a license. To begin, hiring a licensed contractor helps to ensure quality. In order to obtain a license to perform specific work, contractors must possess a minimum amount of experience to a related license, pass an exam related for the license they are applying for, have insurance, and have limited outstanding contracting complaints. It is also important to note that not all licenses are inclusive of all of the work a contractor may propose, so be sure to check these licenses and make sure that the contractor who is proposing commercial landscaping services isn’t only licensed for residential work! By doing this, you can trust you are hiring an educated and reputable contractor that is licensed to provide quality work for your property or community, limiting the liability while they are on-site.

Additionally, hiring a contractor who is licensed for the project they are tasked with protects you and the property you manage from scammers and bad business. When a contractor is properly licensed for the work performed and a complaint is filed against them, property managers can rely on the licensing organization to help handle the disputes for them. Hiring an un-licensed or under-licensed contractor to provide services that they are not licensed for creates a liability quagmire between the contractor, your company, and your client should things go wrong. This is an extremely important precaution that can easily turn into a missed opportunity to protect your company and your commercial property.

What You Should Know About Licensing & Insurance

Licensed contractors, especially commercial contractors, pay for insurance. This insurance includes, but is not limited to: Commercial liability, Automobile liability, Umbrella liability, Workers Compensation, and leased and rented equipment. Doing work at your commercial property or homeowners association requires a contractor to carry much higher limits of insurance than a residential contractor may carry and, in some cases, a non-licensed contractor may not carry insurance at all. Not carrying insurance or being underinsured may allow a contractor to underbid, however not paying proper insurance premiums is irresponsible and creates a liability for you as the property manager.

Property managers can check if a contractor is licensed by visiting https://roc.az.gov/contractor-search using the contractor search that they provide at the website or simply by giving them a call and asking a service representative to verify the licenses for the selected contractor.

Here at ELS, we make it easy for you to check our licenses by providing our license number in our written contracts and business cards. This is a great thing to keep an eye out for when receiving written estimates as it can make the process quick and easy when it comes to searching licenses and checking for updates on your contractors.

Need a written estimate from a licensed contractor you can trust? Request a bid and we will get back to you shortly!