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Old 12-07-2008, 07:28 AM
 
9,124 posts, read 36,262,305 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wileynj View Post
They do now... as of 2 yrs ago they started requiring lic. for contractors. So make sure you ask your contractor if he/she is lic. and insured...and always ask for a cert. of ins.

New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Professional Boards and Advisory Committees (http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/consumeraffairs/search/searchentry.pl - broken link)
Technically, they're "registered", not "licensed", and the fact that they've produced a $90 application free and an insurance policy is pretty meaningless with regard to their ability to perform. Not to say that licensing/testing programs in other places like CA, NV, GA, etc., guarantee that you'll be hiring a pro, but the NJ system is a joke.
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Old 12-07-2008, 08:36 AM
 
Location: Stewartsville, NJ
7,577 posts, read 22,542,163 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BobKovacs View Post
Technically, they're "registered", not "licensed", and the fact that they've produced a $90 application free and an insurance policy is pretty meaningless with regard to their ability to perform. Not to say that licensing/testing programs in other places like CA, NV, GA, etc., guarantee that you'll be hiring a pro, but the NJ system is a joke.
Well it's better than nothing : ) At least you can now check with consumers to see if any complaints were filed against them. My opinion.. they came out with this "lic. program" in order to keep track of what contractors are making. You can not file for permits without this lic. number and when you fill out the permits, you must list "cost" of the job. More big brother
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Old 12-07-2008, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Toms River, NJ
1,106 posts, read 4,884,693 times
Reputation: 656
Quote:
Originally Posted by wileynj View Post
They do now... as of 2 yrs ago they started requiring lic. for contractors. So make sure you ask your contractor if he/she is lic. and insured...and always ask for a cert. of ins.

New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Professional Boards and Advisory Committees (http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/consumeraffairs/search/searchentry.pl - broken link)
Absolutely. My brother is a Contractor and gets very annoyed when he is outbid by guys who don't pay for the licensing, don't pay for the proper insurance coverage, aren't concerned with permits and inspections, etc. Of course they're cheaper because they don't have the same overhead.

BTW, since your a new homeowner, you can search this site. Some very good info about contractors and their contracts have been posted here before.

One last thing. If your contractor is a member of the BBB, this is not necessarily a good thing. There was a pool contractor in Toms River that had a horrible word of mouth reputation but they were a member of the BBB and for some reason the complaints against them did not show up when you called even though they were never resolved.
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Old 12-07-2008, 06:33 PM
 
Location: Houston, Texas
10,447 posts, read 49,508,076 times
Reputation: 10614
Quote:
Originally Posted by wileynj View Post
They do now... as of 2 yrs ago they started requiring lic. for contractors. So make sure you ask your contractor if he/she is lic. and insured...and always ask for a cert. of ins.

New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Professional Boards and Advisory Committees (http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/consumeraffairs/search/searchentry.pl - broken link)

Good !!! Bout time. Only problem I see is like like all things Jersey does it is all about the money and not to protect the consumer. Im afraid if they just issue a license to anyone willing to pay for it rather then having them quality for it.

I remember they did this with boating licenses years ago. Anyone could get a license to drive a boat with no test of any kind. It was just a thing to raise revenue. Gimme money and here is your license son.
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Old 12-07-2008, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Houston, Texas
10,447 posts, read 49,508,076 times
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Well I posted too quick. As Bob Kovacs said before I read more posts, he pretty much said what I suspected. Just another money grab for NJ.

But Bob if you remember, we might not have had any state licensing but some towns like where we grew up in Woodbridge TSP the town took it upon themselves to at least register contractors. It was merely to protect the consumer.

Bob do you remember that inspector in our town Avenel who was so fat he couldn't get up on a ladder to look at anything and would just pass you? What was his name? He couldn't even fit in the front seat of his car. He had the seat set all the way back and the steering wheel was pushing in his belly. How did he make turns? Im sure you ran into him. I remember when you called him for inspection he would always say: "whatever you did son better be visable from the ground because fat boys like me dont climb ladders". It didn't matter because he would always pass our jobs.

Those were the good ol days....
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Old 12-07-2008, 07:24 PM
 
9,124 posts, read 36,262,305 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by desertsun41 View Post
Bob do you remember that inspector in our town Avenel who was so fat he couldn't get up on a ladder to look at anything and would just pass you? What was his name? He couldn't even fit in the front seat of his car. He had the seat set all the way back and the steering wheel was pushing in his belly. How did he make turns? Im sure you ran into him. I remember when you called him for inspection he would always say: "whatever you did son better be visable from the ground because fat boys like me dont climb ladders". It didn't matter because he would always pass our jobs.

Those were the good ol days....
I remember him, but I can't remember his name. We had another one about the same size who was the electrical inspector in Bridgewater- I called him for a "penthouse inspection" on a 6-story office building I was managing, and when he showed up he was pissed about the inspection being on the roof. He said "if I knew that, I would have sent the other inspector- I'm not walking up six flights of stairs!". He was going to fail me, which would have cost me 2 days on the schedule, but when I pointed out that I had specifically stated that it was an inspection of the penthouse (and it said so on his paperwork), and that penthouses were always on the roof (duh....) he passed me without even setting foot in the building. Gotta love those municipal employees........
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Old 12-07-2008, 07:39 PM
 
Location: New Jersey
2,715 posts, read 11,841,827 times
Reputation: 1429
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gessa View Post
So, I have some work to do in the house and posted an advert on Craigslist.... So far I have had a man who wanted to modernise a fairly preserved brownstone (and I mean modernise i.e. strip!), who then used my toilet only to pee on the seat - yum! I've had a number of 10 yr olds who happen to have '25 yrs of experience' - yeah, right! A man whose daughter rang up demanding why I never answered my phone (good start..that he had been outside for 2 hours (despite my sitting by the 1st floor window) whose father then came round and told me he could only do half the work.

Why is it soo hard to get experienced, sane workers for a fair price??
Yes have others have said please stay away from Craigslist.
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Old 12-08-2008, 10:27 AM
 
Location: Historic Downtown Jersey City
2,705 posts, read 8,239,635 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by desertsun41 View Post
Now that Im far from home and cant help Mom anymore she calls contractors from the church bullitan. Every church has a Sunday bullitan with ads on the backside.

I also agree with everyone that just about everything on Craigslist are scams.

Big problem is NJ dont have licensing for contractors so anyone with a pickup truck and a tool box can call themselves a contractor. And with the unemployment growing like a bean stalk there are a lot of people just looking to make some money being a handyman. Lots of people painted the walls in their home and think that qualifies them as a bonafied contractor.
All contractors must be licensed and insured now in NJ. Or else they face a $10,000 fine.
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Old 12-08-2008, 08:38 PM
 
Location: Houston, Texas
10,447 posts, read 49,508,076 times
Reputation: 10614
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobKovacs View Post
I remember him, but I can't remember his name. We had another one about the same size who was the electrical inspector in Bridgewater- I called him for a "penthouse inspection" on a 6-story office building I was managing, and when he showed up he was pissed about the inspection being on the roof. He said "if I knew that, I would have sent the other inspector- I'm not walking up six flights of stairs!". He was going to fail me, which would have cost me 2 days on the schedule, but when I pointed out that I had specifically stated that it was an inspection of the penthouse (and it said so on his paperwork), and that penthouses were always on the roof (duh....) he passed me without even setting foot in the building. Gotta love those municipal employees........
And since you also spent time in Las Vegas you are well aware that so very many building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections are done from the street without the inspector ever gettng out of his car. We call them drive by inspections. Oh yea.....the get out of the car to place the green sticker on the door.
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Old 12-08-2008, 08:45 PM
 
Location: Mount Laurel
4,187 posts, read 11,862,480 times
Reputation: 3512
I would never use folks on CL. I've had good luck with using Service Magic. I was able to contract someone to do my floor and kitchen. You still have to weed through the responses but I found them much better than CL.
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