The good contractors cost more because they internalize the cost of doing business. Its comforting for me to know that the person remodelling my house is required to be insured. Sure we could do this ourselves but just how many people do you know that require proof of insurance before they hire the guy. Commonly, nobody asks that unless and until something goes horribly wrong. I applaud the contractor’s efforts to police themselves. It allows the local consumers of their services some assurance that they are going to get what they contracted for and enables registered contractors the ability to enforce payment against the value of the land that their sweat has improved.

Guardian are you advocating a fleet of enforcement officers stationed in every County? I certainly don’t see the sense in an aggresive approach to enforcement. The passive role adopted by the Bureau in demonstrating why its in everyone’s best interest seems good enough for me. But I do agree that methods remain on the table that could raise the level of professionalism much more and would stave off potential disputes between contracting parties.

EDITOR NOTE–We advocate refusal to issue building permits unless the contractor is registered. Boise REFUSES to issue to unregistered contractor, Ada County issues and claims it’s not their job to check. IF the law is to protect consumers, then enforce the law and protect the consumer! Net effect of this law has been to sell 17,000 insurance policies and not much else.