Protect Yourself
While the information below is not a comprehensive guide, it will give you a starting point to help protect your investment in your new home or renovation.
All Builders of New Homes in the Province of B.C. must be licensed and carry a mandatory warrantee. Visit the B.C. Home Owner Protection Office (HPO) web site to see if your builder is licensed. Click here for a direct link to the Provincial Registry. Go to the HPO main website which is full of information pertaining to the 2-5-10 warrantee that your builder is required to supply.
Renovation Contractors are not currently required to be licensed. They are not Provincially regulated, so there can be a lot of FBN's (Fly-By-Nighters) out there. Frankly anyone that knows which end of a hammer to hold can call themselves a Renovation Contractor. Check with your local municipality's business licence department, to make sure the Contractor has a business licence
That does not mean that there are not a lot of very good Renovation Contractors out there. Give us a call for a list of Contractors in the Kamloops area that we have worked with, and have inspected their work in the past. While this does not guarantee a trouble free build, it does show that they have a history and care about their work.
However, regardless of who you hire, protect yourself. An outstanding program that ProCad Designs strongly supports is simply called Get it in Writing. This Program talks about contracts, written quotes, and other methods of protecting yourself and your money. Without a written contract that fully defines the work you are paying for and establishes that the contractor is operating their business properly, you could face significant risks if something goes wrong, and have no assurance that what you want is what the Contractor builds. This is true for both Renovations and New Homes. Lots of people think they are safe just because they have not taken the lowest bid, but regardless of that fact, Get it in Writing.
Worksafe BC (WCB) is often considered the evil empire by Contractors and avoided at all costs. However, as the Owner of the properly where the construction is taking place, Worksafe BC can be some of the best protection you can have. If a Contractor is not registered with Worksafe BC, you are liable if any injuries take place on site. Before hiring any Contractor, no matter how small the job is, either get their Worksafe BC registration number, or get a Worksafe BC Clearance Letter from them. ProCad Designs recommends getting the registration number and going here to generate your own Clearance Letter before hiring the Contractor, and generating one before paying any invoices.
If you do not have a General Contractor and are hiring several Contractors (say a plumber, framer, and electrician) to do something as simple as a Bathroom or Kitchen renovation, you could be considered the Prime Contractor and be personally responsible for all site safety, first aid, and financially responsible for any injuries. Its a complicated issue, but check out Worksafe BC's Homeowner information.