Why Home Improvement Licenses are not good enough

Home Improvement licenses are not good enough anymore. Times are-a-changin' my friends in the New York Metro area. Professionals are now mandated in some counties or states to hold a special pool license.

In Nassau county you must hold a CST (Certified Service Technician) to perform renovations to liner pools. In the state of Connecticut you must first achieve a CST just to take the SP1 test. The SP1 is the license that a company must hold to perform pool work in Connecticut. The SP2 is a journeyman license that the technician must hold. An SP2 tech can not work for a company that does not hold an SP1 license.

Just recently we found out that Rockland county wants to move towards licensing. This license must also be held by any sub-contractors working for a company. Rockland will also ask for a CST or CMT (Certified Maintenance Tech) plus years of experience. The exact years are TBD.

New Jersey as a whole wants to do the same. There is a bill in the legislation process right now. New Jersey is thinking about grandfathering contractors with proper credentials. They will have to provide the state with proof that they have a certain amount of experience. My professional opinion is that Westchester, Putnam, Orange and Dutchess counties will soon follow.

The whole premise of licensing is to promote professionalism for our industry and to allow pool owners a sense of confidence in hiring a competent pool contractor.

We, as an industry, feel that not only does licensing promote professionalism, but continuing education is all part of the plan. We must complete a certain amount of hours (varies between entities). This is to keep us current with new technology, procedures, laws and new products.

The spirit of these laws are to keep 'Chuck in the truck' from doing inferior work for sub-par wages. If the pool owner purchases from unlicensed contractors, the pool owner has no recourse when the work goes wrong. Most of the Consumer Affairs Departments have a restitution fund. This is to help consumers from poor workmanship when they purchase from a licensed contractor. If the work goes wrong and the licensed contractor doesn't make good on the work they could go to Consumer Affairs to get some money towards fixing the problem.

The best way to proceed is to purchase from a reputable, licensed, insured and bonded company with plenty of experience. The national average is to bring in 3 companies. More than this just gets too confusing. The caveat is that if the 3 companies are not qualified then bring in more.

See our blog on 'How to hire a Pool Liner contractor'.