Separate proposals look at establishing statewide building codes and licensing home builders.
LEWISTON – There was a time when Dan Hebert was fielding a call a week from tearful homeowners who’d been ripped off by unscrupulous contractors and were looking to Hebert to bail them out.
“We had the calls here a number of times asking us to fix something someone else did,” said Hebert, president of Hebert Construction Corp. “It was really sad. … Sometimes they’d spent the last dollar they had.”
That’s why Hebert supports licensing residential building contractors through a bill under review now in Augusta. LD 1551 would establish a regulatory board to issue licenses to contractors who build or repair homes. Backers hope to present a finished proposal to the Legislature when it convenes in January.
If it passes, general contractors, as well as contractors who install windows, siding, roofs, chimneys and other structures, and who contract for work over $1,400, would have to undergo testing to receive a license and then have a review for renewal. A component of the bill looks at establishing statewide building codes for one and two-family residential buildings.
“I see it as preventive medicine,” said Linda Conti, chief of the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office. The AG’s Office initiated the bill.
Conti said her office receives about 175 complaints a year from people who think they’ve been defrauded by home builders or home improvement contractors. It’s among the top category of complaints her office gets.
Conti said a licensing procedure would help remove the bad apples from the construction industry and reduce the number of lawsuits and the potential for harm to the consumer.
“Typically we get big judgments,” she said, “but then we have to chase them (contractors) for the money to repair the harm to the consumer.”
The idea to license contractors isn’t new. Conti said her office has pushed for a law for several years. Hebert said he fought for licensing 15 years ago when he was the president of Associated Building Contractors, a statewide trade association.
What’s different this time is having contractors themselves on board. Lynn Bromley, the Senate chair of the Business, Research and Economic Development Committee, said she believes they’ve nearly reached a consensus among the contractors who have been attending stakeholders meetings in Augusta to iron out differences.
“The building industry is largely supportive,” said Bromley.
Sandra Mathieu, executive officer of the 250-member Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Maine, agrees. She said there are a few remaining details to be worked out on the licensing bill, but she feels confident there will be a workable proposal for the lawmakers come January.
“It’s very hard to find people who are against this concept,” she said. “It’s all about safety.”
There’s much less consensus about the building codes. A separate ad hoc group has been rigorously debating whether statewide building codes should be adopted for residential and commercial buildings; whether compliance should be voluntary or mandated; and which code should be the standard.
The group of about 60 code enforcement officers, architects, builders and other construction industry people has been meeting since spring to examine the idea of statewide building codes. Jeff Edelstein, facilitator for Building Code Working Group, said a tentative consensus on a recommendation from the steering committee will be presented to the full group on Sept. 23.
He declined to discuss the specifics of the recommendation, but did say it deals primarily with a choice of code. There is no uniform residential building code now in Maine. Jeff Austin, a lobbyist with the Maine Municipal Association, estimates about half of Maine’s communities have no residential building codes. Individual contractors choose which code they prefer.
“Our concern is if the state adopts a code and it pre-empts all other codes, that it be done in a smart, thoughtful comprehensive way,” said Austin. The MMA is waiting to see the recommendations from the building code and licensing groups before it takes a position. Austin said the sticking point might be inspections.
“We think we’ll have a difficult time with a state building code if it doesn’t have a scheme of enforcement,” he said. There’s concern the change will overwhelm existing code enforcement officers and require the hiring of building inspectors in communities where none exist.
Once the building code group reaches an agreement, it will send a report to the state, said Edelstein. That will be incorporated with the work being done on the licensing bill revisions.
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