(NEWSWIRE.NET –May 10, 2013) Ottawa, ON — Ottawa Plumber says “the City of Ottawa is failing our local homeowners”
For decades the City of Ottawa maintained a licensing requirement for contractors for renovations. This was done to maintain our local building code and to assure homes remained a safe place to live. As of 2009 the City of Ottawa eliminated the licensing requirement to contractors – what does this mean to you the homeowner? It means your home; your family and your wallet are at risk because anyone can claim to be a contractor without any license or experience.
Ottawa Master Plumber Dave Francis of Francis Plumbing & Heating said, “when it comes to building codes; they are designed to minimize and/or eliminate possible risks to life and home. For electrical, doing it to code eliminates your risk of house fire and electrocution, for carpentry it eliminates your risk of walls, ceilings & floors failing. For plumbing, doing it to code eliminates your risk of deadly diseases (like legionnaires disease which has a 30% death rate), exposure to molds and spores caused by undetected leaks that can destroy your lungs causing chronic problems for life, city sewage backup in your home which can result in diseases such as: Gastroenteritis, Hepatitis, asthma, Weil’s disease, Allergic Alveolitis. In extreme cases exposure to sewage can cause fatal damage to the liver, kidneys and blood, and infection of the skin or eyes.”
“We have a building code for a reason” said the Ottawa plumber, “to protect the lives of people living in these homes”.
In addition if you have work done by unlicensed tradesmen and there are issues your homeowner insurance policy may not cover the damages. Since more homes are damaged by water than fire and the damages can end up in the hundreds of thousands without insurance this comes out of your pocket. Also if the person doing the work does not pay workers compensations, if they are injured on the job you get to pay all their medical bills plus disability pay etc…
In other words, it doesn’t make sense to risk your hard earned money and your family just to get a deal on the price of a renovation.
Here are a few things that you can do as a homeowner to minimize your risks:
- Only hire licensed and insured tradesmen ask to see a copy of their trade license (contractors don’t need a license but plumbers, electricians, carpenters, tin smiths for venting, AC & HVAC technicians and gas fitters do!). Also make sure their insurance is good for up to $2 million minimum – ideally $5 million.
- Make sure they have a solid warranty plan – it should cover their labour and any materials they supply for at least 6 months to 1 year. Make sure it is a full value warranty NOT a pro-rated warranty which depreciates over time and thus won’t cover everything if it is ever needed.
- Make sure they are covered by workers compensation (if they are injured in your home and they don’t have workers compensation you pay all medical bills plus rehabilitation costs to return to work if possible, long term health care if required and/or educational costs for change of career on top of medical costs)
- Get a price up front before they start and get it in writing – make sure they put in writing what the job includes and what it doesn’t include (most legal battles are fought over misunderstandings).
- Do a background check online – in addition to checking with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) go to google.com and type in “complaints” with their full company name – if they have a bad reputation you will find out very quickly as people tend to talk about unhappy events more than happy events (just confirm it is the same local company as there are many companies with similar names through Canada and around the world).
You also can write to our Mayor Jim Watson to request that the contractor’s license be reinstated. After all it was created to protect our homes and families and assured we were hiring only contractors that complied with the law. To send your request to Mayor Jim Watson email: Jim.Watson@ottawa.ca
It is up to each of us as part of our local community to take steps to protect our families and homes and to make sure our City includes licensing where necessary
To contact the author:
Kay Kinder, Public Relations
Francis Plumbing & Heating
25-174 Colonnade Road South
Ottawa, ON K2E7J5
Office: 613-224-0041
email: office@FrancisPlumbing.com
www.FrancisPlumbing.com
Ottawa most trusted plumber since 1933