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Homeowner as contractor(s)?????

rktect 1

rktect 1

SILVER MEMBER
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
1,165
Location
Illinois
OK,....... so in Illinois there are only a few specific trades that require a state license. Such as plumber, fire sprinkler or alarm installer, roofer, irrigation contractor. The rest of the trades or contractors city registration varies per municipality. These are usually written into the ordinances for the specific city. And sometimes not at all which means anybody can do the work, technically, as long as they register.

Having said that, and I wish I didn't write that garbage out, some cities allow for a homeowner to be their own contractor(s). One of the stipulations usually is that it is your own house and you are the only one performing the work. All work is inspected to meet code and corrections are made when not compliant. There is a lot of hand holding though and it takes a lot of time to complete some of these small projects.

So, to my question. Do you allow for homeowners to be their own contractors (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, mason, any of them, all of them, etc etc) or not? If you do, do you make them fill out an affadavit or other form? Do you require a cert. of insurance? How much? Do you require a bond? How much? ANd the big one, do you require some sit down test in the office?

Thanks
 
rktect 1 said:
So, to my question. Do you allow for homeowners to be their own contractors (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, mason, any of them, all of them, etc etc) or not? If you do, do you make them fill out an affadavit or other form? Do you require a cert. of insurance? How much? Do you require a bond? How much? ANd the big one, do you require some sit down test in the office?
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Yes we allow them, no affidavit, form, insurance, bond, or test. You have to own the home and live there. It is a local practice I disagree with to allow people to do their own work if they say they will live there or if their relative lives there or will live there, which is obviously abused by house flippers. We keep track of the people who burn us on that one and will not allow them to pull further permits without a contractor license.
 
Illinois is a farm state and farmers have done their own work for generations. And of course only a generation of two ago it was not unusual to build your own house. My brother lives in House my great grandfather built around 1840. From a home owner and avid diyer, I support people doing their own work.

I always thought the idea of community educational opportunities. I took one years ago in a town full of historic buildings - a lot by FLW - with an architect leading, and a couple of evenings by folks from fire department.

I think starting with a bias that home owners are bad at contracting and contractors are good is bound to make life harder.
 
Massachusetts allows gomeowners to be the general contractor for the home in which they intend to live, they cannot build more than one home In a two-year period, they cannot obtain electrical or plumbing permits, they must supervise the work and are responsible for code compliance.

The exemption applies to 1or 2 family home and their accessory structures, does not apply for modular homes.

Occasionally a home owners is better than the contractors, many time the contractors are unlicensed or lazy and get the home owner to pull the permit, we advise against that, and hold the applicant responsible for the work.

A licensed contractor working under a homeowner permit is still responsible to domcode compliant work.
 
rktect 1 said:
OK,....... so in Illinois there are only a few specific trades that require a state license. Such as plumber, fire sprinkler or alarm installer, roofer, irrigation contractor. The rest of the trades or contractors city registration varies per municipality. These are usually written into the ordinances for the specific city. And sometimes not at all which means anybody can do the work, technically, as long as they register.

Having said that, and I wish I didn't write that garbage out, some cities allow for a homeowner to be their own contractor(s). One of the stipulations usually is that it is your own house and you are the only one performing the work. All work is inspected to meet code and corrections are made when not compliant. There is a lot of hand holding though and it takes a lot of time to complete some of these small projects.

So, to my question. Do you allow for homeowners to be their own contractors (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, mason, any of them, all of them, etc etc) or not? If you do, do you make them fill out an affadavit or other form? Do you require a cert. of insurance? How much? Do you require a bond? How much? ANd the big one, do you require some sit down test in the office?

Thanks
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You are confusing the term "contractor" for "worker."

As steveray already posted, in this state homeowners are allowed to perform any and all work on their primary residence. The key is that it has to be their home, not just a house they happen to own (such as a landlord doing repairs in a house occupied by a tenant, or doing the work on a house you're going to flip), and they have to actually perform ALL the work themselves.
 
bill1952 said:
Illinois is a farm state and farmers have done their own work for generations.

I think starting with a bias that home owners are bad at contracting and contractors are good is bound to make life harder.
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1. Illinois may be a farm state, but I live and work in a non farm county. Majorly built up suburbia of Chicago. The only farms left are utilized as showrooms for educating the youth of where their food comes from and what a farmer has to do to get us that food.

2. I am not starting with that bias. Oh man, you should see the work a large minority of our "contractors" perform. Still, when we deal with homeowners, we go in with the understanding the process will take much longer getting code compliance from them. We have to spend a lot of extra time teaching them.
 
ICE said:
How could you tell a man that he can’t work on his own property?
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Well, its fairly easy actually when it is written into the ordinances.

I think some of our viewpoint is that while it may be your home today, whose home is it tomorrow? The average, across America, timeframe any of us owns a single home is 11.9 years. That may be more or less depending on where you live in America. I get it, if you are rural that home may have been in your family for a 100 years. Around here, its probably a lot less than 11.9 years. Its simply not forever and someone who buys that home could have their lives at risk.
 
If a homeowner obtains a permit, the work will meet the code. Well of course the inspector might be no damned good. In that case it doesn't matter if the work is done by an owner or a contractor.

It has been my experience that owners are inclined to achieve the best possible outcome whereas too many contractors are satisfied with any outcome.

I had an owner adding a bed and master bath with a crew from Asia. I think that the crew was all relatives. The owner was a woman in her sixties. The crew needed supervision. Before they started the lath, the lady asked me to explain the work to the crew. When I got there she had a chair under a shade tree with a pitcher of lemonade. The crew sat around me as I drew pictures and taught a class. I recognized the facial expressions as it was getting through to them. I had requested the tools of the trade and we went to work. At the final inspection the lady expressed her gratitude.
 
"One of the stipulations usually is that it is your own house and you are the only one performing the work."

Does that mean that the homeowner can't subcontract work that he or she doesn't feel competent to do?
 
I like dealing with homeowners who pay attention and learn how to do stuff right. Contractors too, but those are much more rare.

Some of the best homeowner builders are retired engineers from other disciplines. They ask a ton of questions, they actually read and think about anything you send them, and since they are retired they don't have to be all arrogant anymore and are friendly and fun to talk to. They take up a lot of time, but it's fun.

Paul Sweet said:
"One of the stipulations usually is that it is your own house and you are the only one performing the work."

Does that mean that the homeowner can't subcontract work that he or she doesn't feel competent to do?
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They can, as long as they use licensed people. You can't hire some unlicensed hack as your "subcontractor" to do work that requires a license.
 
Paul Sweet said:
"One of the stipulations usually is that it is your own house and you are the only one performing the work."

Does that mean that the homeowner can't subcontract work that he or she doesn't feel competent to do?
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No. As long as the people performing the work have whatever license is required for the trade, a homeowner can certainly act as his/her own general contractor and subcontract out anything he/she wants. The question asked by rktect 1 that started this discussion used the term "contractor" to mean "worker."

So, to my question. Do you allow for homeowners to be their own contractors (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, mason, any of them, all of them, etc etc) or not?
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In this state, as a homeowner in my primary residence I can legally perform electrical work, plumbing work, framing, carpentry -- any and all work, with no licenses required. But this literally means doing the work themselves. They cannot (legally, although we know it happens) have their brother-in-law the plant electrician for XYZ Corporation, come in over the weekend and wire the basement rec room alteration, even though the B-I-L doesn't hold any license.

However, as steveray posted, homeowners still have to take out permits, they still have to call for inspections, and the work still has to meet code.
 
In my state a homeowner or a non-homeowner can be a worker or contractor or sub-contractor on anything they want, residential or commercial. For IRC work a permit is only required if you are doing something structural in an existing house. The local governments can be stricter which most large cities and more urban areas have done.
 
rktect 1 said:
1. Illinois may be a farm state, but I live and work in a non farm county. Majorly built up suburbia of Chicago. The only farms left are utilized as showrooms for educating the youth of where their food comes from and what a farmer has to do to get us that food.

2. I am not starting with that bias. Oh man, you should see the work a large minority of our "contractors" perform. Still, when we deal with homeowners, we go in with the understanding the process will take much longer getting code compliance from them. We have to spend a lot of extra time teaching them.
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Not many years ago law allowed me to do all trades work on my house in Oak Park, an old close in suburb of Chicago, as you know I'm sure.

Google came up with this:
  • Owner-Occupied Primary Residence Exception: Homeowners who own and occupy their primary residence may be allowed to do most of their own work, including building, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical, without needing to hire licensed contractors. However, electrical service upgrades must be done by a licensed electrician and require a permit.
And in fact I changed the electrical service from 60 to 200 amps to a different corner of the house even - all new drop, meter, and main panel.

YMMV
 
bill1952 said:
Not touching that one.
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Ya me neither.
I had a buxom Betty show up at the counter to try and get me to waive a fee for working without a permit. She laid her cards on the counter...literally. I held my ground and issued the permit with the fine attached. As she was leaving I said. "You really did try hard and if you want, I can give you a note for your boss."
 
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