Plumber's License
We have a plumber we want to do work for us, but we are not sure about the legitimacy of his license. The way he explained it is there are only a certain number of Master Plumber licenses out there and guys like him pay a fee to a Master Plumber to use the license…
We have a plumber we want to do work for us, but we are not sure about the legitimacy of his license.
The way he explained it is there are only a certain number of Master Plumber licenses out there and guys like him pay a fee to a Master Plumber to use the license number. Is this legitimate? Can anyone shed some light on this?
Thanks in advance.
$5,000 Civil Penalty to the HOME OWNER for Plumbing work without a permit (mostly comes from hiring an unlicensed firm)….any questions?
Just to give more creedence to MasterPlvmber and others. There’s a reason only a handful of liscenses are granted—That’s because there’s only a handful of competant contractors out there. Gateway is the way to go for a professional competant job well done.
As far as hiring a “Moonlighter”, well there’s that liability problem once again. If the side job guy burns down your house, what’s that saying from Forrest Gump? Oh yeah—Stupid is as stupid does. Remember, you get what you pay for, and sometimes you don’t even get that.
Hire a legit professional. You’ll sleep better at night.
There are a some very skilled plumbers out there moonlighting on nights and weekends for cash.
FYI To check NYC contractors license and insurance.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/licenses/status.shtml
The DOB lets only a licensed master plumber do your work even just to replace a toilet. The way the setup works with the licensee / licensing in NYC is that a lot of plumbers who are not licensed are having someone who is signing off for them. This setup is legal only if the non-licensed guy is an employee of the licensee and therefore a lot of licensed master plumbers have multiple business names. The DOB is often cracking down at unlicensed individuals and the first thing they are asking is for payroll records for the guys who did the job. if they cant provide it then they will put them ou of business. The unlicensed guy will sometimes to dthe actual work and the licensee will conduct inspections and quality control and can but not necessarily be legal
Not to mention, the biggest plumbing mistake I’ve witnessed over years of NYC building management was when a licensed plumber ran an apartment’s waste piping to an air vent pipe instead of the waste line. Lucky the unlicensed contractor spotted the mistake before the walls were closed up.
Just hire a licensed master plumber. The firm I work with has the master plumber number emblazoned on their storefront. Insurance certificates are provided on a case by case basis. When we have a scheduled inspection, I wait with the licensed master plumber himself for the inspector.
There are some good non-licensed plumbers out there, but of course you should be careful to hire good ones. Most folks hire both for different purposes. Anybody can change a sink or a toilet and there’s no reason to pay much for such easy tasks. The instructions are as easy as putting together an Ikea cabinet.
Usually the “licensed plumber” is not doing the work himself anyway, one of his “immigrant” works is — so in my opinion Master Plvmber’s claim about foreigners is off-base. I don’t know anything about his business, but I doubt he only hires plumbers of Irish or Brittish decent — and if he does, he’s breaking the law discriminating — which I’m sure he doesn’t do since hiring the best plumbers is in his best interest.
Regarding this whole “insurance” thing, if you’re using an unlicensed plumber who gets permits through a licensed plumber, you have nothing to worry about since the licensed plumber is assuming the risk.
Plus, in my opinion, for most plumbing jobs in small buildings, those that don’t involve boilers or other specialized (and regulated) equipment, the risks are very very low that something will go wrong. Unless you see evidence of a leak or water backing up, generally there’s no problem.
Seriously, how often do plumbers burn down houses? Not a good argument. . .
I had a similar situation with a plumber who i found on here named Bill Taylor. I told him i needed a licensed plumber (in a co-op) to do work on my gut reno in a bathroom.
he kept saying i’m licensed, have insurance, whole thing several times. shows up to start, i have it all coordinated so the contractor can do other stuff while the plumber works.
well bill shows up to start, has no paperwork which i said i needed prior. he then uses the i am working under this company’s license. so i tell him that it that company gives me a proposal on their letterhead, i will pay them and they can pay you. he said no and that i was overreacting.
he wanted me to pay him directly. i said that if i do that there is no relationship to the company license and insurance. this went back and forth until i told him that he should not have lied from the outset and that even if the other company agreed to what i said, that at this point, i don’t trust you and to leave now. so i fired him and didn’t pay him shit.
i am not saying he isn’t a good plumber, i don’t know. someone spoke highly of him here. i would have used him if for the project it didn’t matter if he was licensed. i think he thought “well, he won’t fire me now that the project is started”
Fuck bill taylor. cost me a chunk of money because he threw off my timeline of the project.
Steve is right. Your plumber can do the work if the licensed plumber provides you insurance and knows about the job. You should have the contract WITH THE MASTER PLUMBER and list the non licensed plumber doing the job as the Project Manager. This way, if the non licensed plumber burns your house down you will be covered by the master plumber’s insurance policy. If they won’t provide this you are facing risk.