Licenses: DCA and DOB

I started a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs of NYC about an unscrupulous contractor, who shall remain nameless, since it seems to be against the guidelines of this board. The contractor presented himself as licensed and he is indeed licensed by DOB. However, it turns out that is not licensed by DCA, which may severely limit the power of DCA to help me. I should have checked but I was not aware that you could be licensed by DOB but not by DCA. He got another company to pull the permits and I didn’t think to check back then. I thought the permits meant that I was covered.

I am exploring my options but I just wanted to put out a word of caution to the community: check licenses both with DOB and DCA before hiring someone.

If anyone here has experience with a similar situation, please let me know. I am trying to figure out my options.

Thank you!

saxman73

in General Discussion 9 years and 11 months ago

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saxman73 | 9 years and 10 months ago

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@jcm I don’t think that’s true. This particular contractor is licensed by the DOB (GC license). I talked to DOB. They confirmed that someone can be licensed by DOB and not by DCA. However, by DOB rules, a contractor should not be able to pull a permit for renovation work in a 1 to 4 family house without a license from DCA. I believe my contractor got around that requirement by getting the permit pulled by someone else, a fact I was not aware of until recently (even though he was pulling permits himself for other jobs).

Bottom line for me: it’s not enough to check that a contractor is licensed by DOB, you also have to check that he is licensed by DCA. Now, I am trying to get both DCA and DOB to help me. I’ve been in touch with the DOB Investigative Unit. We will see what happens.

jcm | 9 years and 11 months ago

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FYI – the DOB does NOT license contractors. They provide contractors a tracking number (based upon an application and the proper insurance) to facilitate obtaining a permit.

espeon | 9 years and 11 months ago

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There will be as many permits as work types specified in the filing. Excluding plumbing and electrical as already mentioned, the GC may or may not pull permits for the other work types depending on many factors. The actual work being done by someone who didn’t pull the permit is always questionable. For sub-trade permits it could mean an established and efficient working relationshop among the GC’s team or it could mean that a hack job is about to commence. For the main permit it’s never a good sign as it means there will be no real GC onboard. This is all done with the intention to save money and the demand side is complicit in the results.

newtomehouse | 9 years and 11 months ago

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Have your lawyer contact him. The threat of a lawsuit should get him to finish the job.

saxman73 | 9 years and 11 months ago

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The job was an Alt-2 renovation, pretty extensive, although not a gut renovation. I paid this contractor over $100000. He did very poor work and did not finish.

I do not know the legality of having subs pull all the permits, but at this point, given my experience, I would be wary of hiring a GC who can not or will not pull the permits himself .(besides electrical and plumbing, which are generally pulled by electricians and plumbers, I believe). Also, I would make sure he is licensed by DCA. You can check online. If he’s not, DCA might not be able to help if things go wrong.

CarmenR | 9 years and 11 months ago

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Can I ask what happened that prompted the complaint? we know someone who is hiring a contractor that seems to do a similar thing (have subs pull all permits) and I’m curious about the legality of that.