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In New York City, hiring a professional construction company is more than a question of quality. For most work it is what the law and your building require. Here are the benefits in the order you would feel them on a kitchen, a bathroom or a whole apartment, and, at the end, the honest exception.
A license you can check
A person or business must hold a Home Improvement Contractor license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to do work costing more than $200 on any residential building in the city. You can check a license by calling 311 or on the department’s website (DCWP). The license carries a protection that matters if a job goes wrong: an owner may be eligible for repayment from the city’s Home Improvement Contractor Trust Fund when a licensed contractor fails to complete the job or owes money. An owner who used an unlicensed contractor is not eligible. Golden I Construction Inc holds Home Improvement Contractor license number 2019617-DCA, and you can check it the same way.
A contract that protects you
The same department requires a licensed contractor to give you:
- A written contract that both of you sign, and a copy of it before work begins.
- The important dates, a description of the work and the materials, the schedule of payments, every charge and any warranty the contractor gives.
- A separate notice of your right to cancel.
- A written estimate if you ask for one.
Its advice on money is to pay no more than 25 percent of the contract amount up front. Ask what warranty the company gives on its work and see that it is written into the contract, where the rules say it belongs.
Permits and licensed trades, taken care of
The city’s building rules are hard to find your way through alone. Most construction needs the Department of Buildings’ approval and a permit, on plans submitted by an engineer or architect. Electrical work is done by a licensed electrical contractor under an electrical permit. Plumbing and gas piping belong to a licensed master plumber. Before you enter into a contract, a licensed contractor must give you written notice of the permits the job needs, and must see that the right party obtains them.
The cost of skipping this is high. The Department of Buildings warns that work done without permits is illegal, that the most serious class of violation can carry a $25,000 fine, and that the work may have to be legalized or removed.
A firm your building will let in
A co-op or condo decides who may work in it. The model alteration agreement published by the New York City Bar Association asks each contractor for workers’ compensation, general liability, automobile and umbrella insurance naming the building, and asks the owner for a list of every contractor and copies of the contracts. A professional company has those papers ready and knows the building’s side of the process. We handle the design and the construction and check back with your co-op as the job goes on.
One schedule and one person responsible
Managing a renovation yourself means scheduling a dozen trades, ordering materials in the right sequence and solving problems by telephone from your desk. A professional company takes on the scheduling, the budgeting and the coordination of subcontractors, so that you can get on with your life. On our jobs a project manager is with you from demolition to the final walk-through, changes are reported in an itemized report with every change order you approved, and close work with suppliers helps with the price of materials.
Experience with what goes wrong
Renovations carry risks, from a structural surprise behind a wall to a delivery that arrives late. A company that has met those problems before knows how to keep them from stopping the job, and its knowledge prevents the costly kind of mistake. It also knows how to protect the people in the building: dust kept in, old paint handled by lead-safe methods, exits left clear.
Value when you sell
A renovation done well, with its permits signed off and its paperwork in the building’s file, supports the value of the home. That counts in a market as competitive as this one. Work done without approvals can become the seller’s problem at the worst moment.
When you do not need one
Some projects are yours to do: painting, planting, simple repairs with no wiring or piping involved. Our piece on home renovation ideas on a small budget marks where doing it yourself ends. Past that line, the benefits above are the reasons to hire.
To see how one firm carries design and construction together, read about our design and build process. Our services are described under home renovation in NYC and, for buildings with boards, co-op renovation.
Planning a kitchen, a bathroom or a whole apartment? Call us and tell us about it. We will sit down with you and go through the job step by step.
Questions people ask
Does a contractor need a license to work on my home in New York City?
Yes, for almost any paid job. A Home Improvement Contractor license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is required for work costing more than $200 on a residential building. Electricians and plumbers are licensed separately by the Department of Buildings.
How much should I pay a contractor up front?
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection advises paying no more than 25 percent of the total contract amount up front to get the work started, and keeping track of all paperwork and payments.