What is the Law?
Chapter 12. Contractors License Law BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE DIVISION 3.
CHAPTER 9. CONTRACTORS
ARTICLE 10. HOME IMPROVEMENT BUSINESS
Home Improvement Contract Form
7159. Contract requirements; effect of noncompliance; violations This section applies only to home improvement contracts, as defined in Section 7151.2, between a contractor, whether a general contractor or a specialty contractor, who is licensed or subject to be licensed pursuant to this chapter with regard to the transaction and who contracts with an owner or tenant for work upon a residential building or structure, or upon land adjacent thereto, for proposed repairing, remodeling, altering, converting, modernizing, or adding to the residential building or structure or land adjacent thereto, and where the aggregate contract price specified in one or more improvement contracts, including all labor, services, and materials to be furnished by the contractor, exceeds five hundred dollars ($500).
What is the difference between a handyman and a licensed contractor? The clearest answer I can give is that a Handyman is not defined as having a "specific" skill. A licensed contractor on the other hand generally has a specific skill, such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, painting, etc. Handymen generally handle a wide range of other repair and maintenance jobs. And because they don't pay the costs of licenses and union fees, handymen often charge less than many contractors.
A licensed contractor is not likely to offer the services that a Handyman does. For instance the list below is an example of some of the jobs that I will do for a set fee, none of which are listed as licensable by the state according to the law.
- Replace Toilet Seats
- Repair old wooden gates
- Hang or remove Christmas lights
- Wash windows
- Clean and organize a garage, attic or cellar
- Clean Gutters
- Paint and/or repair lawn furniture
- Pressure wash concrete
- Hang pictures/mirrors
- Assemble childrens toys
- Assemble boxed furniture
- Refinish furniture
- Repair chair rungs
- Clean and scrub a hot tub
- Detail a automobile or truck to prepare for sale or trade-in
- Teach computer skills
- Build a simple Web site
- Host a simple web site
- Computer repair/maintenance
- Plant trees, bushes, shrubs or other plants
- Hang towel racks, light fixtures and shelving
- Install mini-blinds and vertical blinds
"...where the aggregate contract price specified in one or more improvement contracts, including all labor, services, and materials to be furnished by the contractor, exceeds five hundred dollars ($500)."
According to the California laws regarding contractors and licensing here is what I can and cannot do with regard to a job that could be considered as coming under ARTICLE 10. HOME IMPROVEMENT BUSINESS of the California Business and Prfessions Code. - What I CANNOT Do
- Cannot contract for any amount of money where the aggregate of labor, services, and materials exceeds $500. UNLESS, I am hired directly by the homeowner, or property owner. The homeowner does not have to apply for a contractor's license. In this example the homeowner assumes the position of "Owner-Builder."
- Furnish materials for any project where the cost of the materials may exceed $500. Again, unless I work directly for the homeowner as "Owner-Builder."
- Cannot work for a contracted amount that exceeds $500, unless I work directly for the homeowner under the stipulation of "Owner-Builder."
- What I CAN Do
- Can work on large and extended projects for an hourly wage as your temporary employee with a W2 form, and you must have all necessary paperwork completed and insurances paid for. Basically, you are compensating me for my labor, all other expenses must be paid by the homeowner. I can do any job you want me to do, that I am able to do, as long as I am working directly for the homeowner under the stipulation of "Owner-Builder."
- Can furnish materials as long as the aggregate of those materials does not exceed $500, or you can buy the materials yourself and I can pick them up and deliver them to your home.
- Can combine work that is considered contractor-type work and non-contractor work. An example of this is: Build a fence, hang pictures and wash your car all in the same day.
Now you probably have some questions. Let's say you own a rental property and the tenants have just moved out. The property needs a lot of repairs such as painting, new light fixtures, new toilet seats, some general cleaning; maybe a little wall repair, door repair, dig up that old dead rose bush--nothing major, but the aggregate of all of it would be, for example, in the area of $1500.00. Some of the items named above certainly come under those things a contractor would do, such as painting, while others, such as digging up the old rose bush, or replacing toilet seats would not. The owner of the property, you, do not want to hire ten different people to get the job done. So you call a Handyman. However, under the California law, how can a Handyman work for you without violating the law? The answer is, pay him hourly or stipulate that you are the owner of the property and you are hiring the Handyman (W2)as the Owner-Builder .
The Handyman can certainly get the materials for you, as long as you tell him what to get and you pay for the materials directly. If the Handyman estimates that he can do all the work you need and his hourly rate will not cost you more than what you want to pay, then hire him and pay him regularly based on his hours. If all the work you want the Handyman to do will take him several days or weeks to complete, require that he keep track of his hours and what he has done. Pay him regularly. You can pay him by the day, or at the end of the week. The best practice is to pay your Handyman either at the end of his days work or a couple of days. Never let the amount you pay him accumulate to more than $500 at any one time.
Again, ALL of the California Contractor Laws become a moot point if you, the homeowner, designate yourself as the "Owner-Builder."
For questions or additional information, please refer to California's Contractors State License Board.
You can visit their website at http://www.cslb.ca.gov