Reasons to Hire a Licensed Contractor for Garage Door Repair

With bigger home improvement projects such as garage door repairs, installations or replacement, many homeowners are under the belief that just any sort of handyman will do. Though this can be true with minor maintenance tasks, bigger projects are far more complex and pose greater risks. For this reason and more, it is crucial to hire a licensed garage door repair contractor for such a job.

Reasons You Should Hire a Licensed Contractor

Though it may cost a bit more upfront, hiring a garage door repair contractor can save you a lot of money, trouble and time in the long run. Below are just a few of those reasons:

Skill and Experience Handling Garage Doors and Equipment

A professional garage door contractor required to have at least 4 years of experience working on garage doors and openers, and will understand the local codes, rules, regulations and laws to ensure you do not fall outside of them and wind up in potentially expensive trouble later. Licensed contractors will also know what it is like to run a garage door company and how to make sure that you as a customer, are offered and given everything you need but might not know to ask for.

California Contractor License Requirements

A licensed contractor has to be able to pass a criminal background check, pass a business and law exam, and verify that they have at least four years of experience in their field before they can be certified as a licensed contractor. This means that straightaway, as soon as you start working with a licensed contractor, you are working with a person who is serious about their job and knows their stuff. They will have earned their license over time by learning the basics of installing garage doors and openers, repairing them and keeping them well maintained.

Risk of Hiring Unlicensed Service Man

Hiring a licensed contractor can help you avoid a lot of headaches when it comes to liability insurance. You are under quite the risk if they are not insured, especially if:

• The worker is injured on the job.
• The work is incomplete or faulty.
• The property gets damaged.

Those who do construction work, installation or repair jobs over a certain amount of money have to be licensed, and licensed contractors have general liability as a part of their insurance. This means that if an accident occurs that results in damage to your property or an injury, their insurance will cover it. Also, if you don't like the work or it is not finished or flawed, you may be able to be compensated through their insurance.

Consequences of Hiring an Unlicensed Home Improvement or Garage Door Repair Contractor

There are more risks than just those aforementioned. Below, you can read about a few others:

1. Voided Warranties: If you don't have a licensed contractor or a garage door pro working on your property or garage doors, you may be immediately voiding the warranties on any products they use. This means any warranties that are associated with the parts of the garage door and garage door opener will no longer matter, and if the work done is faulty or flawed, you will not have the safety net of a warranty to fall back on.
2. No insurance or Bonding: As we mentioned, a licensed repairman has to be bonded and must have general liability insurance if there is damage to the property, faulty hardware or incomplete work has been left behind. For instance, if a licensed and insured contractor installs the garage door poorly, the homeowner can contact the insurance company and potentially receive compensation for the issue.
3. Liability: Though it is rare, the price that you may end up paying to work with an uninsured and unlicensed individual may be incredibly high. If they are injured while working on your property, they are free to sue for medical expenses. This means homeowners and residents have to pay for their medical bills out of pocket unless they have homeowner’s insurance.
4. Building Permits: To get the proper building permits, the contractor has to be licensed. If they are not properly licensed, the work they perform won't be officially recognized. It may even be deemed unsafe. When it comes to garage door repairs and installations, if the work isn’t up to code, this misinformation is given to any potential home buyers which could negatively impact the price of the home.

Consequences of Contracting Without a License

There are consequences on the other side of the fence as well. Garage door repairmen and installers who work without a license are also at considerable risk. In the state of California, garage door repair handymen that are not licensed can be charged with misdemeanors or even a felony. They will have to appear before a Superior Court judge to deal with these charges, and if they are determined to be guilty, they may have to face the penalties that follow:

• A fine of up to $5,000.
• Up to six months of jail time.
• Between $200 and $1,500 in administrative fees.

If they are found guilty again after that, they receive a 90-day jail sentence that is mandatory and cannot be avoided. This occurs on top of a fine of 20 percent of the contract they were working on or $5,000. If the repairman worked under another contractor's license or otherwise gave misleading information to a customer to make them think they were licensed, felony charges become a risk. If the contractor is found guilty of the charge, then they may go to state prison.