Builders bemoan lack of licensing

Thursday, June 3, 2004

According to several local builders, the recent increase in the number of contractors on Grand Cayman is serious concern for homeowners because of the loose controls that regulate the incorporation of new businesses.

Derek Farrington, the owner and president of Derek Farrington Construction Ltd, said: “The Cayman Contractors Association has been trying for sixteen years to get legislation to require contractors to be licensed. As it stands now, anyone can fill out a business application, request work permits and then he is a contractor.”

As a result, Mr Farrington feels that homeowners are getting hurt in many ways and the work is not being done properly. He said in some cases the plumbers and electricians have to be licensed, but not the actual builder of the house.

Unit Construction’s president, Gordon McLaughlin, shares many of the same desires and frustrations. “The Cayman Contractors Association has hired lawyers and drafted possible legislation ourselves in order to push the process forward and we have provided various ministries with our drafts.”

Mr McLaughlin said the current situation allows for too much suffering for homeowners and contractors. He has seen unqualified contractors promise people they can do a job for a certain price and then the money runs out and the homeowner and the project are left in a mess. According to Mr McLaughlin, many government inspectors also hope the government adopts some sort of regulations.

Chris Phillips of Le Habitat and an executive member of the Cayman Contractors Association offered a striking analogy. “If the plumbers and the electricians have to be licensed, but the general contractor does not, it’s like a bus going down the road and everyone on it is licensed except for the bus driver.”

Mr Phillips stressed the seriousness of a contractor’s position in terms of financial and insurance obligations. “Those of us who provide overtime and holiday pay, pensions and health benefits, are getting hit not only by unqualified and unlicensed local contractors, but also by the foreign firms being brought in.”

The problem has been magnified by the recent increase of new contractors, according to Mr Phillips. “It’s gotten worse since the last go-round of (Caymanian) Status grants,” he said.

In order to be a member of the Cayman Contractors Association, a contractor must be in business for five years, show proof of health benefits and workmen’s compensation, show public liability insurance, and display financial resources sufficient to run a job. In other words the firm must be bondable.

Ian Pairaudeau, President of the Cayman Contractors Association and senior quantity surveyor with McAlpine Ltd, remembered his association drafting the first bill fifteen years ago. “Government took a look at it and then wrote its own version. For the past six years it has been rewritten and public comments have been taken. But no government in the past or present has had the ability to push it through.”

He saw the bill as a consumer protection law that would grant the government some force to crack down on illegitimate practitioners and practices. He did stress that this law would not interfere in any way with Caymanians who would wish to build their own homes. “This bill would in no way infringe on the historical rights of Caymanians to build their own homes or help neighbors or relatives to do so.”

The Director of Planning for the Cayman Islands Government, Kenneth Ebanks, shared his hopes for the forward-moving proposal. “We need some form of legislation to protect consumers. The public has been ripped off many times and especially a lot of single-mothers have been ripped off.”

Mr Ebanks said the proposed legislation along with the public comments he has received will be forwarded to the Hon Julianna O’Connor-Connolly, Minister of Planning, by this July at the latest.

“I hope to conduct a final meeting soon where I also invite concerned contractors for final input. This proposal will create a range of contractor licenses, such as a residential home contractor license, a two or three storey apartment contractor license, and up the line. For a contractor to move into the more difficult levels of licensing, they must prove to the government that they have the qualifications, ability, and experience to do so,” said Mr Ebanks.

Mr Ebanks concluded by pointing out that this proposed legislation should allow consumers to feel confident that the contractor they hired is competent to do that job.

Back...

Click here for reader comments...