Homeowner Advice

Homeowner Advice

 

Rules to follow before work begins - and before it is too late….

 

Disclaimer:  We are not Lawyers, we do not practice law and we do not have any legal background.  What we do have is over thirty years of experience in the construction business and have learned a great deal throughout the years.  This information is being shared with you to help you understand some of the aspects of our business that you may not be aware of.  Whatever your project may be; building an addition, having some remodeling done or installing a new roof, we want the experience to be a good one for you.  This information may help.  However, if in doubt, call an attorney.

 

 1.    Hire only licensed and fully insured contractors. 

 

Check with www.myfloridalicense.com to be sure.  Not only is it a bad idea, according to Florida Statute 455.228 you may be subject to a civil penalty up to $5,000.00 for aiding and abetting an unlicensed contractor.  The State of Florida through The Department of Professional Regulations as well as many counties, cities and municipalities have strict requirements for an individual to be licensed.  Some of these are experience, background checks, credit checks and financial stability. 

 

 

 

2.    General Liability Insurance.

a.    Insist on a copy of your contractor's current General Liability insurance.  There are a couple of things you should be aware of.

b.    Although the State of Florida only requires a liability policy in the amount of $300,000.00, we recommend that your general contractor Jacksonville FL or Jacksonville roofers have a minimum liability policy in the amount of $1,000,000.00.  This added insurance protects you when something goes wrong.  Like water intrusion during the installation of your new roof, when the water destroys your new hard wood flooring.

c.   Call the insurance company listed on the certificate and insist on a certificate of insurance that is endorsed to you.  In the bottom left hand corner is a blank box just for this purpose.  It is called the "Certificate Holder".

d.    General Liability certificates are printed in black and white.  "Cut and Paste" tactics is something that has been known to have incurred in the past.  This practice of altering the insurance certificate makes the insurance certificate appear to be valid.  Call the insurance carrier or the listed agent to be sure your remodeling company or Jacksonville roofing contractor is covered.

 

 

3.    Workers' Compensation Insurance.

a.     The best rule of thumb to follow is that no work should be performed on your property by a licensed contractor until you have seen a copy of their Workers' Compensation Insurance.  If something goes wrong and a lawsuit is filed, more than likely you will be named as a defendant.  Why take the chance?

b.    Workers' Compensation Exemption Certificates

       In the State of Florida the only person or persons that are able to be exempt from workers compensation insurance are 10% or greater owners of a company and even then only three persons can qualify for this exemption.  We recommend that you DO NOT hire a contractor that offers you a Workers' Compensation Exemption Certificate as proof of insurance.  Chances are none of the people working on your project are covered.

c.    Leased employees are not employees of the contractor.  Leased employees are covered by a separate insurance policy.  Each employee on your job has to be listed on this policy in order for them to be covered.  Therefore, our advice is DO NOT hire a contractor that uses leased employees.  If you do, insist on a list of the workers on your job and a list from the leasing company that confirms that those people are covered.

 

 

4. Permits.

It is an early warning sign if your contractor is asking you to pull the required permits. If you pull a permit for an unlicensed contractor, you are responsible for the work, not the unlicensed contractor.

 

 

5. Notice of Commencement

a. Many counties, cities and municipalities require a Notice of Commencement to be filed with the Clerk of Courts. To the best of our knowledge this is for two reasons. It informs the county, city or municipality that work is being performed on your property. This in turn alerts the property appraiser's office. The second reason is that this notice is required to be filed in the case a Notice to Owner is filed. So don't be alarmed if you are asked to have your signature notarized on a Notice of Commencement. It really is standard operating procedure.

 

b. Upon completion of your project, insist that your contractor provides you with a Contractor's Final Affidavit and Release of Lien.This form is filed with the Clerk of Courts and releases the Notice to Commencement. This issue comes up when and if you sell or re-finance your home. Your contractor may, or may not be, around to sign it then.

 

 

 

6. Notice to Owner

a. If you receive this form, usually by certified mail, you should be alarmed. This form is telling you that the person that is sending it is either supplying materials and/or labor to your home as per instructions from your contractor. In the unlikely event that your contractor does not pay for these services a lien could be placed upon your property. You may have to pay twice even though you have already paid your contractor. Insist on a Full Waiver and Release of Lien from anyone that you receive this notice from.

 

b. This notice IS NOT an indication that your contractor has financial troubles. This notice is strictly and solely issued to protect the financial interests of the person who is sending it. They want you to be put on notice that they expect to get paid for their services.

 

 

 

7. Full Waiver and Release of Lien

Upon completion of your project and before you pay your contractor in full insist on this form being properly executed. On this form your contractor is stating that all labor and materials used on your project to complete the contract have been paid in full. There is an exception area on the form if necessary. Another reason to insist on this form is that some projects may only take a day or week to complete. There is simply not enough time for you to receive the Notice to Owner. When this happens, the Full Waiver and Release of Lien from your contractor becomes an important document.

 

 

8. Certificate of Completion

If a building permit is issued for the work performed on your home, most, if not all, counties, cities or municipalities require one or more inspections to be completed during the course of construction. Assuming that these inspections have "passed", a Certificate of Occupancy or Completion is issued upon a final inspection. You will want a copy of the inspections and this certificate for your files.

 

 

REQUEST A FREE ESTIMATE FOR HOME REMODELING JACKSONVILLE FL & JACKSONVILLE ROOFING SERVICES

Call Hagerty Construction & Roofing, Inc. today at (904) 992-9960 for a free, no obligation consultation and estimate for services in home remodeling Jacksonville FL residents count on for quality and craftsmanship, and for Jacksonville roofing services.

 

UMVI
(Uniform Mitigation Verification Form)
(Rev. 01/12)

Disclaimer: We are not in the insurance business, we do not practice law and we do not have any legal background. This information is being shared with you to help you understand what we believe are the real financial benefits realized by you for installing a new roof on your home.

 

We encourage you to contact your insurance agent or company to find out what level of discount is available for certain construction features, such as:

 

• Hurricane protection on all of your windows and exterior doors, such as shutters or impact resistance windows and garage doors

 

• A hip roof (sloped on the sides, like a pyramid)

 

• Roof to wall connections that are installed with hurricane clips/straps. Discounts will vary depending on the type of connection such as toe nail, clips, single wraps or double wraps.

 

• Florida Building Code-approved roof covering. Discounts will vary depending on the type of covering such as asphalt, tile or metal

 

On November 1, 2007, The State of Florida along with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, adopted the UMVI (Uniform Mitigation Verification Form), providing to you the home owner a reduction in your property owner's insurance premium for making certain improvements to your home making it less acceptable to damage during a storm. One of these improvements is installing a new roof. There are four basic areas that are required to be documented by color photographs to provide you with the maximum discounts available.

 

1. Roof Deck Attachment.
Page #1 of 4, Section #3 of the UMVI Form

When your new roof is installed we will re-nail the roof sheathing or decking to meet the requirements as outlined on Page #1 of 4, Section #3, Option "C". We will provide color photographs to confirm that the roof sheathing has been re-nailed.

 

2. Roof to Wall Attachment.
Page #2 of 4, Section #4 of the UMVI Form

We will provide color photographs to verify what is the weakest roof to wall connection. Most homes built after 1970 were built using "clips" or "straps" to hold or secure the roof rafters to the top plate of the exterior walls. By having "clips" or "straps" you will realized a discount. With some exceptions, your home most likely has one or the other.

 

3. Roof Geometry.
Page #2 of 4, Section #5 of the UMVI Form

This discount is based on the general shape of your roof. ( i.e. hip, gable, flat, etc. ) Gable roofs are more acceptable to damage during a wind storm and therefore do not realize the same discount that a hip roof does. We will provide color photographs to confirm the basic geometric configuration or shape of your roof

 

4. Secondary Water Resistance (SRW).
Page #2 of 4, Section #6-A of the UMVI Form.

By installing a "peel & stick" type underlayment under the shingles you will realize a discount. This "peel & stick" membrane in itself is a moisture barrier. If your shingles are removed during a storm, the roof will remain water tight.

 

Qualified Inspector
Page #4 of 4

Since we are General Contractors as licensed by the State of Florida (CGC 019551), we are allowed to fill out and sign this form.

 

An excellent source for detailed additional information is www.mysafefloridahome.com

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