By Deidre Bedford, West Coast Pools, Inc. / deidre@wcppools.com
You’re probably saying to yourself, “We can’t stop unlicensed activity, there are just too many of them out there” Well, with that attitude we will never stop them.
How does this affect our industry and why should we care? I’m glad you asked.
Some fun facts about unlicensed activity:
- Unlicensed activity affects law abiding state licensed professionals by taking their business and causing personal and financial harm to consumers (I know, boring fact but kinda important).
- The DBPR spends $1.5 million a year on outreach, education, investigation, enforcement and prosecution of unlicensed activity.
- The cost to contractors is over $2 million per year in unlicensed activity fees that we pay when renewing a license, this doesn’t include lost business.
- There are more than 168,000 complaints registered with the DBPR on unlicensed activity, that’s 168,000 jobs that we, as licensed contractors, didn’t get. That is a large amount of lost revenue!
- Many of these idiots post their work on Facebook… turn them in when you see it.
- There is a hotline to report unlicensed activity that is completely anonymous: 1-866-532-1440.
- The DBPR app is now fully functional on all phones and really easy to use.
Get involved with your local ULA! Contact your local building official in the licensing and enforcement division and ask to be included in monthly meetings. You can also find your local ULA by searching ULA and your city name on the internet.
A great way to remind your potential customers that a license is essential in choosing the right person for the job is to always provide your license and insurance information along with your proposal. Set the standard for what they as a customer should be asking for when getting proposals.
