As I sit down to write this installment in the Home Base, I am very proud to be able to address the topic of ethics in the home improvement industry in a positive way. So often remodeling has a bad reputation because of the sleazy tactics some companies use. There are news paper articles and TV news reports about senior citizens being ripped off or someone providing a large deposit to a contractor who never returns to do the work.
With this in mind, it is especially noteworthy to me that my business, Legacy Remodeling, has been named the winner of the 2009 Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics in the Marketplace. This prestigious honor is a reflection of the way a business conducts itself towards its employee's, customers and the surrounding community.
As I mentioned in a previous posting, Pennsylvania has enacted contractor registration legislation this year which requires all companies that perform home improvement work for pay to register with the state. Customers who are interested in having this type of work done are encouraged to check with Pennsylvania's Attorney General's office prior to hiring a contractor. One of the suggestions which the AG's office makes on their website, is that homeowners should also check with the BBB to see what kind of record the company they are considering has.
With Legacy being named as the 2009 winner of the Torch Aware, homeowners in the Pittsburgh area have the opportunity to select a company that not only handles quality products and will do a quality job, but also a company that they can feel comfortable will deal with them with honesty and integrity.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Remodeling In An Uneven Regulatory Environment
Hello again and thank you for taking the time to stop by The Home Base. A blog about all aspects of home improvements for both homeowners and remodeling professionals. Today's entry regards the regulatory environment that remodelors operate in today.
As someone who has worked in the remodeling industry for over a decade and who owns and runs a remodeling company, Legacy Remodeling, I am constantly faced with rules and regulations that are implemented by various local, state and federal government entities. These include such things as local building codes and building permit requirements, state contractor registration (Pennsylvania) and state contractor licensing (West Virginia), consumer protection laws (mandating 3 day rescission periods), and federal laws regarding lead paint among other things.
From the perspective of the Remodelor, I feel that in many cases this government involvement in my industry is a positive thing. There need to be rules and structure to make sure that minimum standards for quality and safety are met. Companies must be held accountable to treat their employee's properly and to deliver on their contractual obligations to their customers. As someone who is in this business for the long term, I am more interested in building positive relationships with the people who work for me and who I do work for. For this reason my business enjoys a strong base of repeat and referral business.
Unfortunately there are many companies in the home improvement industry who do not feel this way. In many cases people enter this business and completely fail to meet any of their legal requirements for operating as a home improvement contractor. In some cases this is done out of the ignorance of someone who simply doesn't know any better, but in my opinion, most of the time this is because they simply don't care.
This lack of compliance can come in many forms. They may lack required state credentials, they may have failed to obtain liability insurance to protect your home should it be damaged in the course of their work. They may lack workers compensation insurance, leaving the homeowner on the hook in the event a worker is injured. Contractors may fail to get required permits or variances, potentially leaving the homeowner with illegal modifications to their home that they may be required to tear down later.
In any event, the one positive trade off for the homeowner from all of this increased risk, generally comes in the form of a lower price. By utterly failing to comply with these types of requirements, the contractor is able to charge a lower price and gain an unfair edge in the market. While legitimate companies incur the cost of insurance, compliance, registration etc. These fly by night contractors do not and are able to under bid companies that do the right thing.
I believe that the blame for this situation lies with the governments who issue the regulations. It is my opinion that if a municipality, state, or even the federal government is going to create a rule, then they should also be responsible for proper enforcement. Too often, communities fail to enforce building codes, or they do so arbitrarily. Although the State of Pennsylvania has had a contractor's registration law on the books since July 1, 2009, I see competitors every day who are in violation of this law. The EPA (federal government) is prepared to implement sweeping lead paint regulations in April 2010, this will be a costly regulation both for customers and for contractors... unless of course, you choose not to comply. Non-compliance should not be seen as an option. Government needs to do a much better job of educating consumers as to why these regulations are important and necessary and also of ensuring that businesses are doing what they are supposed to as well. This is a responsibility that is owed not to only the citizens of these communities but also to the contractors who work in these places.
Governments at all levels should want to strengthen the good quality, honest companies in the home improvement industry and to weed out those who fail to comply. This will provide better quality services to the citizens of these communities, help to protect them from scams and rip-offs and will result in growth for the legitimate contractor's most of who are small business's, the greatest job generator in our country.
As someone who has worked in the remodeling industry for over a decade and who owns and runs a remodeling company, Legacy Remodeling, I am constantly faced with rules and regulations that are implemented by various local, state and federal government entities. These include such things as local building codes and building permit requirements, state contractor registration (Pennsylvania) and state contractor licensing (West Virginia), consumer protection laws (mandating 3 day rescission periods), and federal laws regarding lead paint among other things.
From the perspective of the Remodelor, I feel that in many cases this government involvement in my industry is a positive thing. There need to be rules and structure to make sure that minimum standards for quality and safety are met. Companies must be held accountable to treat their employee's properly and to deliver on their contractual obligations to their customers. As someone who is in this business for the long term, I am more interested in building positive relationships with the people who work for me and who I do work for. For this reason my business enjoys a strong base of repeat and referral business.
Unfortunately there are many companies in the home improvement industry who do not feel this way. In many cases people enter this business and completely fail to meet any of their legal requirements for operating as a home improvement contractor. In some cases this is done out of the ignorance of someone who simply doesn't know any better, but in my opinion, most of the time this is because they simply don't care.
This lack of compliance can come in many forms. They may lack required state credentials, they may have failed to obtain liability insurance to protect your home should it be damaged in the course of their work. They may lack workers compensation insurance, leaving the homeowner on the hook in the event a worker is injured. Contractors may fail to get required permits or variances, potentially leaving the homeowner with illegal modifications to their home that they may be required to tear down later.
In any event, the one positive trade off for the homeowner from all of this increased risk, generally comes in the form of a lower price. By utterly failing to comply with these types of requirements, the contractor is able to charge a lower price and gain an unfair edge in the market. While legitimate companies incur the cost of insurance, compliance, registration etc. These fly by night contractors do not and are able to under bid companies that do the right thing.
I believe that the blame for this situation lies with the governments who issue the regulations. It is my opinion that if a municipality, state, or even the federal government is going to create a rule, then they should also be responsible for proper enforcement. Too often, communities fail to enforce building codes, or they do so arbitrarily. Although the State of Pennsylvania has had a contractor's registration law on the books since July 1, 2009, I see competitors every day who are in violation of this law. The EPA (federal government) is prepared to implement sweeping lead paint regulations in April 2010, this will be a costly regulation both for customers and for contractors... unless of course, you choose not to comply. Non-compliance should not be seen as an option. Government needs to do a much better job of educating consumers as to why these regulations are important and necessary and also of ensuring that businesses are doing what they are supposed to as well. This is a responsibility that is owed not to only the citizens of these communities but also to the contractors who work in these places.
Governments at all levels should want to strengthen the good quality, honest companies in the home improvement industry and to weed out those who fail to comply. This will provide better quality services to the citizens of these communities, help to protect them from scams and rip-offs and will result in growth for the legitimate contractor's most of who are small business's, the greatest job generator in our country.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
About Me...
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and view my blog, The Home Base.
My name is Jeff Moeslein and my intention in creating this site is to provide a forum for me to review and discuss issues relevant to my passion, home improvements.
Currently, I am the President and one of the owners of Legacy Remodeling, Inc. Legacy is a specialty remodeling contractor that operates in SW Pennsylvania as well as parts of Ohio and WV. We perform between 750 and 1000 remodeling projects each year including window replacements, siding, roofs, soffit, fascia, decks, gutters, finished basements, sunrooms, room additions, kitchens, baths and home energy upgrades.
I have worked in this industry for the past 10 years. However, in reality, I have been around it all of my life. My father, Ken, who is also my partner in Legacy, worked in Alcoa's building products division when I was younger, and after working at several other manufacturer's of home improvement products, started a business called Swing Line Windows, in 1987.
I spent my teen years helping to set up home show displays, and later, summers home from Penn State were spent working on installation crews.
After graduation from Penn State, I started to work at Swing Line, spending two years working as a sales consultant, then as our marketing manager. As I continued to work in the business, I earned my M.B.A. from Robert Morris University. Eventually, after acquiring several Owens Corning franchise's, Ken and I reorganized our business's into Legacy.
In running Legacy for the past several years, I have learned a lot about the home improvement industry its products, suppliers, regulations and both the good and bad sides of the business. Future entries to this blog will focus on these various area's in an attempt to provide insight into specific issues relevant to home owners as well as to others involved in this industry.
My name is Jeff Moeslein and my intention in creating this site is to provide a forum for me to review and discuss issues relevant to my passion, home improvements.
Currently, I am the President and one of the owners of Legacy Remodeling, Inc. Legacy is a specialty remodeling contractor that operates in SW Pennsylvania as well as parts of Ohio and WV. We perform between 750 and 1000 remodeling projects each year including window replacements, siding, roofs, soffit, fascia, decks, gutters, finished basements, sunrooms, room additions, kitchens, baths and home energy upgrades.
I have worked in this industry for the past 10 years. However, in reality, I have been around it all of my life. My father, Ken, who is also my partner in Legacy, worked in Alcoa's building products division when I was younger, and after working at several other manufacturer's of home improvement products, started a business called Swing Line Windows, in 1987.
I spent my teen years helping to set up home show displays, and later, summers home from Penn State were spent working on installation crews.
After graduation from Penn State, I started to work at Swing Line, spending two years working as a sales consultant, then as our marketing manager. As I continued to work in the business, I earned my M.B.A. from Robert Morris University. Eventually, after acquiring several Owens Corning franchise's, Ken and I reorganized our business's into Legacy.
In running Legacy for the past several years, I have learned a lot about the home improvement industry its products, suppliers, regulations and both the good and bad sides of the business. Future entries to this blog will focus on these various area's in an attempt to provide insight into specific issues relevant to home owners as well as to others involved in this industry.
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