subject: Chicago Southwest Suburbs New Homes Custom Residential [print this page] One of the many questions you should ask any homebuilder, especially a Chicago southwest suburbs new homes builder is if they are licensed and insured to build in your area. This is one of those questions that might not be much fun to ask and could feel like a waste of time but it important to ask all the same.
Licensing
Depending on the state, builders are required to have a state-issued homebuilders license in addition to a local business license. To get this license they often are required to pass tests of local building codes and professional skills. Many areas also require proof of basic insurance before issuing a license to a builder.
Insurance
It is always best to insure your builder and their subcontractors both carry general liability and workers compensation insurance. Your builder should be able to provide proof of both of these at any time and before a subcontractor starts working on your new home.
As the homeowner, you need to require that any subcontractors also be covered by insurance. Rarely will homebuilders do all the work themselves. Instead, they will hire subcontractors for specific trades, like electrical and plumbing, to do the work.
These both insure the work is done quicker and better then if the builders did the work themselves. However, this does require you to be aware of these subs and to require they be licensed and insured.
These are important because in todays society if anyone becomes injured on the site of your new home, either a worker or non-worker, and there is not insurance the person can come after you for payment. This happens or a regular basis.
A homeowner has work done be a lower cost, uninsured contractor to save a couple of dollars. However, in the process a worker slips and falls suffering a minor injury like a broken arm. This injury then becomes a problem for you because the worker can come after you as the owner of the property, and costs can add up quickly.
An emergency room visit plus x-rays can add up to thousands of dollars, and then there is the issue of lost work, and other costs. Very quickly these costs can wreck havoc on anyone.
The simplest and surest way to avoid all of this it to work only with high quality licensed and insured contractors and subcontractors.
