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A bill that would set up Vermont’s first-ever certification process for building contractors has passed a major hurdle.

The bill, S.163, which would apply to contractors who take on jobs worth more than $2,000, was approved by the Senate on Thursday and now heads to consideration by a House committee.

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The proposal was the idea of the Vermont Home Builders and Remodelers Association, which has been working sporadically for 13 years to get a registration system in place. In 2017, the Senate Government Operations Committee asked the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation to study the issue of regulating home-improvement and construction contractors. The OPR found that Vermont is one of only six U.S. states that do not regulate residential building contractors in any way.

Right now, if a contractor disappears with a deposit, performs low-quality work or doesn’t finish a job, the homeowner’s recourse is a complaint to the Attorney General’s Office or small claims court. The AG’s consumer complaint division reported it received nearly 600 complaints detailing losses of $3.1 million between 2012 and 2017.

That’s why the measure got the support of Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden and the chairman of the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee.

The registration system outlined in the bill is the most flexible form of oversight available, Sirotkin said Friday. Registration will cost contractors $100 per year.

“It’s one of the highest areas of consumer fraud complaints,” Sirotkin said. “They get hundreds a year.” He added that 40 percent of the complaints concern contractors who took deposits and never returned.

The Vermont Associated General Contractors, the trade group for builders, opposed the bill, saying it wasn’t necessary and would force subcontractors to register with the state as residential contractors because they often do jobs worth more than $2,000.

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“The challenge we’re having as an association is that person drops off a load of gravel that will be the bedding of the foundation, and doesn’t necessarily know” about the registration requirement because it is listed as being for residential contractors, said Matt Musgrave, the Vermont AGC’s director of government affairs. “They can not only get hit with a $500 fine, but also can be put into a bad boy status on the website.”

Sen. John Rodgers, D-Essex-Orleans and a longtime building contractor, said he opposed the measure because it would add another expense for people who are often operating very small businesses. The bill calls for the creation of two positions at the Secretary of State’s office, which will be paid for with the registration fees.

“It’s an unnecessary cost to Vermonters,” Rodgers said Friday. “I think there’s a whole bunch of them that are going to ignore the requirement.”

Rodgers said he himself will register if the bill becomes law, if he’s still working in the trades. He grew an acre and a half of hemp last summer and plans to grow 10 acres this summer. He added he’s also opposed to the certification proposal because he feels Vermont lawmakers consistently default to laws that are bad for business.

“There are also bad consumers and I know tons of contractors who have done good work and either not got paid, or had trouble getting paid, or it took a long time getting paid,” said Rodgers, speaking in the Statehouse after discussion on the Senate floor. “Business is always framed as being the bad guy in this building.”

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