In N.B., anyone can be a home-improvement contractor, and that's a problem, builders say
CBC
Homeowners across New Brunswick are an easy target for unscrupulous home-improvement contractors because the province has no law aimed at discouraging scammers from working in the industry, says the provincial home builders' association.
Anyone can become a home-building contractor without any formal licensing or training requirements, says Claudia Simmonds, the CEO of Canadian Home Builders' Association of New Brunswick.
"In the province of New Brunswick, there are absolutely no requirements whatsoever for people who build or renovate homes," said Simmonds, whose group has lobbied for change.
In New Brunswick, there have long been stories about contractors who demand large deposits for repairs such as roofing, then disappear without doing the work, she said.
But the stories have become more common during the pandemic, with so many people trying to renovate their homes.
The RCMP are investigating at least 25 complaints about a home improvement contractor in the Charlotte County area, with more than $350,000 in losses reported so far.
Another RCMP investigation has also been opened into a roofing contractor in the Quispamsis area.
For the most part, property owners are left to resolve their conflicts with contractors on their own, with small claims court or civil litigation often the only tools at their disposal, Simmonds said.
Homeowners can go to police, but unless there is a pattern of scams impacting a large number of victims, police generally consider these cases to be civil matters, she said.
"A lot of homeowners just have to suck it up, and that's not right," Simmonds said. "It's not right that anyone can come into this industry and go to work without any skills, training, knowledge, or credibility whatsoever and put homeowners' livelihood at risk.
"The industry is full of these types of practitioners."
David Harris of Quispamsis said he has talked to the Town of Quispamsis and with politicians about the lack of regulation after losing more than $250,000 to a contractor he hired to demolish his house after it burned and to build a new one.
"Everyone that I've talked to and all the elected officials have been very supportive," said Harris, who also plans to write to Premier Blaine Higgs.
"Something's got to change."
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