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Building contractors will have to register with the state to continue doing business legally in Wisconsin starting Wednesday.
Supporters say the new requirement will benefit both consumers and those businesses that already play by the rules — through their payroll taxes and contributions to unemployment insurance.
"It’s just going to help make the building industry more professional," said Marilyn Feuling, vice president of Feuling Concrete Construction in Sun Prairie. "We’re very supportive of it. We think it’s a good idea in the sense that it kind of levels the playing field (between companies) and it works to protect the consumer."
State officials believe that having a registry will give the public at least some confidence that those contractors on the list will provide good service. It also will give municipal building officials a place to check for proper registration when contractors come to pull permits to start the work.
But the state will not attempt to screen or otherwise vet the contractors who sign up, Department of Commerce spokesman Tony Hozeny said.
"We will publish all the names (in the registry) on our site and we think that is a reassurance to consumers that these people are operating within the confines of the law," Hozeny said.
The registration fee covers a four-year period and costs $100 online or $115 on paper.
"Guys have said it only takes about five minutes to register online," Hozeny said. "I’m not going to pretend these aren’t tough economic times, but it’s $25 a year and I think they get some benefit from it. We have pretty strong support for this."
The rule change was finalized March 2 with an effective date of July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year. As of Friday, about 2,900 companies had registered, which is probably fewer than half of those who are required to, Hozeny estimated.
"We’re ramping this thing up and we don’t expect everybody to be signed up right on July 1," he said.
On Jan. 1, the department will be empowered to issue stop-work orders to businesses that aren’t registered, Hozeny added. Enforcement will occur primarily based on complaints by consumers or fellow contractors.
Brad Boycks, lobbyist for the Wisconsin Builders Association, said the trade group opposed how the registration requirement came about, believing such a "substantial change" should have been handled as formal proposed legislation rather than through the state’s rule-making process.
"It’s a new credentialing system," he said.
But now the association is just focused on telling its members about the looming change.
"We’re trying to get people up to speed," he said. "We have a difference of opinion (with the state), but it’s obviously still our responsibility to get the word out to our members."
Consumers can use the online registry as it develops to be sure that the contractors and subcontractors they hire for home and business improvements and additions have proper credentials, Hozeny said.
It also will help the state communicate with the registered companies more easily about code changes and other needed information, he said.
And it will allow state regulators to be sure contractors are classifying their employees properly and participating in the unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation programs.
The registration requirement applies to businesses, including one-person shops, that act as building contractors or subcontractors involved in the construction or modification of public buildings, places of employment and one- and two-family dwellings, and that are not already credentialed by the state — as certain tradespeople such as electricians must be.
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