Suffolk County Legislature Approves Resolution to Strengthen and Improve Regulating Home Improvement Contractors

Law Provides Suffolk County Homeowners with the Best Possible Protection Against Unscrupulous Acts by Contractors

(Hauppauge, NY-July 30, 2013)  Today, the Suffolk County Legislature has approved legislation presented by the County Executive to strengthen Suffolk County’s occupational licensing law to protect the residents of Suffolk County by increasing the liability insurance requirements of contractors who are undertaking an elevation project.

“As residents are trying to rebuild after the effects of Super Storm Sandy, many have to engage in elevating their homes to protect themselves from future significant weather events, said County Executive Bellone.  “This legislation will help to ensure that homeowners can recoup the cost of damage to their homes in the event an elevation project fails and causes additional damage to the home.”

Any home improvement contractor who is performing home raising/elevating services, which includes temporary raising of a house or part of a house off of its foundation, will have to obtain insurance coverage for those services that will insure against damage to a homeowner’s movable and immovable property.  The amount of insurance required is a minimum of $500,000 per occurrence, including bodily injury, property damage and contractual liability with an aggregate limit of at least $2 million.

“The Long Island Builders Institute strongly supports the increase in insurance requirements to protect our homeowners with regard to major improvements necessary for their protection. We strongly encourage our residents to use our local, insured builders and remodeled to renovate their homes,” said Mitchell Pally, Chief Executive Officer of the Long Island Builders Institute

“This legislation is a critical step in protecting homeowners from additional costs associated with damage caused upon elevating and reconstructing their home by a contractor who is not properly insured,” said Peter Elkowitz, President, CEO of the Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc. 

“This important legislation will provide safeguards against further damage being done to the homes of vulnerable residents that are just starting to put their lives back together,” said Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer.  “Homeowners looking to responsibly protect their homes through elevation deserve the peace of mind that they are in the hands of a licensed, qualified, and fully insured contractor.

“This legislation is important because it will protect people like me in the future so this type of incident doesn’t happen again,” said Jeanie Garguilo. 

“We have stood by our residents and will continue to stand by them,” said Babylon Village Trustee, Tony Davida. “I am pleased this bill has passed to help our residents. This is what should be done, legally. It’s about safety.”