“The Case For Only Using CAPS-Trained Contractors”

Wherever you go, licensed contractors aggressively try to get the unlicensed “contractors” off the streets. In areas where licensing is required – either as a business license or a more stringent professional license – people still try to skirt the law and provide services to the public without the proper credentials. That ends up hurting everyone. 

There really is no recourse for the consumer when they have used an unlicensed provider because there is no appeal to a regulating agency or authority to sanction the work, get their money back, or keep it from happening again. It is a challenge for licensed contractors competing against unlicensed providers because the unlicensed ones don’t have the overhead or insurance and often the requisite training that goes along with being able to serve the consumer effectively.

Most of us remember the amount of work that went into getting our driver’s license and how none us want to do anything to jeopardize keeping it. Our livelihoods depend on being able to drive. Yet, there are people that seem to like living on the edge who drive with suspended or revoked licenses – or no license at all. We know what a hazard it is being on the roadway with people who aren’t properly licensed or who don’t seem to care about being licensed.

Now, take that same type of logic and apply it to unlicensed versus licensed contractors. No wonder there is a concern!

So, that said, what if consumers insisted – through an educational campaign and word-of-mouth that stressed this approach rather than a formal regulation – that any general contractor or remodeler they wanted to use (and it doesn’t matter what size the project might be or how much it would cost) had to have a CAPS designation?

The CAPS certification has become quite well-known in recent years, and consumers, as well as professionals, are aware of it. Consumers know that the CAPS designation represents additional training and effort on the part of the contractor to understand ways to modify and improve their homes in a safe fashion – regardless of their present age or physical condition – that will allow them to live more comfortably in their space and to use it well over time also.

So, why wouldn’t they want to use someone to help them who understands their needs – both now and over time – better than someone who might approach a remodeling project for them as they would any other type of construction that doesn’t take their situation into account.

Why wouldn’t we want to be that type of provider – contractors, handymen, occupational therapists, designers, and others – and convey to the potential client the value we offer them because of our CAPS designation and training?