Wake-Up Call Goes Through : Contractors State License Board, under pressure, promises to do better

For many people, the thought of hiring a contractor to build or remodel a house is as painful as contemplating a root canal. Horror stories abound concerning businesses that violated codes, overcharged or did shoddy work.

The Contractors State License Board is supposed to monitor and license contractors and provide information on complaints. But when the state Assembly’s Consumer Protection Committee announced a hearing--after articles were published in The Times raising questions about the board’s performance--there was a flood of requests to testify from people unhappy with contractors, the board or both.

Now, finally, the board has heard the message. Last week it agreed to stop looking the other way in cases where contractors duck public accountability by taking complaints to private arbitration. It will expand its investigations to cover such complaints, and also will provide consumers with information about past disputes.

The welcome reversal of policy was precipitated by the committee hearing two days earlier: The panel needed eight hours to receive all the complaints and to review a legislative staff report highly critical of the board. The board, financed largely by contractors’ license fees, clearly had not been doing the job for which it was formed.

Its executive officer admitted that the board, as a matter of policy, ignored complaints that contractors asked to have settled in arbitration. And, contrary to law, arbitration results were not always reported to the license board. The result was that the public often lacked information about problem contractors.

The board now says it will no longer alibi by saying it has neither the resources to handle the 30,000 complaints it receives each year nor enough investigators to check out those seeking contractors’ licenses. That’s good. The Assembly committee was right to warn the board to improve or face tougher legislation. The public needs confidence that a watchdog agency is really on guard, especially when it comes to the biggest investment--a home--that most people will ever make.