Quality workmanship can be hard to come by.

But imagine trying to find it while standing on your lawn at 2
a.m. after a house fire.

Eager for work, contractors can show up at early morning fires
even before all the flames are extinguished.

“We’ve had incidents where these guys are physically fighting at
a house fire,” said Fred Harran, public safety director for
Bensalem.

Township police are now asking the Bensalem council to consider
regulating these companies at the local level.

The public safety director said the regulations would be no
different than the way police arrange towing services after an
accident. Police are looking for ordinances that would regulate
only emergency services such as boarding up damaged doors and
windows, Harran said, not more extensive home repair services.

Township police would maintain a rotating list of contractors to
call during certain times, and property owners would still have the
option to select any contractors they know and want to do business
with, Harran said.

The Bensalem council could vote Monday on an ordinance to impose
annual licensing requirements on emergency restoration services
companies. A hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in
the township building, 2400 Byberry Road.

Among the proposed requirements, contractors would need general
liability insurance coverage of at least $1 million and another $2
million minimum umbrella liability.

The proposed ordinance also states that “the applicant’s place
of business shall be located within the township in order that the
response time to a call for service is immediate.”

The annual application cost would be $100.

Cindy Cowdrick of Top Job Cleaning and Restoration said she
welcomed the regulations. Cowdrick said she opened her business in
Bensalem in 1986 and slowly watched as the market became
flooded.

“In the past 10 years, it’s become massive,” she said. “They sit
around with the police scanners and they listen and they run. A
fire happens and there’s five or 10 of them out there with business
cards.”

The state already licenses contractors. Pennsylvania’s Home
Improvement Consumer Protection Act requires those who earn more
than $5,000 per year from home improvement jobs to register with
the state’s Attorney General’s Office.

They must pay a $50 fee, provide their name, address, home phone
and Social Security numbers, and prove they carry at least $50,000
in liability insurance to legally work in the state.

Still, people have been scammed. In 2009, township police
arrested a local man accused of scamming at least 19 different
homeowners from Bensalem and Middletown. Money was collected and
the work never finished, police said. Homeowners said they felt
helpless as handymen, who appeared to be on drugs, worked inside
their homes.

The state Department of Consumer Protection offers many tips on
selecting a contractor. The state warns never to give contractors a
lot of money up front. Contractors should provide you with a
detailed contract, including timetables and lists of any materials
that will be used. The state advises court action rather than
firing a contractor. Contractors might argue that they couldn’t
finish the job because they were terminated.

To find out if a contractor has registered with the state
Attorney General’s Office, visit hicsearch.attorneygeneral.gov or
call 1-800-441-2555.

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