Licencing and Insurance for Contractors...

[work sucks]

For those of you in the know...I am looking at getting my residential contractors licence. I am familiar with the licence side of things, but was wondering what is required for insurance, liability, and LLC's, ect. I am not going to hire anyone, so I guess the work comp coverage won't be needed. Will I need to form a LLC? If so what is the advantage? Perhaps someone knows of a person I could get in touch with to answer these questions. I do a lot of "side work", but I would like to attempt to do it full time on my own instead of working for the "MAN". Thanks all...

[ranger20]

work sucks a i am a LLC corp.and all that means if you were to go broke the could not take any of your personabu stuff on what belongs to the company,i live in st,cloud and i could help you out with this stuff,

[setterguy]

Hiring a lawyer will save you lots of $$ and time in the long run. Find one that specializes in business and labor laws. An LLC is USUALLY the best when working on your own, but there are many variables. As far as insurance goes, some companies that you will do work for will still require a workmans comp claim...contact the sec. of state, they just put together a group pool so small contractors can gain workers comp insurance while getting the good rate. Good luck.

[chad austin]

If you don't file with the state of MN for your LLC and you

are the sub on the job you required to have an ICEC (INDEPENDANT

CONTRACTOR EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE) wich is also available through

the state. Both LLC and the ICEC are to be renewed every 2 years

For tax purposes I would check into regestering with the state as an s corperation, that also limits your liability in the case of an accident ect... If you have any subs working for you they will need to provide thier icec and there are hefty fines associated with that program if they can't provide it, the fines apply to the general and the sub contractor. Check out http://www.doli.state.mn.us/ic.html for the state regulations

as far as the work comp goes you can get an exemption from the state if you are the

only one performing work within your company (next of kin fall into this catogory also

I.E children, parents, siblings)

[work sucks]

Good info guys, thanks for your input!

[youngie22]

I would say talk to a CPA and listen to their advice. tax attorney also could help. good planning and setup can reduce and eliminate hassles and headaches.

[dougger222]

Minnesota put a bunch of new laws into effect starting 1/1/09 that make it tougher than ever to sub out or get work subbed.

Even if you are an LLC and subbing work legally with liability, comp, etc and you sub all your work from one company you could be considered there employee. My father has been a roofing contractor for over 35 years and he's had to deal with subbing issues several issues.

Right now going rounds with the workmans comp. company who just sent me a letter stating I owe them $37,800 from 2008. 15 years ago my father got a letter stating he owed $87K but they dropped it to $0!!!

It's getting harder and harder to run a business here in MN but they say WI has even tougher laws in effect than MN.

I have a friend who's 72 with a very low gen cont. lic. number who's still running as a sole propieter!

I've been incorporated since 2004, the tax savings are good.

Getting a license is easy. Put $200 on a Visa card and book a ProSource class on how to pass the gen cont. test. Put $90 again on that same Visa card and book two tests and Experior. When you have those things done you get your gen. liability policy and workmans comp policy (no coverage) and your good to go. Of coure none of this will promise you any work.

[muchowja]

I would get your LLC. It costs you less than $200 if you do it yourself. Just download the form off the MN Dept of Labor site and fill it out. It is only one page and VERY simple. This allows you to sub work from other contractors without an ICEC. It also will protect your personal assets in the event of a law suit or liability issue. If you are a subcontractor, many contractors still require you to have a workers comp policy even if you are the only one working. As a new contractor it is also getting tougher to get insurance. Many insurance companies are not writing new policies and the ones that do put you in the pool insurance for the first two years which does not have a very good rate. Good Luck.