The Better Contractors Bureau (BCB) a nonprofit consumer protection agency started in 1974 has been fighting for formal Monroe County Registration for many years and has been unsuccessful in its quest due to the politicians who will not support it! Counties as Nassau and Suffolk along with the Town of Amherst already have formal registration! Carmen Santora, Executive Director of the BCB says "until the politicians running the Monroe County legislature see the need for legislation to protect their constituents who put them in office rather than upset the small amount of the influential business owners that are against any type of regulation something has to be done about it!"
The Better Contractor Bureau member contractors already have an identification registration number assigned to each of them as part of the application process when joining the BCB! We hold our members accountable to certain high standards. Because of the increase in the number of recent scams and price gouging due to the Covid pandemic the consumers have had to endure the BCB is taking it on itself to assign an identification registration tracking number to all the other approximate 10,000 contractors on its information data base.
By assigning all contractors a registration number it will be much quicker for the consumers to ask the contractor they are contemplating hiring if they have a registration number so that they know the BCB has information on them before considering them for their projects!
Nonmember contractors in all trades may call the Better Contractors Bureau (BCB) at 585-338-3600 or email obettercontract@rochester.rr.com to find out their already issued ID tracking registration number and verify the information on file for a minimal processing $25 fee! If they are not presently among the almost 10,000 contractors registered on the BCB data base file or a new business, they can give their company and personal information by filling out a Home Improvement Contractor Registration Form along with the processing fee and will be issued their ID tracking registration number.
Contractors are not to consider this as a state or county mandated requirement but only as a public service program for the BCB to give more helpful information to the consumer and in no way enacted to only endorse its members or a way to solicit new members!
BCB contractors must meet certain standards of membership to earn the prestigious designation called "Registered Professional" and is different from the registration program! All members must abide by a strict Code of Ethics so that consumers who contract with them know that they are dealing with honest, reputable contractors and can get up to date information to help make their decision on whom to hire for their home improvement project easier and less stressful!
It will let them know that if they deal with a Registered Professional BCB contractor member they will have some resource regarding a consumer/contractor dispute through its in-house mediation program or formal arbitration through its affiliation with the Center for Dispute Settlement.
BCB certified inspectors in the past worked with the Brighton Police to help investigate a driveway contractor who is believed to have scammed over 28 consumers (mostly seniors) in Monroe County, Ontario County, Town of Brighton, and the City of Rochester. In addition, helped to prosecute the past snowplow scammer and the many other similar home improvement rip offs that are called in to the BCB office daily!
Executive Director, Carmen Santora appeared before the Ontario Grand Jury to testify on a contractor who ripped off a consumer of over $20,000 in Canandaigua, NY resulting in the contractor facing imprisonment and fines!
This new registration program will help to better protect the public and enable them to check on a contractor before getting an estimate or signing a contract! In addition, it will make it easier for the BCB to keep track of the many unscrupulous, fly-by-night out of state contractors who flock to our area because they know that there are no requirements to work here along with the local scammers already here! Consumers along with reputable, professional, hardworking contractors who are properly insured, use NYS required contracts and operate as legitimate businesses should welcome the BCB's new efforts to help improve the image of one of the most complained about business and help make it a little easier to continue its mission to "Protect and Inform" the consumer and its goal to eliminate the unscrupulous contractors in the five-county area it serves!
Santora says "we encourage consumers to ask the contractor they are considering for their home improvement project for their ID Registration number when calling for an estimate or before signing a contract, so they know that the BCB has a record of them on file!"
In no way does the BCB's new program infer that should a contractor not have a registration number that they are not reputable! It is another way to aid the consumer (especially seniors) to protect themselves from unscrupulous contractors! END RELEASE Contractors interested in an Application for a Registration number to operate as a Registered Home Improvement Contractor Please Click Here
