Question for Jacksonville Area

The owner of our company lives in Jacksonville. Her daughter owns several properties there. Her grandson, one of our roofers, is going to visit next week and wants to replace a small shingle roof (10 sq) on one of the properties. From what I understand about Fla. is that the owner of the property can get the permits needed and do the work ONLY if he lives on that property, if it is a rental, it must be done by a licensed contractor. Obviously, Chris is not licensed in Fla. Is this the case and if so, is there a way for Chris to put this roof on legally?

The property is not hidden on a back street but on a highly travelled road so he can't just do it and hope to not be seen.

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Chris will be coming in to the office in a couple of hours. No work today because of the snow but today is our annual company meeting to go over the handbook and get the new guys measured for uniforms. I'll bring it up to him when he gets here and see what he says. Thanks for the offer. I'll get back to you sometime this morning.>>>

I am a state certified florida roofing contractor and have lived in jax all my life.

If chris would like to work on his grandmas property for her i can make that happen. I would also be working on the job and will teach him a thing or two he'll remember forever and make his grandma proud. >>>

Yeah, when I showed Chris what HOP had replied he said "nevermind", it just ain't worth the risk. Since the owner rents the places out and does not live there himself, he has no choice but to hire someone. Hopefully he will understand that this is a one day job and labor costs are not going to be astronomical especially once he considers the costs of the materials and disposal if he did it himself.>>>

HOP is right........the KEY word used is OWNER doing the actual work. If anyone else is used they must be properly licensed, insured, etc. OTOH, if the OWNER DOES the actual install and uses laborers he must pay FICA, SSI, and W/C on them. It used to be you could get some day labor from Labor Force type companies but they won't do roofing work anymore due to the high rate of comp. charged in this state. My advice......hire a licensed roofing company and forget the rest.

JET>>>

Around here there are a lot of duplexes that have straight gable roofs. If a storm hit from one direction the damage may be limited to one side. You end up with the owner of one side of the duplex needing a new roof and the other owner saying that the don't want to spend the money because the don't have any damage.>>>

Well half a duplex anyway. Don't ask me why anyone would only do half a duplex - don't make no sense to me but that is what the owner wants.

We have quite a few houses with small roofs that have quite a large living area. They built them tall and thin around here. 3 or 4 floors of finished living space.>>>

Wow a duplex with only a ten square roof? That's why I never go there. The houses are too small. I stay in St Augustine.>>>

Crap - it is a duplex.

Thanks for the info!>>>

If it is not a commercial property (not a duplex, not an apartment building, not a condo, etc.) the owner is allowed to act as his own contractor. The owner can apply for and get a building permit. The work must the be done by the owner. The owner can hire employees to work under his/her direct supervision. The owner must obey all employment laws (take out and file taxes, secure and pay Florida workers compensation insurance, etc.). The owner must be present for all inspections.

The loophole is that if the building permit is gotten and the proper inspections are done, it is highly unlikely there would be any state workers comp investigators waiting around to catch him. OTH, there are a lot more local code enforcement and building inspectors wondering around but enforcement of state workers comp regulations is not in their purview. There focus is permitting and code compliance.

Officially, my position is that it should be done by a licensed roofing contractor. Her grandson should just enjoy his vacation.>>>

Not sure about Jax but here in central florida you will get caught. They even have code enforcement on weekends. Big fine with possible felony charges.>>>

Just have him get 5 laborers. He won't be there long! lol>>>