What is HIC registration, how is it different from a CSL, and how do I look up a Massachusetts contractor?

The HIC program is run by the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation under the home improvement contractor law. Contractors, subcontractors, partnerships or corporations that solicit, bid on or perform contracting work on an existing, owner-occupied one- to four-unit residence must be registered; new construction, buildings with more than four units, investment, vacation or secondary properties and homes outside Massachusetts are not covered. A registrant passes no exam: registration is a matter of applying, paying the fee and paying once into the Guaranty Fund. What the homeowner gets in return is the law's standards for contracts, payments, advertising and business practices, and two remedies that exist only against a registered contractor: the state's arbitration program and the Guaranty Fund. Hire an unregistered contractor and you keep the right to complain and to sue, but lose both (HIC homeowner resources).

Not every home-improvement trade needs an HIC. The state's list of work that does not require registration includes installers of central heating and air conditioning, energy conservation devices other than solar panels, landscaping, interior painting, wall and floor coverings, fencing, freestanding masonry walls, above-ground pools, shutters and awnings, ground-level patios and driveways; architects, electricians, plumbers and others working exclusively within their own licensed profession; some part-time and small jobs; and do-it-yourself homeowners working on their own home (HIC homeowner resources). So an HVAC company will not have an HIC number, it will have the gas fitter's and electrician's licences instead, while a roofer, sider or window installer working on an occupied home should.

The Construction Supervisor License is issued by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards under 780 CMR 110.R5. The state's summary of the difference: a CSL "requires that a licensee pass an examination which demonstrates knowledge of the state building code" and "is generally required for any work that involves a building's structural elements" (HIC homeowner resources). The chapter itself licenses the individuals who have charge or control of construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition of the buildings it covers; it exempts a homeowner doing work on their own one- or two-family home, who then acts as supervisor of anyone hired; it does not require a CSL for swimming pools, signs and tents, agricultural buildings not open to the public, or projects under construction control by a registered design professional; and it holds a licensed construction supervisor who contracts with a homeowner responsible for doing the work to code whether or not the supervisor pulled the permit (780 CMR 110.R5). Attleboro's department explains the construction-control cut-off in practice: a building over 35,000 cubic feet must be under a registered design professional, and then no CSL is required (Attleboro Building Inspection).

Whether a job needs both depends on its scope. A roof or window replacement on an owner-occupied home is HIC work; a dormer, an addition or anything that cuts a wall or beam is CSL work as well, and the state's own page on which work requires an HIC, a CSL or a building permit sets out the combinations (what work requires an HIC, CSL or building permit).

HIC: search the MA Contractor Hub by name or registration number; it shows the registration status and history, including complaints. If a contractor is missing from the Hub, the state says it may be because the registration has expired, a complaint is pending, fees are unpaid, or the registration was suspended or revoked after a hearing, and it asks you to email HICRegistration@mass.gov if you find a contractor is not registered. Registered contractors carry a state-issued HIC identification card and must show the registration number on their website and advertisements (HIC homeowner resources; Contractor Hub HIC search). CSL: use the Office of Public Safety and Inspections' licence check, and confirm the status is current if the job needs one (check an OPSI licence).

The trades have their own boards and their own rule that the licence number appears on any sign, listing or advertisement. The Board of State Examiners of Electricians and the Board of Registration of Plumbers and Gas Fitters each say to verify licensure, years licensed and complaint or disciplinary history by phone or online, and the sheet metal board points to the Division of Occupational Licensure's "Check a License" on its eLIPSE platform (electricians fact sheet; plumbers and gas fitters fact sheet; sheet metal worker fact sheet). Each fact sheet adds that the licensee must carry liability insurance, and the plumbing and sheet metal boards note that a licensee applying for a permit signs under the penalties of perjury that they carry it or presents a waiver signed by the homeowner.

The HIC law's rules are the ones a homeowner can enforce. Home improvement contracts over $1,000 must be in writing; a contractor may not collect more than one-third of the contract price in advance unless special-order materials are needed; a contractor may not lend you money or arrange financing secured by your home; and the registered contractor should agree in the contract to pull the building permit and every other permit needed, because a homeowner who applies for the building permit may not be eligible for the Guaranty Fund, and a contractor who refuses to pull it may be unregistered. Arbitration under the state program requires a written contract meeting a minimum amount, a contractor registered at the time of the contract, work on a one- to four-family owner-occupied primary residence, and that the contractor pulled the building permit; a contractor who violates a contract can have the registration suspended or revoked, be fined or be prosecuted (HIC homeowner resources). The state's checklist before hiring, three interviews, a written estimate, the Hub search, the HIC card, proof of liability and workers' compensation insurance, three written references and a call to each, is on the same page.