Oklahoma cities, towns required to ensure contractors are covered

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Your brother and his sons are helping you add a room to your house. If one of the boys whacks off one of his fingers with a circular saw, your homeowners policy will probably cover him, if your brother’s insurance doesn’t.

But pay Brother & Sons Add-a-Room Inc., a commercial business, to do the job, and if Mr. Brother or a subcontractor saws off a personal limb, your homeowners policy will leave you exposed to liability if the company doesn’t carry workers’ compensation insurance.

Homeowners policies do not cover commercial work done on the homeowner’s property.

That’s the kind of unexpected expense and headache a new state law is aimed at remedying.

Requiring proof of insurance The law, which went into effect this week, requires cities, towns and counties that issue residential building permits to get proof that commercial contractors taking out the permits are insured or exempt.

The law also requires local officials to get proof that contractors have general liability insurance, which covers property damage, as well.

"It assures you that if you’ve got a contractor on your property doing some work and he causes damage to some other part of your property — let’s say he drops a hammer through the windshield of your Mercedes, or he’s working on a new roof and it leaks and ruins your wood floor and dining table — he’s covered,” said Oklahoma City homebuilder Mark Dale.

Construction contractors who carry insurance "are more professional,” said Dale, owner of Carriage Homes in Oklahoma City and chairman of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association’s legislative committee.

"It’s a strong indicator of trying to do the right thing,” said Dale, who also will be president of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association for the second time, after 20 years, in 2010.