The painting industry has drastically changed since February 2022 and is going to change again in July 2023.

There was a  major freeze in Texas where all of the raw material plants are located for the painting industry. Which caused a shortage in the painting industry of all paints from all manufacturers. This also caused at least 3 price increases of at least 30% in the last year.

Different grades of paint from some of the paint manufacturers like Sherwin Williams and PPG have not been manufactured  in many months. These grades of paint are suppose to come back, but many painting contractors like myself are still waiting for supplies to be back to normal.

Governor Ron Desantis of Florida signed into law 

HB 735 — Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing

Below is the link Ed.

https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/billsummaries/2021/html/2360

which basically means that anyone that has a paint brush, a truck and a few drop cloths can pass them selves off as a painter or painting contractor. This is where the homeowners needs to educate themselves before hiring anyone, not only to do painting, but in the following industries that used to require a license:

Specifically, local governments are now prohibited from requiring a person from obtaining a local license for: painting; flooring; cabinetry; SOME interior remodeling; driveway or tennis court installation, EXCLUDING EXCAVATION, handyman services; decorative stone, tile, marble, granite, or terrazzo installation; plastering; stuccoing; caulking; 

 

Even though these licenses will no longer be required by the local municipalities, there are ways that homeowners can protect themselves.

ANY “NON-CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT” with more than 3 employees is required to have workers compensation insurance.

ALL CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE EVEN IF THEY ONLY HAVE ONE EMPLOYEE  THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS CORPORATE OWNERS OR LLC MANAGERS, UP TO THREE (3) OWNERS OR MANAGERS CAN HAVE WC EXEMPTIONS. NON-OWNER EMPLOYEES MUST BE COVERED UNDER W/C. All contractors should have liability insurance.

BEFORE HIRING A CONTRACTOR, homeowners absolutely need to require the contractor to prove the contractor has both liability insurance and workers compensation insurance and provide a certificate of insurance for both to the homeowner. DOING THIS BEFORE YOU SETTLE ON WHICH CONTRACTOR TO USE MAY BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING COVERAGE FOR A CLAIM OR HAVING TO PAY FOR A CLAIM OUT OF POCKET. 

 

SAVING A FEW DOLLARS UP FRONT COULD RESULT IN A MASSIVE EXPENSE ON THE BACKEND. 

Also, check the internet and see if the contractor you  consider hiring has a website. Visit the website and see how thorough it is and see how many reviews they have if they have photo's of their work and if the photos on the website are real photo's or photo's that they purchased. Also check out Google Maps and see how they show up on the Google Maps for their trade.  Example...Painters Fort Myers...

Painters Lee County, Painters Naples, and so on.  Read their reviews on Google maps and see how many reviews they have.

Many contractors prey on uneducated homeowners. The better educated you are in the hiring process the better protected you are.

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