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Test required for new contractors By DAVID PRESZLER Prople who want to become contractors in Oregon will soon have a new hoop to jump through: a state-mandated test. Starting July 1, anyone who wants to register as a contractor for the first time must pass the test, which covers business law and practices rather than trade skills. The test covers the 16 hours' worth of training classes that new contractors have been required to attend since 1990. Those classes also are being modified and standardized. "People weren't taking the existing classes real seriously," says Kathleen Howlitt of the Oregon Construction and Contractors Board, which will oversee the tests and class curriculum. Howlitt says the content of the old classes, which end May 31, varied from instructor to instructor. Private sector schools and organizations had been teaching the classes and will continue to do so. But the state will have more control over the curriculum. "It's much more standardized," says Howlitt. "We just kind of beefed it up." Adding the test will help ensure that contractors have not only received the instruction but understand it. In the past, contractors simply had to attend the classes or study on their own and pass an open-book, take-home test. Howlitt says there were reports that some contractors had spouses or other people take the test for them. That will no longer be possible. Prospective contractors will have to show photo identification and take a formal exam. The test will cost $50 to $60; that's on top of the $1,000 that Howlitt estimates it costs to register, which also involves securing liability insurance and being bonded. Most contractors already registered with the state won't have to take the test, unless they allow or have allowed their registration to lapse for 12 months or longer. There are more than 44,000 contractors registered with the state and the state board receives about 400 consumer complaints a month. That doesn't count complaints that are filed with the Oregon Department of Justice. The new educational requirement was passed by the 1999 Oregon Legislature. It was proposed by the Oregon Building Industries Association, a trade group. Scott Berry, a spokesman for the group, says the majority of complaints against contractors are tied to business issues rather than workmanship. "They know how to buy something, they just don't know how to bid it properly," he says. Howlitt hopes the tougher education requirement will help protect consumers by educating contractors on business law, code requirements and consumer issues. "The idea is that if they are aware of laws and basic business practices, they are going to stay within the law and have more successful businesses," Howlitt says. The pending change has started a rush among potential contractors to get licensed before the new rules go into effect, according to Donna Love of Rogue Community College's Small Business Development Center. Love is one of three instructors who have taught the old courses and will switch over to the new ones. "Word has gotten out, definitely," she says. The number of contractors taking the monthly courses has doubled recently from about eight a course to 15 to 20. Contractors who finish the course and complete their registration before July 1 won't have to take the test. The state board has posted information about the new requirements on its Web site, www.ccb.state.or.us Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA