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GET HELP WITH DCRA CONTRACTOR RATING SYSTEM
System Joins Permit Wizard to Help Residents Make Project Decisions
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etting work done on your home or business can be an anxious road to travel. How can you be sure the contractor is dependable? How much experience do they have navigating the District’s inspection and permitting systems? The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) is well aware of those concerns. “DCRA frequently hears the real life nightmares of District residents, often senior citizens, who pay for renovations and repairs, but don’t receive the work for which they have paid,” said a spokesperson. “Unfortunately, the options for recourse after the fact are sometimes limited, and always a headache.” Enter the DCRA Contractor Rating System, which arms residents with information so they can hire contractors who possess a proven track record of proper licensing, construction and inspections. While ratings from customers are available on platforms such as Yelp, Angie’s List and Google, DCRA says their Contractor Rating System is both different from and complementary to those systems. “As a licensing and enforcement agency, we are in a unique position to objectively provide public information regarding a building professional’s actual performance, both on a single project and overall,” the agency writes. “DCRA does not provide recommendations, but empowers you, the customer, with information so that you can make a betterinformed decision.” The information in the DCRA rating system can be paired with customer reviews from other sites to help prospective clients make better choices based on their needs. Ratings are based on DCRA’s past experience with professionals, taking into account quality of plans at intake, caliber at review and the pass/fail rate for inspections. Projects are categorized, and professionals given percentile scores, with different weights assigned to categories for differing professionals. Each star is worth 20 percent, meaning a 4.5 star rating indicates a 80-89 percent score. Some contractors won’t be found in the sys-
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by Elizabeth O’Gorek Most new residential tem. In order to be listand commercial construced, they must be licensed tion require a building perin the District and have mit as well as building plans worked on a project in the during submission. The past three years. They may building plans must be dealso be listed under a difsigned to the current buildferent name; for instance, ing code and local design an architect may be listed criteria. A site plan may also as part of a firm. be necessary based on the The system was land disturbance activity of launched March 9. It will expand in phases, to fathe property construction. cilitate improvements and If you are starting a feedback. It started out project and want help dewith architects and interitermining what kind of peror designers, general conmits will be required, use tractors and home improvethe new DCRA Permit Wizment contractors. Phase Department of Consumer and Regulatory ard (https://dcra.dc.gov/ permitwizard). Customers two will include electri- Affairs (DCRA) Director Ernest Chrappah demthe Contractor Rating System at the are guided through a series cians, plumbers, gasfitters onstrates March 9 launch event. Courtesy: DCRA of questions, and the Permit as well as professionals in Wizard will identify the persprinkler systems, refrigermits needed for the entire project – customers no ation and air-conditioning. The final phase will add longer have to know permit types in advance. It also permit expediters and professional engineers. identifies any additional required documentation When fully launched, there will be 4,731 proand anticipated inspections. fessionals in the Contractor Rating System. If you Here are six things that everybody should be know which contractor you are interested in, you aware of before coming to DCRA for any type of can use the system to see how seamlessly a project permit: was guided through planning and inspection. How1. Many permits for small home improveever, you can also use the system to find a profesments can be obtained online through the DCRA sional for your project. Permit Wizard. Select the type of business professional you 2. Any time construction work involves ocare looking for, and then sort them by either their cupying the public space (sidewalk, public street name, overall score or star rating. Selecting their and alley), you must get a public space permit from name gives you a list of recent projects and their the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) overall scores. (https://ddot.dc.gov/) before a DCRA permit can Check out the Contractor Rating System for be issued. yourself at https://govservices.dcra.dc.gov/con3. Any construction that takes place beyond tractorratingsystem. the authorized construction hours of 7 a.m. and 7 Six Permitting Tips p.m. requires an After-Hours permit (https://dcra. Perhaps you want to get a read on what kind of perdc.gov/afterhourspermit) that must be approved by mits and documentation are required for your project. DCRA.
