Database helps consumers track licensed tradespeople

Want to know if a home improvement contractor or medical doctor you might consult is operating without a license in the state of Connecticut?

The state wants to know, too, so three agencies have jointly established a new free public online database that alphabetically sorts through more than 27,700 contractors, 16,600 doctors and surgeons and even 906 outfits that hold grocery/beer permits licensed to do business in the state of Connecticut.

Available on a secure link, https://www.elicense.ct.gov, and enabled with a quick name search and alternate search engines, the new page on the state's government website, ct.gov, is available "24/7, 365," said Jerry Farrell Jr., commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection.

The state departments of Agriculture and Public Health have helped compile the database, which will continue to add other departments and be updated weekly.

The value of the site to the consumer, as well as to businesses hiring everyone from nurses, plumbers, and paramedics to livestock dealers and real estate appraisers, is that use of the site is expected to reduce the likelihood of hiring someone unlicensed while increasing the likelihood of reporting those not in compliance.

Professional tradesmen and women are required by law to be licensed, said Farrell Wednesday as he promoted the two-week old site. Every year, his office prosecutes as many as 200 professionals who are operating in violation of that law. Literally thousands of others sign agreements with his office to be brought into compliance without penalties, he said.

"The consumer should never do business with someone who doesn't have a license where a license is needed," said Farrell. "We like to hear from the consumer (about) unlicensed people offering their services, because those are people we want to bring into the fold, get them licensed and get them in compliance with the law."

If a contractor or doctor or dental hygienist simply overlooked paperwork or has no complaints against him or her, Consumer Protection would work out an agreement to license them, he said. Flagrant violators of the law, however, are criminally liable and referred to the state's attorney's office for prosecution, he said.

In the case of contractors, the consumer can only be reimbursed if something goes wrong by a so-called "guarantee fund" set up for that purpose if the contractor is licensed, Farrell said.

"Every year there's at least $3 million in claims on the home guarantee fund for work done by contractors," he said. "It's an added insurance policy."

The site is easy to use, with large lists of data organized in Excel spreadsheets, as well as by text, though the text is a bit more cumbersome to read through.

"We've cleaned up the data and made the system work efficiently," Farrell added.

If a professional is not listed, "there's an issue," Farrell said. Apart from the occasional case of the professional's paperwork being "in transit," the absence of a name means the worker is operating without a license or with a revoked permit. In that case, he said, the consumer should contact the department at (800) 842-2649.

The database is about 90 percent complete and still growing, with a few subcategories for liquor licenses, for example, that have to be updated. In launching the site, Consumer Protection tried to provide the data most often sought out by the consumer, Farrell said.

"Having all of these rosters available online at no cost is a terrific convenience for anyone looking to find out who is licensed in their area to provide services," Dr. Robert Galvin, commissioner the Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

Agriculture Commissioner Philip Prelli noted that the online database will save the state time and money as it processes license requests as well.

p.daddona@theday.com