contractor with suspended license

[stephneal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA
I wish we could go back and do things over****************************We started a home addition in March and at this point have the foundation done. Yeah I know its been 5 months. Let me also add that we hired a general contractor who is doing most of the work, he and his son-in-law. He is subcontracting things like the plumbing & electrical. For whatever reason, maybe god, I logged on to the the Wa State Dept of L&I website Friday and discovered that his surety bond and his license had been suspended on 7-8-09. He already has the money for our lumber which has yet to be delivered. But he wants to continue working next week and he told me that he and his son-in-law will sign something that will hold us harmless if they are to get injured. Would something like that really hold up in a court of law?

[jhlwstdnt]

What does it matter if he gets hurt? What about if he botches the work, what will be your recourse then?

There are several reasons why his bond would have been pulled and subsequent suspension of his license. A material one is if he failed to pay a subcontractor and they filed a claim against the surety company and were forced to satisfy the claim.

If it were me, I would ask him for the phone number of the lumber company that he ordered the material from, call them and make sure a delivery is scheduled, and move on. He could threaten to sue, but his chances are slim (if not 0) since he is not licensed. In my opinion, he has spent the money for the lumber, and not on your job.