Evening Sun Photo by Emily Rasinski
Deidre Berger points out areas of her
sunroom she...

Walking through the glass doors into the sunroom of her home in Glenville, Deidre Berger just sighs.

She runs her finger along the cracks in the drywall.

Pointing up, she frowns in dismay at the lines in the ceiling, hastily covered with spackle, but not painted over.

Opening a side door and stepping outside, Berger lifts the siding, exposing the wood underneath.

Frustrated, she goes back inside and sits at a kitchen table covered with papers, letters and lists of phone numbers.

Berger is on a mission.

In Pennsylvania, construction contractors are not required to be licensed to do home-improvement work, leaving consumers at risk of rip off by contractors who do the work in a substandard manner, inconsistent with acceptable industry standards.

Berger claims that's exactly what happened to her.

And she's not about to lie down and take it.

"I'm just that type of person," she said. "I fight."

She filed a lawsuit against her contractor in the York County Court of Common Pleas. A home-improvement job she paid $12,137 for is going to cost her $18,500 to repair, the lawsuit says.

But she hasn't stopped there. She doesn't want to see other homeowners suffer either.

Berger is on a quest to get construction contractors' licensed in the state. She has contacted U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-Spring Garden Township, and state Rep. Ron Miller, R-Jacobus.

She has talked with builders associations and lobbyists. She even submitted a complaint with the state Attorney General.

"The people in Pennsylvania need to be charged up," Berger said. "They need someone to kick them in the rear end and say this isn't right. Someone's got to light a fire."

Licensing laws

Perry Cisney, contractor and owner of Perry L. Cisney Inc. in York, has been in the remodeling business for 35 years and said he has seen a lot of people get ripped off in Pennsylvania.

"There is no requirement to be a remodeler or a home builder - period," he said. "To get a haircut, you need to go to someone with a license. And a haircut only costs about $14. But yet, you can go out and build a home for a couple (of hundred) thousand dollars without any credentials."

In New Jersey, a contractor must register with the state to be in the business of building new homes or to do business as a home-repair contractor. It costs $90 to register each year.

In California, work on any building, road, parking facility, railroad, excavation or other structure must be licensed by the state if the project costs at least $500.

In Texas, home builders are not licensed but are required to register with the state.

In New York and Ohio, all construction work is regulated at the local level.

Other states, including Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, South Dakota and Oklahoma don't require construction contractors to be licensed or registered. But there is the option to regulate it at the local level.

The Borough of Hanover, Penn Township and Manheim Township do not have any requirements concerning construction contractors.

West Manheim Township is in the process of passing an ordinance that would require contractors to register with the township when doing work within the municipality.

Cisney is a member of the York County Builders Association. He said builders associations in Pennsylvania have long wrangled with the idea of requiring construction contractors to be licensed. But, he said, the groups haven't been able to get any legislation passed.

And it's not just builders associations who would like to see more done to protect contractors and consumers.

Sen. Robert Tomlinson, R-Bucks County, was approached by Attorney General Tom Corbett, Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons, the Consumer Advocate Council of Bucks County and numerous constituents who all told tales of bad workmanship or a job half done.

Tomlinson sponsored Senate Bill 1000, the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, which would require contractors to register with the state, requires specific things in a written contract and creates a specific crime of home-improvement fraud.

The bill is currently sitting in the House Appropriations Committee. It passed the Senate with a 36-14 vote on June 26. The bill is not on the Oct. 16 to Nov. 13 House Committee meetings schedule.

By registering, contractors would be required to provide information to the state pertaining to liability insurance, prior criminal offenses related to home improvement work and civil judgments entered against them or their business.

The state would also establish a toll-free telephone number so consumers could call to find out if a contractor is registered.

Cisney points to the Uniform Construction Code the state passed in 1999 – amended in 2001, 2004 and 2005 – that has helped to standardize the construction industry by requiring a uniform standard for the design, construction and alteration of buildings within Pennsylvania.

But he admits it does nothing to really protect the consumer and contractor from fraud or shoddy work.

"I think it would help if we had some kind of certification for the state of Pennsylvania," Cisney said. But, he added, "Registration is difficult to pass."

When problems arise

Berger moved into her home on Arnold Road in Glenville in October 2004. The home was originally built in 1992.

A month later, she hired Messersmith's Painting and Remodeling on Walnut Street in Hanover, to do some home improvement work on her house. She was referred to him by a real-estate agent.

According to the contract the work was for improvements consisting of interior and exterior carpentry and finish work.

The contract states that Messersmith would install windows, steel doors, a storm door, ceiling fan, drywall, insulation and carpet to the sunroom.

Messersmith was also contracted to put siding on the exterior of the room.

Originally, Berger claimed that Messersmith finished his work around the end of 2005 and problems with the work started to arise in March 2006.

Berger acknowledged owner Willis Messersmith said the problems arose because of cold weather and the lack of heat in the room. Berger said the room is heated.

But according to her lawsuit, filed later, "on or about Nov. 21, 2005, the drywall began to show significant cracks and the ceiling in the area that had been remodeled began to show signs of deflection."

Asked about the discrepancy, Berger said she didn't remember exactly when she first noticed the damage.

After noticing problems, Berger obtained an estimate from an independent contracting firm, Highrock Inc., of Hanover, to determine the costs of repair. According to the estimate prepared by Highrock and included in the lawsuit, the damage to the drywall was a direct consequence of improper framing and the windows were improperly installed.

Berger said she has called Messersmith repeatedly since problems surfaced. She said he came back to her house once to try and fix a problem with the sunroom ceiling, but left the ceiling two different colors.

When she tried to call him again, Berger said, he wouldn't take her calls. He finally returned her call, she said, and said he wasn't coming back so she shouldn't call him anymore.

When contacted for this story, Messersmith declined to comment on Berger's allegations. As of Friday morning, Messersmith had not filed any response to Berger's lawsuit in county court.

"He said he did everything," Berger said. "He made himself sound reputable.

"I'm just trying to prevent other people from suffering at the hands of this man and any other contractor."

Advocate

Berger said she has always been the person who spoke up to try and change things.

While living in Tampa, Fla., and working for the government, Berger said she saw a lot of problems with contractors.

"I can't believe people do these kind of things to other people," she said. "I saw so much of this down there and then I move up here and I see it being done here."

And her attempt to get contractors licensed in Pennsylvania isn't her first attempt to change something she feels isn't right.

Years ago, while she was living in Maryland and her son was going to elementary school, she said he would come home from school and immediately go to the bathroom.

"I would ask him why he just didn't go the bathroom before he left school," Berger said. "He told me he wouldn't go at school because they didn't have doors on the stalls. Well, I got right on the phone."

Berger said she called the Carroll County School District and fought until they put doors on all the stalls in the boys' bathrooms.

"It's not healthy to hold it in," Berger said with a laugh.

And Berger isn't holding anything in when it comes to the contractor problem in Pennsylvania.

She said she spoke with Rep. Miller at length over the phone – he was the one who tipped her off about SB 1000.

Rep. Platts also talked on the phone with her, but was unable to help. He did refer her to other representatives who could.

Berger has also been in regular contact with the PA Builders Association about SB 1000. She said she will be notified by e-mail if SB 1000 passes.

And if it doesn't, Berger said she plans to find a representative that will sponsor another bill, maybe this one requiring contractors to actually be licensed in the state, instead of just registered.

"I will not let this issue drop," she said. "The citizens of this state need to be protected."

Contact Ashley Adams at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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