JACKSON, Miss.–If you’ve been building houses for years without being a licensed contractor, or you planned to have a house built by someone without a license, that might still be legal. It could be up to your local board of supervisors or city board. A bill passed by the Mississippi House Wednesday would give local government the authority to decide whether or not they’ll require a license.
The bill was contentious because, according to Rep. Willie Bailey, of Washington County, House members were misinterpreting the bill.
“It’s not gonna take anything away. Ain’t no booger bear in this. This is a good bill,” he said. “Your granddaddy been building houses all his life. Now you’re gonna tell granddaddy he can’t build a house. That is wrong.”
The concern for Rep. Tracey Rosebud, of Tallahatchie, Sunflower and Grenada counties was that building codes might disappear, if local governments have control.
“What you’re saying is that you’re gonna take away a certain degree of protection for homeowners, because when they get permits to get people to do construction, actually that permit serves as a level of protection,” said Rosebud.
Bailey provided clarity during debate.
“It is leaving it up to the local people to decide that we’re gonna operate this way, and you still can have your building code,” said Bailey.
The bill would mainly affect rural communities who might choose to allow people to build regardless of whether they have a license.Many rural counties do not have codes or inspectors.
