Plumber employment

Question

Is there any legal issue with a property management company employing a journeyman plumber to do plumbing jobs in house?

The management company only manages related party owned properties, specifically one spouse owns a management company which manages for properties owned by companies owned by one spouse or the other.

To play Devil's advocate, I'd argue that this makes the management company essentially a plumbing contractor, and as such it has to be owned by a master plumber in order to hire a journeyman. That said, we would not be offering plumbing services to the public.

On the other hand, I would argue that the journeyman is licensed to do the work he is doing as an independent contractor and it would be routine for a management company to hire an independent contractor and pass the bill along to the property owner, so the only real difference is paying as an employee vs paying as a contractor.

I'd appreciate any guidance to get me started, but I understand this is likely state specific. The state is Montana.

Answer 1

Yes, if the management company has a plumbing contractors licence

new-south-wales

Plumbing is “specialist work” under the Home Building Act and a person (including corporations) who perform such work for the public must hold a current contractor’s licence (s12). Despite the name of the Act, the restriction on specialist work apply to all types of construction.

Since the management company does not own the properties, they are doing work for the public notwithstanding that that “public” is limited to related corporations.