Owner-Builder Question

And you are responsible for his workers comp, say he shoots a nail through his foot " as my neighbor did" and he cant work ever again and needs major surgery and has a family to feed.

If he is indeed your employee you will need to be paying work comp, unemployment insurance, 1/2 his SSI etc. If you aren't doing this then he is not an employee. If he is not an employee he would be a subcontractor and will need to be insured (at least) and provide you with a certificate. I don't know about license, in your area, for carpenters. My area non are required for that trade. This applies to any trade (drywaller) You must get an insurance certif. to be legal and to be able to write off there payments as a business expense. If you pay off the books you are responsible for any damages and also can't deduct their payments as an expense.

Hire him as a sub, not employee, he doesn`t need a lisence, if he has insurance good, get a cert. Either way have him sign a document that you are providing none. Make payments in round, nice, amounts like 500,

Post moved to bottom!

In addition to the excellent advice given by calhoun let me add that in most areas of the country you will be required to have a "worker's comp" policy when hiring licensed sub-contractors UNLESS they provide you with proof that they have the coverage. NOTE: Many individuals who work alone and who are otherwise fully insured and licensed do not have worker's comp on themselves. Based on the laws in your locality, you may be able to work around this with a written contract.

Here all contractors must be licensed and insured or they must work for a contractor (General or otherwise) who is. Only your local building inspection or code enforcement office can tell you the regulations for your area.

Colbyt

You don't want to go the employer/employee route. Anyone you hire is a contractor or sub-contractor to you, whether they are a "licenced contractor" or not.

You want to make sure he has disability insurance. If he is your employee, YOU will have to pay workers comp for him along with other possible taxes and fees. Here in Canada, you would have to take EI, CPP, and income tax off his pay, and remit the tax deduction, 2.4 times the EI deduction, and 2 times the CPP deduction to the government. Your jurisdiction likely has similar requirements.

I agree, having built my own home. I did all the floor and wall framing, but hired a contractor to do the roof trusses. Closer to what you are looking to do, when it came to hanging the drywall, I hired an individual for a week directly.

If your carpener doesn't do this regularly, and therefore likely wouldn't have his own disability insurance, you could offer to pay for that while he works for you.