Working with Contractors and Agents

Use the Contractor page to view or update license information for contractors who are performing work for a business license as well as contractors registering with the agency.

Depending on the type of application and agency setup for managing contractors, the process of adding contractors or entering contractor information can vary. For example, only agency staff with an appropriate business license role can manage contractors until the transaction is closed or canceled. For more information, see Security Details for Managing Contractor Information.

Applicants designate a contact person for a contractor license and give the contact view, pay, and print or full access to the license activity and license and business information. The applicant is also automatically added as a contact and must indicate whether they are the license holder or an authorized agent. They can also refresh contractor data from the agency's contractor records or integration with an external source, depending on agency setup. Other contractor information is read-only except for system administrators.

The Contractor page in the application or transaction details also displays validation alerts for contractors added during application intake and after submittal. Agencies sometimes add extra validations when you add contractors to make sure that contractor licenses meet certain requirements. The license requirements can include a specific license type, classifications, job cost for permits, and insurance attributes. Validations can also check the license expiration date. The alert lists the missing requirements for the active licenses associated with the transaction. Depending on the validation setup, you may not be able to submit the application if requirements aren’t met, unless you are agency staff with a contractor management role.

Entering Contractors for Business License Applications

Depending on the application design, a business application may require applicants to select a contractor license from the agency-maintained list of approved contractor licenses or allow applicants to enter multiple contractors. The agency sets this up in the Contractor field group in the intake form. For more information, see Using the Intake Form Designer for Business Licenses.

The process of selecting a contractor license from the agency's list of approved contractors on permits and planning applications and some business applications, is described in "Adding Contractors to a Transaction" in this topic. Other business license applications are designed to collect new contractor and contact information, but if an applicant enters a license and it matches license information in the agency's list of approved contractors, the information is brought into the application. For more information, see Entering Contractor Information.

Managing contractor information on business license applications varies by role:

• Only applicants and agency staff with access can view pending applications. Application contacts can't view and don't have access to pending applications.

• Agency staff with a Business License Manager, Business License Specialist, or Business License Analyst role can manage, including add, update, and delete, until an application is closed or complete. If the application required the applicant to select a contractor license from the agency's contractor list, only system and business license administrators can manage the contractor information.

• System and business license administrators can manage business license applications regardless of the contractor information entry method or application status.

When adding a contractor license contact to a business license application or contraction registration, you must also indicate whether the contact is the license holder or an authorized agent.

Adding Contractors to a License Application

Once a license application has been submitted, you can work with contractors in the license activity on the Contractor page.

When entering contractors for license applications including applying for multiple license types, you can enter any license information if the license information isn't found in the system. Your agency might also provide informational text to each contractor section in Business Licenses to help guide users entering contractors. For more information, see Entering Contractor Information.

Let's take a look at adding a contractor to a submitted license application:

1. In the left navigation panel of the license activity details, expand the People section and click the Contractor menu item.

2. On the Contractor page for the application, click the Add (+) button.

3. On the Add Contractor drawer, select a contractor license related to the application from the Select a contractor drop-down list.

4. Click the Select Contractor Contacts button on the drawer to select a contact, contact type, application access level, and indicate whether this is the primary contact. You can update the contact information if a contact is already associated with the contractor and click Done.

5. If you want to search for a different contractor license, click the Advanced Search link.

6. On the Add Contractor drawer, enter values for a contractor in the search fields. You can start your search by entering a Business Name, Owner Name, or License Number. You can also select a License Type from the drop-down list.

   When you want to retrieve the contractor information by entering the exact license number, select the I know the exact license number checkbox. This option is only available when your agency integrates with a licensing body. The search looks for a matching license in the agency-maintained contractor list then in the licensing body's database.

7. Click the Find Contractors button.

8. In the search results on the Add Contractor drawer, click a row to add a contractor. Only approved contractors appear in the results.

   If the agency turned on the switch to Limit License Usage to Authorized Contacts during setup, then you can only see the contractor licenses that you're authorized to use.

   If one or more conditions have been applied to the license, you can drill down to view more details for the condition.

9. You can also leave the advanced search by clicking the link to Find recently selected or associated contractors to go back to the Select a contractor drop-down list.

10. Review the contractor details, such as business information, contacts, classifications, bonds, insurance, and so on.

    For information about updating contractor information, see the next section in this topic.

11. Click the Add button or click the Cancel button to close the drawer without saving.

Updating Contractor Information in the License Activity Details

You can update the contractor details, such as business information, contacts, classifications, bonds, insurance, and so on.

1. On the Contractor page for the license application, click the Actions button for contractor license that you want to update.

2. System administrators and applicants can select the Refresh action to retrieve any updated contact information from the agency's contractor records.

3. Select the View Details action to open the Contractor details drawer.

4. On Contractor details drawer, you can make changes including these:

   • License expiration date and issue date.

   • Business information such as business name, owner name, ownership type, and contact information.

   • Classifications

   • Contractor bond information

   • Insurances, such as workers' compensation insurance

   • Contractor contact persons

   When adding or updating a contractor license contact to a business license application or contraction registration, you indicate whether the contact is the license holder or an authorized agent. When entering contractors on an intake form for a single or multiple license type, you can add additional contacts which might not exist as a contractor contact yet. In this case, contractor license and contractor contact information is saved to contractor list upon application approval. For more information, see Working with Application Contacts.

5. Click the Update button to save your changes.

Removing Contractors from a Transaction

Only system administrators and agency management with appropriate permissions can delete contractors after application submission.

On the Contractor page for the license application, click the Actions button for contractor license that you want to update.

Select the Delete action.