Working with Contractors and Agents in Applications

Use the Contractor page to view or update license information for contractors who are performing work for a business license, permit, or planning application, as well as contractors registering with the agency. If the intake form for the application or registration collects contractor or authorized agent information, the Contractor page initially displays the data provided during the intake process.

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, agency staff and contractors or contacts with permit or planning application access working on their own applications can make updates until the transaction is closed or canceled, whereas only the agency staff with an appropriate business license role can manage contractors until the transaction is closed or canceled.

Applicants can designate a contact person for a contractor license and give the contact access to the permit, planning application, or business license. Agency staff and contractors or contacts with permit or planning application access can indicate whether a contractor is currently performing work and also refresh contractor data from the agency's contractor records or integration with an external source. 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:

Public users, including the applicant, contacts, and contractor applicants or contacts, can only view contractor license information once the application is submitted; they can't view the information when the application is in a pending status.
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 Transaction

The fields on the Add Contractor page for a contractor license associated with a business license, permit, or planning application correspond to the same-named fields on the agency's main contractor pages. For descriptions of these fields, see Working with Contractor Licenses.

You can add contractors and their license information to a transaction, but the steps may vary slightly depending on agency setup. Permits and planning applications as well as business license applications that require applicants to select a contractor license from the agency's list of approved contractors can add contractors as described here.

The Limit License Usage to Authorized Contacts switch in the agency-level contractor license options determines whether an applicant can search the full listing of approved contractors or only those they have been approved for.

If the switch is turned on, only the contractor licenses that you are authorized to use are available for selection. If no licenses are available, you won't be able to add a contractor license to the transaction.

If the switch is turned off, you can select from any of the agency-approved contractor licenses. Here are the steps for adding a contractor when you have access to the complete contractor list:

Access the detail pages for the business license, permit, or planning application you are working with.
Click the Contractor link in the left panel to view the Contractor page.
If the applicant is either a contractor or a contractor's authorized agent, turn on the switch to indicate yes.
Click the Add Contractor (+) button.
On the Add Contractor page, contractor licenses related to the applicant, if any, appear in the license grid. Click the Select button for a license in the grid to add it to the transaction.
If you want to search for a different contractor license, click the Search for All Contractors button.
On the Add Contractor search page, enter values for a contractor. You can search by Business Name, Owner Name, License Type, or License Number.

When you want to retrieve the contractor information by the exact license number, enter the number and select I know the exact license number. 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.
Click Find Contractors.
On the Add Contractor search results page, click Select 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, 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 click the View More Details button for the condition on the Add Contractor page. Click Cancel on the Add Contractor page to exit if you want to find a different contractor.
Review the contractor details, such as business information, classifications, bonds, insurance, and so on. You can make these changes:
- Indicate whether the selected contractor is performing work by selecting the In Use check box. Contacts for contractors that are in use appear on the Contacts page in the application details.
- Select whether the applicant is a contractor or authorized agent in the Applicant Role field. This field is only available if you turned on the switch in step 3 to indicate that the applicant is a contractor or a contractor's authorized agent.
- Add or change the contact person for the contractor.
  
  You can select multiple contacts for the license. For each contact, you must choose the contact type. The available contacts are people associated with the contractor license on the Contacts page in the contractor record details. The contact initially has business license, permit, or planning application access depending on the agency defaults for the Contact Type that you select. But access can be upgraded in the transaction details. For more information, see Working with Application Contacts. 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.
Click Done to close the contractor details.
Click Save to save the contractor to the transaction.

Updating Contractor Information for a Transaction

Access the detail page for the transaction you are working with.
Click the Contractor link in the left panel to view the Contractor page.
If you're agency staff, turn the switch on for yes or off for no to answer Is the applicant either a contractor or a contractor’s authorized agent?. Public users, who are usually homeowners, are not contractors or authorized agents. This switch is only available on permit and planning applications.
Administrators can use the Refresh option in the Actions menu to retrieve any updated contact information from the agency's contractor records.
Select the row for the contractor’s license that you want to edit.
On the contractor information page, you can make these changes:
- Indicate whether the selected contractor is currently performing work by selecting the In Use check box. Contacts for contractors that are in use appear on the Contacts page in the application details.
- Indicate whether the applicant is a contractor or authorized agent in the Applicant Role field. This field is only available on permit and planning applications if you turned on the switch in step 3 to indicate that the applicant is a contractor or a contractor's authorized agent.
- Add or change the contact person for the contractor.
  
  You can select multiple contacts for the license. For each contact, you must choose the contact type. The available contacts are people associated with the contractor license on the Contacts page in the contractor record details. The contact initially has a level of business license, permit, or planning application access based on the agency setup for the Contact Type that you select. But access can be upgraded in the transaction details. For more information, see Working with Application Contacts. 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.
Click Done to close the contractor details.
Click Save to save the contractor to the transaction.

Removing Contractors from a Transaction

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

Access the detail page for the transaction you are working with.
Click the Contractor link in the left panel to view the Contractor page.
Click the Actions icon and select Delete.