An increasing number of contractor complaints are prompting Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses' Public Information Officer Bob McLaughlin to urge people to do more due diligence before hiring a contractor.  

“Unlike other trades, there is no education component and no exam contractors have to take to get a registration, which makes checking out these people even more important,” McLaughlin said. 

Jessica Cargile, president of the North Idaho Building Contractors Association, said the organization has been tracking the “dramatic” uptick in complaints against contractors with concern. 

“It really boils down to the fact that we’re not a state that has licensing for contractors," Cargile said. "So, when they can just register, in the case where they may have been sued before or had issues inside of Idaho, they can simply re-register under a different name and continue doing business." 

She and Dale Cargile founded North Ridge Homes and built custom homes in the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene area. 

“We have lots of stories from different people who have either had shoddy work done or put deposits down on projects with a contractor who might leave town or not be heard of again,” Jessica Cargile said. 

The DOPL performance report is on the Idaho Division of Financial Management website for every state agency.  

“Based on the data in the performance report, you can see we get more complaints involving contractors than any other board or commission, 485 in fiscal year 2025,” McLaughlin said. 

The Board of Medicine is a distant second, with 285 complaints, about half the number of licenses held in fiscal year 2025.  

“The number of licensees or registrants is a factor, but if you compare the population of licensees/registrants to the number of complaints we get, you can see that contractors get an outsized number of complaints and more than any other board or commission,” McLaughlin said.   

McLaughlin noted that, because of the wide range of contracting work, testing competence in the field would be impossible.

Between 2022 and 2025, the number of contractor licenses issued dropped from 20,788 to 20,597. 

Builders across the state have been lobbying the state Legislature to raise alarm bells about the current system that both requires more vetting before registration and imposes consequences for unethical behavior. 

One of the alternate protections they’ve been offering for customers as an additional vetting system is to create their own list of certified master builders. 

“They have to meet certain requirements, not only references that get checked, but financial requirements, proof of working in the industry for a certain period of time, things like that,” Cargile said. “It's a small list of builders on the list, but it is one alternative way we are trying to address the issue, since going to legislation has not been so far successful. 

The list of certified master builders is available at idahohba.org/certified-master-builders.

She also recommends education requirements as a consequence of consumer complaints as another deterrent. 

“It is a beginning step, there is much more we need to do beyond what we’re currently proposing,” Cargile said. 

    Workers on John Loop, Coeur d'Alene, frame a building.