Scope policy
The things we will tell you no about.
Most companies bury this in fine print or discover it halfway through a job. We would rather you read it before you call, because knowing where the line is makes us more useful, not less.
Why it matters
This isn’t modesty. It’s your liability.
There are three reasons a handyman should decline licensed work, and only one of them is about the handyman.
The first is safety. Electrical, gas and structural work fail in ways that hurt people. A cabinet hinge installed badly is annoying. A bonding conductor omitted at a pool is a death.
The second is your insurance. If unlicensed work in a licensed category contributes to a loss, a carrier may have grounds to deny the claim. You would be arguing about it at the worst possible moment, and the savings from using the wrong contractor would look very small.
The third is resale. Unpermitted and unlicensed work surfaces during a buyer’s inspection, at appraisal, or when a closing attorney asks a question. It gets discovered at the point where you have the least leverage to deal with it.
None of that is theoretical. All three are ordinary outcomes, and all three are avoidable by making one extra phone call at the start.
Always referred out
The complete list
Compiled from every service we offer. If your item is on this page, we will name the trade you need instead.
- ADA compliance certification, or work represented as bringing a space into compliance
- Adding a new electrical outlet behind the television — that requires a licensed electrician
- Advising on disclosure obligations, which is a legal question for your agent or attorney
- Advising on what may lawfully be deducted from a security deposit
- Ammunition, explosives, propane tanks and pressurized cylinders
- Any electrical work — bonding, grounding, circuits, pump wiring, lighting. Licensed electrician only, and pool bonding is life-safety work
- Any inspection item requiring a licensed electrician, plumber, HVAC contractor or roofer
- Any plumbing connection — pump, filter, heater, skimmer, return lines, or anything carrying water under pressure
- Anything requiring a certified asbestos or lead abatement contractor
- Anything requiring a permit or inspection sign-off
- Anything the manufacturer's instructions require a certified installer to perform
- Appliance installation requiring gas, water supply or dedicated electrical connection
- Appliance repair or replacement requiring utility connection
- Automatic door operators and commercial access control systems
- Automatic gate openers, access control and driveway gate motors
- Backflow preventer testing, repair, replacement or certification — licensed work in North Carolina, no exceptions
- Cabinet refinishing or spray finishing
- Ceiling mounts over a certain size or weight without engineered backing
- Chainsaw work on standing, leaning or hung-up trees
- Chemical balancing, water treatment, sanitizer systems or ongoing pool service
- Chemical brush or weed control requiring a pesticide applicator license
- Chemical weed control requiring a pesticide applicator license
- Cleaning where deteriorated mortar, failed sealant or damaged siding means water will get inside the assembly
- Commercial electrical of any kind, including illuminated signage connection
- Commercial kitchen hood systems, fire suppression and anything connected to them — specialist licensed trades only
- Commercial plumbing, grease interceptors and drain systems
- Concealing a known material defect — we will not do it and you should not want it
- Connecting an irrigation system to a potable water supply
- Cutting into fire-rated assemblies or shared townhome and condo party walls without written owner and HOA authorization
- Cutting into fire-rated assemblies, party walls between units, or shared townhome walls without owner and HOA authorization
- Deck staining and sealing beyond small touch-up areas
- Demolition work to create the debris — we haul what is already down
- Determining the legal status of abandoned tenant property
- Determining the legal status of tenant belongings — that is your attorney's call, not ours
- Disturbing pre-1978 paint by sanding, scraping or dry demolition — that requires a certified renovator
- Disturbing pre-1978 painted surfaces by sanding or scraping without a certified renovator
- Electrical connection of exterior fixtures or gate operators
- Electrical connection of lighted mirrors, sconces or illuminated signage
- Electrical work on controllers, transformers or wiring beyond plugging in an existing unit
- Exterior door and frame replacement requiring structural opening modification or a permit
- Exterior signage requiring a permit
- Fabricating replacement parts for missing hardware, beyond common fasteners
- Finding or repairing the source of a water leak — that is a plumbing or roofing scope
- Fire-rated door assemblies in commercial buildings where a rated assembly cannot be modified
- Fire-rated door assemblies, fire doors and anything affecting a rated separation
- Flooring replacement, carpet installation or refinishing
- Full interior or exterior repainting of a house — that is a painting contractor's scope
- Full-house repainting, flooring replacement or cabinet refinishing
- Full-room re-texturing or Level 5 finishing across an entire space
- Full-unit repainting — that is a painting contractor and they will be faster and cheaper on a whole unit
- Garage door spring, cable and opener repair — torsion springs are genuinely dangerous and belong to a garage door specialist
- Gas appliance disconnection or reconnection
- Gas connections for pool heaters
- Gas lines, gas equipment connection and gas appliance service
- Grading, drainage correction or erosion control
- Grading, drainage correction or soil remediation
- Grand pianos, large safes and items requiring specialty rigging equipment
- HVAC repair, refrigerant work or duct modification
- HVAC, refrigeration and walk-in cooler work
- Hazardous waste — paint, solvents, fuel, oil, pesticides, pool chemicals, asbestos-containing material
- Hazardous waste — paint, solvents, pesticides, pool chemicals, fuel, oil, asbestos-containing material and similar
- High-value antiques or art requiring specialty transit insurance
- Hoarding conditions involving biohazard, pest infestation or structural safety concerns — those need a specialized remediation company
- Home staging as a design service
- In-ground pool excavation, shell construction, structural work or installation
- Interior gutter cleaning above single-story height
- Interstate or long-distance transport
- Irrigation system installation — repairs and adjustments are separate scope
- Items where the only path involves removing a window, railing or structural element
- Land clearing requiring heavy equipment such as a skid steer or excavator
- Landscape design, plant selection or planting as a design service
- Lead-safe work practices on pre-1978 surfaces requiring a certified renovator
- Licensed electrical work — new circuits, panel work, wiring changes, or anything requiring a licensed electrician
- Licensed electrical, plumbing, HVAC or gas work — including water heaters, disposals and appliance connection
- Licensed electrical, plumbing, HVAC, gas or roofing work
- Licensed household goods moving between residences — that requires a licensed and insured mover
- Licensed moving services, or transport of high-value items requiring specialty insurance
- Licensed plumbing — supply and drain modifications, water heaters, gas lines, or anything requiring a licensed plumber
- Life-safety systems — alarms, sprinklers, emergency lighting, exit signage
- Loads exceeding safe trailer capacity — dense material like concrete, soil, tile and shingles hits weight limits long before it looks full
- Main line repairs under pressure, or anything upstream of the backflow assembly
- Medical or biohazard waste, including sharps
- Modifying a fireplace, chase, mantel or surround
- Mold remediation of any kind, or work in an area with visible mold growth beyond a small surface area
- Mold remediation, or work in a unit with an active moisture source
- Mold, asbestos or hazardous material remediation
- Mold, radon, asbestos or pest remediation
- Mounting on a wall where we cannot verify adequate structure
- Mounting on walls where adequate structure cannot be verified
- Municipal water connection, metering or tap work
- Museum-grade installation, or handling high-value art requiring specialty insurance
- New fence installation, or full fence replacement requiring layout and permitting
- New irrigation system design or installation
- Ongoing scheduled lawn maintenance and mowing contracts
- Ongoing scheduled lawn mowing and maintenance contracts
- Paint or coating removal, including lead-paint surfaces — pre-1978 painted surfaces are not pressure washed
- Permitted work of any kind, including additions, conversions and change-of-use projects
- Permitted work — most jurisdictions require permits and inspections for pool installation, including barriers and electrical
- Permitted work, or resolving unpermitted work performed by others
- Plaster restoration on historic properties requiring a plaster specialist
- Playground and playset installation requiring engineered ground anchoring or fall-zone surfacing beyond manufacturer instructions
- Plumbing disconnection for appliances requiring a licensed plumber
- Pool liner or structural repair on an installed pool holding water
- Pressure washing where it would void a siding, decking or coating manufacturer's warranty
- Propane tanks, pressurized cylinders, ammunition and explosives
- Property line disputes or survey questions — where the fence should go is not ours to decide
- Providing repair documentation that implies licensed work was performed
- Rekeying or high-security cylinder work that requires a licensed locksmith in your jurisdiction
- Removing mold growth beyond a small surface area, or working in a space with an active moisture source
- Renovation, remodeling or improvement work intended to raise value
- Retaining wall construction or structural hardscaping
- Retaining wall repair or construction
- Roof cleaning or any work performed from a roof surface
- Roof, flashing or chimney sealing
- Roofing, roof penetrations or work above a single-story roofline
- Running new line-voltage wiring of any kind inside a wall
- Sanding or scraping popcorn ceiling in pre-1980s construction without an asbestos test
- Sealing and staining as a separate service, beyond small touch-up areas
- Signing off on, certifying or clearing an inspection item on behalf of a licensed trade
- Structural crack repair, or cracks an engineer has flagged as movement-related
- Structural deck framing repair — joists, beams, ledgers and posts carrying load
- Structural modification to create backing where none exists
- Structural repair or anything an engineer has flagged
- Structural repair to a rotted or failed door frame requiring framing work
- Structural repairs, foundation work or anything an engineer has flagged
- Structural work of any kind
- Structural work, load-bearing modifications, framing changes or anything requiring engineering
- Stucco, EIFS and synthetic finishes, which are easily and expensively damaged
- Stump grinding and root removal
- Tenant buildout, demising walls, permitted alterations and change-of-use work
- Tile and grout replacement, or regrouting a full shower
- Tree and large shrub removal, or any work requiring an arborist
- Tree removal, limb removal requiring climbing, or any work an arborist should do
- Trenching requiring machine excavation or utility locates beyond standard hand depth
- Turnover cleaning — a cleaning company does this better and cheaper than we would
- Wall repair beyond patching our own installation holes
- Wall-mounted assembly where we cannot verify adequate structure
- Warranty repairs on damaged or defective components — those go back to the manufacturer, though we will document the damage for your claim
- Well pump, pressure tank or pump control work
- Work on slopes or terrain where equipment cannot be operated safely
- Work requiring a permit, HOA approval or a survey
The hard lines
Four we will not discuss
Most scope questions have some nuance. These do not.
Life safety
Pool bonding and pool electrical
Bonding creates an equipotential grid so a fault cannot put a voltage difference across someone in the water. It is not grounding, it is not a formality, and it is the difference between a pool and a hazard. Licensed electrician, inspected, always.
Life safety
Commercial hood and fire suppression
Working around suppression equipment without the right qualification can disable it silently, meaning nobody finds out until there is a fire. No scheduling pressure changes this answer.
Health
Pre-1978 paint and suspected asbestos
We do not sand, scrape or dry-demolish suspect coatings, and we do not disturb popcorn ceilings in pre-1980s construction without a clear test. Both require certified specialists, and the exposure risk is to your household, not just to us.
Physical danger
Garage door springs and hung-up limbs
Torsion springs store enormous energy and injure people who are not trained on them. A limb caught in a canopy is under tension you cannot see from the ground. Both go to specialists and we will not be talked into either.
What you get instead
A no with a direction attached
- We name the item specificallyNot 'some of this is out of scope' — which item, and why, in writing.
- We name the tradeElectrician, plumber, roofer, arborist, backflow tester, abatement contractor, garage door specialist. So you know what to search for.
- We flag it first, not lastLicensed trades are the schedule bottleneck. Knowing on day one lets you run those calls in parallel with our work rather than after it.
- You aren't charged for itWe do not bill for identifying that something is not ours. That is just part of reading your list properly.
If someone tells you they'll do it anyway
That is your call to make, and plenty of people make it. Just be clear about what you are accepting: no licensed accountability, potential insurance exposure, and a disclosure question at resale. The savings are usually much smaller than the risk, and the risk only shows up when it is expensive.
Questions
About scope
Why won't you do small electrical work? It's just a light fixture.
Because 'just a light fixture' is a licensed category, and the consequence of getting it wrong is not a bad finish — it is a fire or a shock. There is also an insurance dimension: unlicensed work in a licensed category can give a carrier grounds to deny a claim later, and that risk lands on the homeowner, not on us.
Can you do it if I pull the permit myself?
No. A homeowner permit does not make unlicensed work licensed, and it puts the liability squarely on you. If the work needs a licensed trade, it needs a licensed trade.
Another handyman said they'd do it. Are you being overcautious?
Possibly they are being undercautious. We would rather lose the job than be the reason an insurance claim gets denied or somebody gets hurt. You are welcome to use someone else — we would just want you to know what you are accepting.
What happens if you find something mid-job that's out of scope?
We stop, tell you, and do not proceed on that item. You are not charged for work we cannot properly do, and where we can we will point you toward the right kind of contractor.
How do I know what my item falls under?
Send it. Sorting that out is genuinely our job and it costs you nothing to ask. Most people guess wrong in both directions — assuming something is complicated when it is not, and assuming something is simple when it is licensed work.
Do you sub out the licensed work?
No. We refer it, which means you contract directly with that trade. That keeps the licensing, the insurance and the accountability where they belong rather than routing them through us.
Next step
Not sure which side of the line your item falls on? Send it and ask.
Sorting that out is genuinely our job, it costs you nothing, and most people guess wrong in both directions.
→ Call or text — (704) 495-7855
→ Photo & document upload accepted
→ Written scope before any work starts
→ We say no when it's not our lane