
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 26, 1994                   TAG: 9407260070
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

2 CONTRACTORS FORGOT LICENSES

Two North Carolina companies have been working on the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center project without state contractor licenses, a fact a Roanoke union will point out today when it sets up information pickets at the construction site.

Southern Paint & Waterproof of Greensboro was already on the job when it obtained a Class A license July 19. Standard Insulating Co. of Charlotte still does not have a valid license. Its Virginia license expired in September 1991, according to records at Virginia's Board of Contractors.

The company was unaware of the expiration until recently, according to Jack Morrison in the company's Charlotte office. "We're in the process of getting it renewed," he said Monday.

Virginia Tech is renovating the historic hotel, and the city is building an adjacent conference center. F.N. Thompson of Charlotte is general contractor on the project and responsible for checking licenses of other companies involved, officials said.

The International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades Local 891 brought the license status of Southern Paint to the attention of Mayor David Bowers. Bowers said he asked the conference center commission to check on it. The company applied for its license a few days later.

The union does not have any members working on the project, and Billy Bova, business manager for Local 891, said it was especially irritating to learn that an out-of-town contractor had not obeyed state laws.

Union members will distribute information about the companies' license status and other concerns they have about the project, which involves public money from federal, state and local sources. There is some question as to whether contracts could have been awarded to unlicensed companies, Bova said.

The two companies with expired licenses are subcontractors for PMC Inc. of Roanoke and are part of a $2.5 million subcontract.

Both Standard and Southern Paint have worked in the area previously for F.N. Thompson. Bob Schneider, project superintendent for Thompson, said he was unaware they did not have licenses. He said he thought the city checked for state licenses when the contractors got city business licenses.

The city said it is up to the general contractor to make certain the contractors have valid state licenses.

The commissioner of revenue's office has had its own problems with contractors on the hotel project, both out-of-state and local, a staffer from that office said. A number of companies overlooked the fact that they needed to buy city business licenses until they were reminded by the commissioner's office.

Contractors often forget to get city business licenses, the staffer said. When that happens, the city assesses the companies and mails bills to them.

by CNB