Contractors Settle Lawsuit Against State Sheet Metal Board

A group of sheet metal contractors has settled its lawsuit against the Massachusetts Board of Examiners of Sheet Metal Workers regarding proposed regulations that would have increased construction costs without providing corresponding improvements in quality, and tilted the playing field to favor union contractors.

“When we began this effort, few people thought we would have much impact,” said Paul O’Loughlin, outgoing chair of the Coalition for Fair Licensing, one of the lawsuit’s lead plaintiffs.  “Nearly two years later, we haven’t gotten everything we wanted, but open shop sheet metal contractors are getting their licenses and competing for work.”

Legislation passed in 2008 made sheet metal a licensed trade, like plumbing and electrical, and established a seven-person board to promulgate regulations.  The contractors’ challenge to the make-up of the Sheet Metal Board is outside the scope of the settlement.  

Thanks to pressure from the Coalition for Fair Licensing and the plaintiffs, open shop sheet metal contractors are also getting their licenses as provided for by “grandfathering” provisions included in the legislation.  

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