Before you sign a contract or spend a dime on that new artificial lawn – especially in the continuing hard economy – it’s more important than ever to protect yourself against fraud and deception, starting with making sure your installer is a state-licensed contractor.

“Many consumers don’t realize the risk they take when they hire a phony contractor to work on their home,” CSLB Registrar Steve Sands said after one recent sting of several unlicensed contractors in different construction trades.

“With the tough economic times, unlicensed operators seem to be even more aggressive in their methods of going after business,” Sands said.

California requires any contractor doing an artificial grass installation totaling $500 or more to be state-licensed. (The $500 cost includes the grass, labor and installation materials.) To get a Contractors Synthetic Grass Specialty License you must have a minimum of four years experience in the artificial grass industry.

NewGrass Landscape & Design holds California Contractors Specialty License # 924382, for example.

“We wouldn’t think of doing business in California, or anyplace else for that matter, without meeting the state’s requirements for consumer protection, especially as a distributor of a premier brand like NewGrass®,”said Larry Reno, district manager for NewGrass Landscape & Design.

A licensed contractor in California has been screened by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), which exists solely to protect consumers by licensing and regulating California’s construction industry. The Board issues licenses to contractors only after the contractor has passed the necessary state test and provided the required documentation for proof of company ownership, bonding and insurance.

The CSLB issues licenses in 43 different contractor classifications. State law specifically states that a contractor who installs “synthetic turf” must be licensed under CSLB Classification D12: Synthetic Products Contractor.

Contractors are required to have their license number on their business card and on all bids and contracts. Seeing the number there doesn’t necessarily mean the license is valid. Check the license status on the CSLB’s web site.

California licensed contractors must have what’s called a contractor’s license bond. It’s a good idea to know what bonds cover – and what they don’t. Some bonds are designed to protect you against substandard work that does not meet with local building codes. But a bond does not assure the financial or professional integrity or competency of a contractor. Institutional lenders such as savings and loans, insurance companies or commercial banks generally require licensed contractors to secure bonds for large jobs.

Also, a licensed synthetic lawn installer must carry workers’ compensation insurance. Their bids might be a little higher than an uninsured contractor. But if you hire an uninsured contractor and a worker is injured while installing your new fake lawn, you could be liable for all of the workers’ lost wages and medical bills.

If you have a contract disagreement with an unlicensed contractor, you have far fewer options for recourse than if you have a signed agreement with a licensed contractor. For example, the CSLB not only administers the examinations to test prospective licensees and issuing licenses, it also investigates complaints against licensed and unlicensed contractors, issues citations, suspends or revokes licenses, and seeks administrative, criminal and even civil sanctions.

The state licensing board suggests you not only make sure your contractor is licensed, but that you go a step further and make sure the contractor meets other better-business standards:

1. Hire only licensed contractors.
2. Check a contractor’s license number online at www.cslb.ca.gov or by calling 800.321.CSLB (2752).
3. Get at least three bids.
4. Get three references from each bidder and review past work in person.
5. Make sure all project expectations are in writing and only sign the contract if you completely understand the terms.
6. Confirm that the contractor has workers’ compensation insurance for employees.
7. Never pay more than 10% down or $1,000, whichever is less. Don’t pay in cash.
8. Don’t let payments get ahead of the work.
9. Keep a job file of all papers relating to your project, including all payments.
10. Don’t make the final payment until you’re satisfied with the job.

“We couldn’t agree more with every single one of those 10 suggestions,” Reno said.

As much as half of the water used by the typical California homeowner on outdoor landscaping is likely being wasted – an amount equal to all of the water used by 1.5 million typical California homes.

The San Diego Union recently reported that state estimates say residential lawns cover about 300,000 acres in California and suck up about 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year – equal to the amount used by 3 million typical homes.

“That’s even more striking when you consider we’re in a drought, and people have water-saving and environmentally conscious landscaping alternatives, like artificial grass,” said Larry Reno, district manager for NewGrass Landscape & Design.

For years, the state has estimated that only half of the water used on outdoor landscaping actually nourishes the lawns and plants it’s intended for. The other 50 percent is wasted because of evaporation, wind, improper system design or overwatering.

More recently, the state is working to prove or refine that assumption. A demonstration project in Orange County sought to show over time how homeowners waste water – and highlighted new ways to stop it. Three small homes were built and equipped with various testing devices and water-saving features.

House number one, labeled “typical,” illustrates the traditional Orange County home: hard concrete surfaces for driveways and walkways, water-slurping plants, wide-open lawns, cockeyed sprinklers, says the Orange County Register.

“Usually, less than 50 percent gets to the plants,” Darren Haver, a water quality adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension, said of water used for landscaping around the typical Orange County home.

“The rest is evaporation and overspray,” Haver told the Register.

The Metropolitan Water District, the primary water supplier in Southern California, is crafting a $7 million program to pay customers to tear out their lawns starting later this year through $1-per-square-foot rebates to homeowners and businesses who switch to preapproved, drought-resistant landscaping. One option is NewGrass artificial grass. The strategy could save enough water to supply 7,900 families a year, the San Diego Union reported.

San Diego County water agencies currently offer 50 cents or more per square foot to install synthetic turf.