Licensed contractors are certified by the state to have met several requirements such as a minimum of 4 years experience in their field, they also have to pass a certification test. Most importantly they are required to warranty all of their work for 2 years. If the contractor does not willfully repair his work you can request a registrar inspection, if the inspector sides with the customer they will force the contractor to perform the necessary repairs. If the contractor still refuses to repair the problem or goes out of business the Arizona Registrar of Contractors will then revoke the contractor’s license and use their bond and the contractor’s recovery fund to have the problem fixed. Essentially hiring a licensed contractor is like an insurance policy. Unlicensed installers may claim to offer a warranty but there is nothing but their word to back it up. If they change their phone number or simply decide that they don’t want to fix the problem there is no way to hold them accountable. Unless you are hiring someone based upon a friends referral there is no way really to tell who it is you are hiring. Sure some guys may have a photo album of work that they claim to have done but how do you know that the guy didn’t go to a bunch of model homes and take photos. You might say to yourself if he does a lousy work I will just make him fix it or I simply won`t pay him until he fixes it. This might seem like a great idea but think how much it is going to cost you to buy new tile and hire someone else to tear out his sloppy work and reinstall it. It may be cheaper to hire an unlicensed installer initially but in the long run it may cost you a lot more. State law actually requires a contractor to be licensed if the total cost of the job including materials is over $1000