Georgia Construction and Licensing Law for Residential Contractors, Specialty Contractors and Home Owners

Sponsored by the Law Office of Kevin M. Veler -- Georgia's Construction Legal Advisor.

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KEVIN M. VELER was admitted to practice law in the State of Georgia in 1986.  He concentrates his practice in the area of business and corporate law and commercial real estate. His practice involves working closely with clients in the negotiation, structuring and closing of a variety of real estate acquisition, representation of construction contractors, sale and development transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, sales, commercial leases and lender and borrower representation, general corporate transactions.  Kevin also represents lenders and borrowers in workout strategy development, negotiation and closing both with long term restructure and exit strategy scenarios.

Kevin also deals with a broad scope of corporate and business planning issues including corporate formation and reorganization.

 

Residential and General Contractor Licensing

Kevin has been very involved in Residential and General Contractor Licensing and has attended most of the Board meetings of the State Residential and General Contractor Licensing Board as a legal advisor to several professional associations.  Kevin has also worked closely with the other associations in working on the language of the act and defining issues.  Kevin has participated in a number of presentations to contractors regarding licensing, including application issues including a number of joint presentations presented by The Georgia Association of Pool and Spa Professionals, The Housing Institute for the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and The National Association of the Remodeling Industry - Atlanta Chapter.


Professional Associations
Kevin has been legal counsel to the the Association of Pool and Spa Professional - Georgia Chapter since 2005. In 2008, Kevin represented the Georgia chapter of the National Kitchen & Bath Association to create a specialty contractor listing  for Residential Kitchen/Bath Designers and Installers.   Kevin was formerly legal counsel to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry - Atlanta Chapter from 2001 to 2006. 


During his career before starting his own practice in 2005, Mr. Veler associated with several prestigious law firms (some as staff counsel and others on a project basis), has been on corporate counsel staffs to several corporations in areas as diverse as hotel and office real estate development and management, and petroleum fuel distribution.

Published Articles
Kevin has had a number of articles published with the Journal of Light Construction (Plan Ahead with a Buy-Sell Agreement, September 2005; Personal Guaranty of Business Debt, August, 2006). He has been quoted in articles published by Lowe's for Pros and Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine. He has also had articles published with a number of trade associations including the National Association of the Remodeling Industry-Atlanta chapter and the American Society of Interior Designers-Georgia chapter. Kevin has made a number of presentations in connection with Georgia's contractor licensing law including presentations at the Georgia Pool and Spa Forums (2007 and 2008)
 

Why do you often see Kevin with a service dog?

 

Since high school I have been very active in the community through my volunteer work.  Currently I volunteer with Canine Assistants, located in Milton, Georgia.  Canine Assistants is a wonderful 501(c)(3) that trains and places, free of charge, service, seizure response and hearing dogs for children and adults who have physical disabilities. 

 

The dogs learn 89 commands from the basic commands to turning off lights, opening and closing doors.  As a volunteer certified dog handler, besides doing presentations, I socialize the dogs on an individual basis to help the trainers learn what the dogs in their teams may need to work on and to give the dogs a breadth of experience in the real world.  So when you see me with a service dog, it is because I helping that dog see and experience the diversity of the world so that when the dog is placed with a recipient, going to meetings, restaurants, stores, riding MARTA or walking along a road will be "old-hat", encouraging the dog's confidence and training to be better prepared to handle new experiences. 

 

What happened to Justin, that great yellow lab?

 

In the past, you would see me with Justin, a great yellow lab who's owner could no longer provide the care that Justin needed.  Justin passed away at week after his 15th birthday (April 2008).  Justin served his owner for over 13 years. 

 

Because Canine Assistants wants to assure that all of its dogs are cared for, they provide free vet services and after placement care for the dogs and will arrange for a local vet to provide care for the dog if the recipient is outside the Atlanta area.  Rather than have Justin stay at the Canine Assistant's farm, I volunteered to care for Justin on a one-for-one basis.  We made sure he had a great life in his senior years and that his owner, who missed him greatly.  We made his recipient a promise that Justin would have the best life we could provide a senior dog and would keep him active and involved.  

 

We had a birthday party for his 15th birthday.  Justin was excited to see his owner again.  When his owner's van pulled up, Justin recognized the van.  He jump up and down on his front paws wanting to run over to greet his owner.  The only time I had ever seen Justin react like this was for a frosty paw.  He passed a week later.  We all miss Justin greatly.