A DOZEN DO’S AND DON’T'S
FOR HIRING A CONTRACTOR
1-Avoid unsolicited sales pitches. Beware of anyone who comes to your door uninvited, offering to inspect your chimney, test your water, check trees or driveway free of charge. Avoid the salesman who wants to sell you a security system “because of burglaries in your area”. Or the Contractor who shows up just before heating season starts and wants to inspect your plumbing or furnace. These kinds of sales approaches are standard practice for scam artists.
2-Define your Home Improvement Project. Before selecting anyone to do work in your home, carefully evaluate the Home Additions, Remodeling or Renovations you want done. List exactly what you want a contractor to do.
3-Check out Contractor licensing. Keep in mind that not all states or cities require Home Improvement & Remodeling Contractors to be licensed and while licensing does not automatically guarantee reliability, it is a minimum qualification you should expect a contractor to have. You can find the licensing bureaus in the “blue pages” (government agencies) of the telephone directory. If the contractor you are talking to is licensed make sure you get a copy of that license.
3-Make sure your Home Improvement & Additions Contractors are insured. They should, at the very least, be carrying coverage for Liability purposes. It is also advisable that they and their workers be covered by Workers Compensation to take care of any injury that may occur on the job. Also, if they are going to sub-contract work out to other Remodeling and Renovation Contractors, make sure the sub-contractors are adequately insured. You can have the contractor verify this with them and warranty it to you.
4-Ask for References. Inquire whether the Contractor has done similar renovation work in the area and try to make arrangements with them for you to see those completed jobs.
5-Zero in and narrow your list down to three contractors. Have face-to-face meetings with them to talk about your Remodeling & Renovation project, specifications and your budget. Request a formal, written estimate from each of them.
6-Lowest may not be the best. Compare the estimates very carefully. The lowest price tag may not be your best choice. The lower bidder may be taking short cuts on quality.
7-Get a WRITTEN contract. A thoroughly detailed contract goes a long way in making sure that you and your contractor understand what work is to be done and what it will cost. Your contract should specify:
*All the work you expect the Contractor to do and all the materials that will be used, including the quality, grade and brand of each material.
*When the work will start and be completed.
*Who is in charge of getting the necessary permits.
*The contract should be on company letter head with the company's name, address and phone numbers.
*Who will be paying sub-contractors, if any are used. You want the Contractor to pay them ~ not you.
*Protection for the homeowner from any potential mechanics liens once you have paid the Contractor in full
*Arrange to make payments in installments as the work goes along, perhaps in thirds, at the start, at the halfway point and the final third after you sign off on the completion of the work.
8-Document all changes to the contract. Make sure all changes to the original contract, no matter how small, are documented and signed off by both parties.
9-Any special tools needed to do the job are THEIR responsibility. If you buy a tool, you keep the tool.
10-If anyone brings a child to the job site, make sure the child stays OFF your property. No one needs issues with child labor laws.
11-Last, but not least, DON’T sign off as complete until your project is actually completed to YOUR satisfaction.
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