Hiring a contractor to perform services on your home isn’t an easy task. Everyone wants to find someone they can trust, will do a good job, and will stick to an agreed upon time schedule.
A lot of contractors are recommended by friends and family and that’s usually a good way to go when it comes to choosing a company to work on your home. Outside of asking for recommendations, what else can you do to make sure you’re hiring the right contractor?
Find a Contractor that’s Insured
Hiring a company that isn’t insured is just as bad as driving without car insurance or owning a home without homeowners insurance. It’s in your best interest to hire an insured company and it doesn’t cost you anything extra. You simply need to ask for proof of insurance.
Hiring someone with insurance is important because it attributes responsibility in the event an injury occurs on the job. For example let’s say you hire a contractor to build an addition onto your home and one of the workers gets injured. If the company you hired isn’t insured, the injury claim will be filed against your homeowners insurance instead of the contractor’s insurance.
Make Sure They are Licensed
Rule number one to hiring a contractor is to make sure they’re licensed. A lot of companies can complete the job, but a license shows you’re permitted to work in the city or state and are knowledgeable in the field.
Experience goes a long way but a license is the credibility you’re looking for. Would you rather take the advice of a doctor or someone who claims to know a lot about the human body? The person claiming to know a lot about health may seem knowledgeable, but you can’t take their advice because they don’t have the schooling and training to back up their recommendation.
Ask if They are Bonded
Most people understand the importance of making sure who they hire are properly licensed and insured, but a lot forget to ask if the company is bonded. Bonds act as another form of insurance and cost absolutely nothing for the customer. It’s something a company invests in to show their responsible and trustworthy. This is why it’s important to spend the time finding a company that is also bonded.
When would hiring a bonded contractor be more beneficial than hiring a non-bonded contractor? Let’s say you’re building an addition on your home and the contractor picks up and leaves half way through the project. You’re left with an unfinished home and need to find another company to finish the job. Well if the contractor is bonded, you can file a claim against the financial institution who issued the bond and they’ll be financially responsible for completing the project. They might also be responsible for finding another contractor.
Finding a contractor that’s insured, licensed and bonded may take some time but it’s worth the effort because it’ll give you peace of mind in the long run.
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