Cutting Corners Could Cost You
by: WestCoast Magazine (March 2007)
What to Look For When Hiring a Reliable Contractor
You have the ideas. You have the money. Now all you need is someone to bring your home improvement dreams to life. But which contractor should you choose? As you may have already heard, a frightening number of scam artists have been posing as contractors in order to cheat homeowners out of their hard earned cash. Others are indeed real contractors, but are so incompetent that their work will end up costing you thousands more to fix their mistakes. Here are some tips to help you choose someone who wonÂ’t turn your home improvement dream into a nightmare:
What to Watch Out For
Under no circumstances should you ever hire a contractor who:
- Goes from door to door looking for business.
- Insists that you pay in cash. If you do, there will be no way to track your payment.
- Wants to use materials left over from another project. These materials might be of poor quality.
- Wants you to pay him or her upfront. This is illegal in California--under the law, one can only pay a contractor $1000 or 10% of the entire cost as a down payment, whichever is less.
- Does not have an office number. The contractor may be working out of his or her truck--a sure sign of a scam.
- Does not have a license. This is illegal in California.
- Claims that he or she has a friend who can loan you money for a costly project. This is a loan scam that may result in huge monetary losses, or even the loss of your house.
- Asks you to refer him or her to other potential customers for a discount. Reputable contractors gain clients through their reputation and advertising, not coercion.
- Asks you to secure the required building permits. The contractor may be trying to avoid dealing with local agencies in order to avoid getting caught for having a fraudulent or nonexistent license.
- Pressures you for a quick decision. Reliable contractors understand the need to run a background check before you hire them.
Hiring a Contractor
In order to find a competent contractor at a relatively low rate, you may want to have at least three contractors bid on your home improvement project--especially if it is large and costly. First of all, check with the state license bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Better Business Bureau to make sure that each bidding contractor is properly licensed and does not have any complaints filed against him or her. Also, make sure that each contractor and his or her employees or subcontractors are insured against mishaps on the job.
After you have made sure that each contractor is properly licensed and insured, itÂ’s important not only to get to know the contractors themselves, but also clients that they have served in the past. Below are some questions you might want to ask a contractorÂ’s previous customers:
- Were you satisfied with the quality of work?
- Were you satisfied with the contractorÂ’s business practices?
- Were you able to communicate well with the contractor? • Was the crew on time for the job?
- Was the job completed on schedule?
- Were you comfortable with any subcontractors who may have been assigned to your project?
- Did the contractor fulfill the contract?
- Did you stay in touch with the contractor throughout the project? • Would you use this contractor again?
After you have interviewed a contractorÂ’s former clients, you should have an idea as to which contractor you should hire for your project. The most important factor in hiring a contractor should be competency, not cost. An incompetent contractor will end up costing you more in the long run than a good contractor who charges you more for your home improvement project.
