Contractor Garden Nursery Landscaping Guide
Contractor Hiring Tips
By James R Blunt
So how do you decide who to ask for estimates? There are many
different ways to identify contractors. You can ask friends, relatives
or neighbors if they have had any similar work done and ask them
which contractor they used and if they were happy with the work.
Check with the Better Business Bureau in your area to get a recommendation.
Use a referral service to help you.
Referral services pre-screen and certify the contractors that
receive their recommendation. There are referral services you
can find both in the phone book and online. A good source online
is www.angieslist.com.
You can also call your homeowner’s insurance agent and ask him
or her if there are any local contractors with whom they have
had a good experience.
Ask For A Free Estimate
The next step is to phone the contractors on your list. Verify
that they do the kind of work you want done, and ask if they provide
estimates for free. Most contractors do provide free estimates.
During this call, make sure that you confirm that they are licensed
and insured. If their answer is no to any of these questions,
then you need to simply thank them for their time and move on
to the next person on your list. Make sure that you schedule at
least three contractors to provide estimates.
Comparing Details
When you have at least three estimates, compare each contractor
carefully. Don’t completely focus on the price differences either.
Compare the details on the quality of building materials and the
quality of the work and whether they will be using subcontractors
or hiring their own work crew.
Now rank the estimates in your mind. It is a good time to do
some investigation with the information they provided. Don’t be
afraid to call their insurance company to confirm that the insurance
hasn’t lapsed.
Check For Complaints And Revoking Of License
Call your state’s licensing board to make sure their license
is in effect and has never been revoked for any reason. Also check
with the Better Business Bureau in your area to see if there are
any complaints against them.
There are a few warning signs to remember, regarding disreputable
construction company contractors. Never continue with a contractor
if they don’t provide contracts for the work, don’t guarantee
the price of the job, don’t give a definite date to begin or end
the job, ask for money in advance of doing the job, are uncertain
of how long it will take to complete the work, have no license
or insurance or if they contact you first.
About the Author:
James R Blunt has written a number of articles on architecture
and home improvement including The
Design, Architecture
And Design, Design
Development, Architectural
Digest, Architectural
Services, Architectural
Design, The
Architect, The
Architectural.
Keep a lookout for more of his articles on this website.
Little Known Construction Facts....
What is industrial construction?
You can think of industrial construction
as geared more towards huge corporate entities such as gas companies
and oil companies. These types of projects are immense and require
highly trained specialists to design the plan as well as a team
for overseeing the final project.
Often these types of construction projects
take years to build and have to pass a vigorous inspection process
to ensure that the facilities are completely safe. But for as
much money as these types of projects cost and generate, it is
a very small portion of construction overall.
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