Tips For Working With Home Improvement Contractors
May 20, 2005 by Mitch Groeter

Whether it's the honey do list, a home renovation project or building your dream home, choosing a contractor often involves more than just shopping for price. The selection of a contractor has much of the same criteria as choosing a school for your children or finding a good doctor. You need to know something about their track record and future plans.

Advice for choosing your next contractor:
Most people that get themselves in trouble with contractors have failed to do their due diligence. Trust your intuition, if you don't think you can share some level of trust with the contractor, don't hire them.

Questions to ask your prospective contractor:
• Ask to see a copy of the contractor's license.
• Ask to see their workman's compensation certificates.
• Request an original insurance liability certificate direct from their insurance agent. This certificate should be issued in your name before you write a check to begin.
• Ask them for references. Buyer beware; if the contractor gives you the references name, phone number AND address, they'll probably do the same to you. From a privacy standpoint, do you want the contractor's next prospects walking around the outside of your home and peering inside your addition or renovation?

Items you need to investigate:
• How many years has the contractor been in business?
• Have they ever filed bankruptcy, or been involved in a company that has filed?
• Check with the State of Michigan Licensing Department to make sure that your contractor’s licenses are up-to-date.
• Call the Better Business Bureau and find out if there have been any complaints made against the contractor.

Questions to ask their references — Yes, you actually need to call their references.
• Did the contractor ask permission to use you as a reference?
• When was the work done? (Make sure work was done within the past 18 months.)
• Do you feel the contractor had integrity?
• How close were they to the original quote they gave you from start to finish? Were there any surprises or suspicious cost over-runs?
• Did you have an agreement that mapped out the project from start to finish? One of the best ways to ensure that projects stay focused is to start with an Excellent Set of Documents that map out the entire project.
• When you asked for additions or deletions to your contract, was everything stated clearly, done and billed correctly?
• Did their subcontractors and suppliers respect your home and property?
• Did they keep things as debris free as possible? Did they clean up to your satisfaction when they finished the job?
• Would you refer this contractor to your parent, family or best friend?
• Would you hire this contractor for another project?
• Did you feel that the person who was running your project was learning on your project or did you feel it was well run?
• On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the quality of the fit and finish and workmanship?
• Did any problems arise during the course of your job? (Almost always the answer will be yes.) Did they handle the problem in a timely manner? Or, did they tell you to call your insurance company? Contractors carry insurance, if they create the problem they should fix it or file a claim against their insurance; you should not have to file against yours. If the contractor causes an unpleasant situation they should be getting you out of it now, not in 10 days, 20 days or 30 days.

Once you have hired your contractor, make sure to get waivers of lien with each payment you pay the contractor. This way you have created a paper trail in the event the contractor fails to pay a worker or supplier related to your job and that person or company tries to place a lien on your property.

Withhold 5-10% of the entire contract price to be paid upon project completion. Make your final payment once you have gone through the final punch list with the contractor and have received your Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) from the city. When you do your original agreement with the contractor make sure that there is a provision stating that you are withholding this final portion of the payment until the job is complete and you have received your C of O.

Home Project Central, Inc. a web based free consumer service where you can find, locate and contact local contractors, home improvement professionals and suppliers for your next home project. This web search engine offers consumers a one stop resource to help get connected and begin dialogue for their next home project. To download a reader friendly version of these Tips..."Begin The Dialogue" www.GoToHPC.com

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