Hiring a Contractor for Home Renovations
Hiring the right contractor to perform
renovations or repairs can be difficult if you are not aware of the
right questions to ask or what to expect from the contractor. Before
undertaking the task you should first sit down and plan what you are
hoping to accomplish. Make a rough list of all the items you foresee
for the job. Now the most important task in your project is to
assign a budget amount, take into account you should plan and extra
10% for cost overruns. Check with your local municipal government to
see if permits will be required and the associated fee’s.
Plan to get a minimum of 3 quotes from different licensed
contractors.
To ensure you are have all contractors bidding
equally it is strongly advisable you write out a common ‘spec’ and
give a copy to each contractor that you invite to bid. Any changes
you make to this original should be updated and sent out to each
with equal time to update their quote. Within your ‘spec’ you will
also need to address such issues as completion dates, contractor
licensing and insurance, billing and payment method, and costs, such
as permits, that the contractor needs to include. Request
tickets of qualification for
all tradesmen who will be working on your project. Ask all
contractors to provide references of previous work completed and
have a list of questions prepared when you check their references.
Make a short list of the contactors and ask
that each deliver the quote and plan to sit down and go through a
short Question and Answer process. Through this process you should
ensure the contractor is going to deliver what you are expecting.
Review the job with them to make sure they understand what you want.
Ask them about insurance, WCB, and timelines. Also ask how
they plan to bill and work out an agreement for payment through
certain points of the job. This should be well documented and signed
by both parties. It is also a good idea to work out a plan for
progress billing based upon completion milestones in the job. Find
out how many employee’s they have and ask about other projects they
may be working on as this could impact your timeline.
It is always a good idea to research what types
of permits are required. The municipality you live in will likely
have an inspector to ensure the work is being installed according to
building codes. Expect to take out some insurance for the duration
of the project in case of accident or injury while people are on
your property. Expect to help keep your project on time by
pressuring the contractor when he starts to fall behind. But
remember they are the professionals and expect they know what they
are doing.
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Additional Article Information
This article was written by
Christopher Skjonsby
This article was posted to theCitySage.com on
Feb 15th 2009.
This article has been cross-posted at Helium.com under the tittle
"Top things to consider before hiring a contractor " and can be found by following
this link.
CLICK HERE
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Disclaimer
This document is provided as a non specific guideline to help the
reader become aware of some of the steps in hiring a contractor for
home renovations. If you the reader are having real difficult in
getting your project started, we suggest you get in contact with a
project consultant or general contractor to help access you
situation. Follow at your own risk.
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