subject: Just Ask Vozz! - How To Contract The Perfect Bonded Electrician For Your Home Or Business. [print this page] STEP ONE: Get their credentials! STEP ONE: Get their credentials!
Electrical contractors working in your home must be licensed and insured in case of issues. Every electrical contractor you consider hiring should be licensed, insured, and bonded. They should be willing to let you know their individual state license number. Also, always check to see if they have the correct insurance for workers comp and general liability.
TIP: The great dangers of hiring an uninsured electrician are enormous. What would happen if that "friend" of yours who "is handy" gets really hurt while on your property? Well, more often than not, it is you who would be held completely responsible for any injuries that happened while on your property.
STEP TWO: References
Don't be shy to ask for and call their references! You want to make sure that the electrician has a good reputation.
STEP THREE: Their Employees
Usually the best electricians insist all of their electricians are regularly background checked and drug tested. This is a great sign that the company has your interests in mind before theirs. This process is quite an investment on their part, and it tells you right away that they have invested a great deal in their own electricians.
TIP: See if the electricians are on any "best places to work" lists in your region. Good feelings between employee and employer translate to their job as well.
STEP FOUR: Getting a Price Up Front
Take note, you won't get the best price by bidding the job around to a lot of electricians. Contact ones that you are interested in working with, and get a feel for their customer service (a live person answering the phone is always a good sign!) THEN call one out to your home or office to create an estimate. Some of electricians are offering first time discounts for first customers, and if not will usually try to get your long-term business by cutting the costs of that first job.
TIP: You want to develop a good, long lasting understanding with an electrician. It is an almost certainty that you will call them more than once during your time in your home or office.
STEP FIVE: Knowing that you have called (Not Hired YET!) the right electrician.
Here are a few things to look out for when that electrician comes to your home for the first job:
A great electrician Always arrives at your door in a sparkling uniform. The top companies insist that their workers carry enough clean uniforms so that they can change after every job if one gets dirty.
A good electrician will have printed materials with their telephone, company name, license number printed somewhere.
A stellar electrician will NEVER EVER do a job without getting the correct permits. Yes, you can usually get someone to do a project cheaper and faster by not getting permits, but it puts you and your family/employees at huge risk when you do. What happens if you don't get permits and something goes wrong, like an electrical fire? Chances are that your insurance company will investigate to make sure that the required permits were in place, and, if not, you may not be covered!
A stellar electrician company will always call you back within a business day or less, provide a well documented written estimate outlining all cost for labor and materials, and put a deadline on the estimate as well.
TIP: What if the project unexpectedly gets out of hand at some point, and through no fault on anyone's part you have to dig into the wallet to get it done. A A great electrician company will cease work and provide an written change order to the original estimate so that you know all new costs before commencing..
An excellent local electrician will always listen to what you want to have done, and then make recommendations based on their experience. There are a lot of things that need to be factored into a rewiring project, for instance: (high wattage kitchen work lights, types of bulbs in the project, vacuum cleaner usage, existing electrical wiring, etc.)
