subject: Asking the Right Questions - Selecting Excellent Contractors [print this page] Asking the Right Questions - Selecting Excellent Contractors
If you are going down to purchase a new car, would you purchase the first one that you found? I doubt it and selecting excellent contractors is just like purchasing a brand-new vehicle.
You're going to need to start by asking the right questions. If I was looking at a new car, I might ask the car salesman about the gas mileage, vehicle durability and pricing. The cheapest price usually gives us low quality and again, when selecting excellent contractors, this isn't going to be too far from the truth.
Most people are familiar with the referral method, used often for selecting contractors, real estate professionals and even automotive mechanics. If a friend of yours has used a contractor on one of their construction projects and had good luck with the contractor, there's a good chance that they will refer them to you.
This doesn't mean that your selecting the best contractor, this just means that you're getting a contractor who supposedly did a good job for someone you know. Even if you got to see the finished product, what's behind the walls, under the floors or in the attic that you can't see? Was this part of the project done right? Is it going to last? Did you get your money's worth?
If you're really searching for excellent contractors, make sure that you ask good questions like these.
1. How long have you been in business?
2. If you have employees, do you have workers compensation insurance?
3. If you're not doing the work, are your employees qualified?
4. If you're doing the work, how much experience do you actually have?
Remember that experience isn't going to mean the same thing to everyone. Just because you've been in business like I have for 30 years, doesn't mean that I have enough experience to build a freeway, because I've never even worked on one.
There are plenty of questions you can ask, but don't get carried away. Try not to waste your contractor's time and they hopefully won't plan on wasting yours.
The key to finding excellent contractors is asking the right questions. Create a list of no more than 20 questions to ask your contractors and some of these questions can be asked over the phone.
Good luck and I hope you do find an excellent contractor.
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