Because the success of your home-building and improvement projects significantly depends on the competence of your contractor, hiring the right contractor is necessary. If you’re reading this, you may either want to build a home from scratch or considering a home renovation.
Finding a contractor isn’t hard, but hiring a good one can be frustrating and nerve-wracking. Would you like to hire an incompetent contractor that could turn your idea into a nightmare? If not, how do you identify the right one for your project from a plethora of contractors? If you seek an answer to the question, you are in the right place. This guide will show you the five basic red flags you need to consider when hiring a contractor.
1. Authenticity of Information
To avoid falling into the mousetrap, verifying the contractor’s identity should be one of the key red flags for which to watch out. Before hiring a contractor, you need some information to confirm his identity. Information such as name(real/business name), office address, phone contact(that is registered with the business bureau), previous projects completed, e.t.c. will guide you to determine if the contractor is indeed competent or a mere imposter. Also (unlike the unverified contractor), if the contractor defaults, legal actions will be easily taken against him since his identity is known.
2. Poor Communication
Effective and timely communication is one of the characteristics of a good contractor. A good contractor communicates openly and honestly. S/he gives clients insight into the advantages and disadvantages of a chosen solution to achieve the desired goal of the project. Whenever a contractor lacks this attribute, hiring such a contractor is like putting fire on the roof, he/she might turn your project into a nightmare(what you never wanted).
3. Excessive Upfront Payment
In the name of trust and materials procurement, several construction companies demand an upfront payment. However, that doesn’t imply you pay every dime before the work begins. Only a certain percentage(preferably below average) should be paid upfront while the balance follows. But if the contractor requests the full payment or more than average, an explanation is necessary. You might consider another option if the reasons are made up.
On the other hand, some construction companies can even trick you into getting your jobs by offering low bids initially. When the work then nears completion, some additional costs will be added that might even be more than the initial payment. Though their work may look professional and satisfactory, such red flags should be considered if you want a long-term relationship with the contractor.
4. Little or No Reviews
When was the last time you got a gadget without checking the reviews? Quite a while, right? The same applies when you want to hire a contractor. A trusted way of hiring a competent contractor is through recommendations from friends, neighbors, and previous people that have worked with him. Reviews serve as a measuring scale to filter out the good contractors. The more, the better. Contractors with few or no reviews are not likely to have enough experience. Hiring such contractors might be risky, so you might want to stay away.
5. Low Estimate
Before contacting a construction company, try all you can to gather information about the market value of some of the materials you would use. If the contractor’s bid is lower than your estimates(market value of materials), it is time to ask some additional questions. Questions such as who bears the cost of the extra expenses should arise.
Notwithstanding, it is advisable to choose a contractor whose bid is within your estimate.
A proven means to know an incompetent contractor is through estimates. Beware of a contractor that provides quotations that are not reasonable.
Conclusion
Hunting for a competent contractor has never been easy. While there are a lot of Mr. Wrongs, there are few of Mr. Right. To save time and money, consider the above red flags whenever you want to hire a contractor.
References
https://www.crddesignbuild.com/blog/red-flags-to-look-out-for-when-hiring-a-contractor
