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Tips & Tricks

Tips on Backup Power Generation for Homes
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Dealing with Your Contractor

The following tips were written by Paul Wilson, President of PermaDry Building Envelope Maintenance and Repair.

Choose a contractor to suit your job
Design a contract that is right for the job.
Deal with the contractor you have chosen.
Do's and don'ts of paying a contractor.
Make sure you are covered by the warranty.
Dealing with warranty work.

Choosing a contractor:

1) Make sure that the contractor knows and has performed the work you are asking their company to perform. This may sound obvious however it is surprising how often a second contractor with more experience has to be called in to complete someone else's work. This usually costs more because the second contractor generally has to repair the efforts of the first then go ahead and complete the job.

2) Don't be afraid to ask for references from the contractor's previous customers. If the contractor is solid, with more than a few years in the business, then his company will likely have a number of references that they can refer to. If they do not then are you sure you want them working for you.

3) Ask about the size of the contractor's business. Will the person you're talking to be doing the work himself or are you going to be dealing with his employees. Neither is necessarily bad simply different and different sized businesses are better suited for different sized jobs. If you are removing and replacing the side of your house then you may want to look for a company that has a number of employees. This means that the work should be able to be completed in a reasonable time frame with as little disturbance as possible.If however you are repairing the roof of your house you may want a smaller company where the contractor is doing all of the work himself.

4) How busy is the contractor.Will he be able to complete the job in a timely fashion or are you going to be waiting for a month for him to get to you. If you spell out these things in advance then there are fewer unpleasant surprises. Good contractors tend to be busy. If you have found the contractor you are sure is right for the job then you may not mind the fact that you have to wait for him to get to your job. If you know in advance that is.

5) Talk to more than one contractor. Opinions vary from person to person, company to company. The work that you wish to have performed can sometimes be done in several different manners. If you have only talked to one contractor about it then you have only got one professional opinion to go by. By talking to more than one contractor you get far more information on which to base a decision.

Designing a Contract:
So you have found the contractor that you think is right for your job. Now it is time to design a contract for the job.

1) Always put something down on paper. This is incredibly important. At the very least you should have put down what the job entails, how much they are going to charge you and when the job is expected to commence. If you do no more than that then you have at least got something to use in any future disputes.

2) Talk to the contractor. The contract you are putting together is a joint agreement between yourself and the contractor. It does not help things run smoothly if the contractor is unaware of what's in the contract until he comes to start the job. If you and he have discussed the points of the contract before that time then both of you are prepared to sign it and then he can get on with the work.

3) Do not allow work to start until you and the contractor have gotten some sort of agreement signed. If he has already started the job before you have made an agreement then it is very hard to disagree with him on the points of the contract.

4) The important parts of the contract are what exactly he is going to do for you, how much it is going to cost you and when is he going to do it for you. Anything else you wish to add to the contract is between you and the contractor. You can make it as simple or as complex as you wish in order to cover your points of concern.

There are several places where you can pick up pre-formatted contracts. Check our links page for more information

Dealing with the contractor you have choosen:
Now you have gone through all of the steps, you have a contractor who has signed a contract. You now have to deal with this contractor for the duration of the job.

1) Let the contractor do the job you hired him for. If you have explained the job in advance then the contractor should already know exactly what he is supposed to be doing. Remember that this is a professional in his field. No one likes to be second guessed while doing his job. Tell the contractor what you need done then let him do it. This does not mean that you should not ask how the job is progressing. It means that you should not have to tell him how to do it.

2) Expect the unexpected. It is rare that a job goes exactly as it was planned. When the contractor runs into the something unexpected or unforseen he will let you know. You and he should then figure out how to deal with it jointly. He may be able to give you some options that you may not have thought of on your own, he is after all the professional.

3) Listen to the contractor. If you have choosen the contractor carefully then he has probably spent many years doing the job you have hired him to do. If he gives you suggestions don't simply disregard them. As always make your own decisions but don't let his experience go to waste. He is working for you and will try to make his own job go as smoothly as possible.Conversely don't allow yourself to be pushed into something you don't want. After all you know what you want done.

Do's and don'ts of paying a contractor.
Some things here to make the job run a little smoother.

1) There is usually no need to pay a contractor in advance. Most reputable contractors have accounts with their suppliers and do not need money for materials. You and the contractor should have figured out in advance what the shedule of payment will be. It depends on the size of the job as to when a payment should be made. It is quite common on a larger project to pay a portion of the money earned part way though the job. For example you may wish to pay 30% of the total owed when the job is approximatly 50% complete, an additional 60% of the total when the job is 100% complete and the remaining 10% 30 days after the completion of the project. This "holdback" of 10% is very common and it allows you thirty days to make sure that the work that was completeted was to satisfaction. This is just a sample, every contractor has his own preffered payment schedule and this should be worked out before the job commences.

2) Do not pay for the job entirely until the job is entirely finished. This should not happen if the contractor you have choosen is reliable, however we have all heard stories of the contractor who has been paid out in full and has a very difficult time finishing the job. Again if the contractor you have choosen is reliable then it should not be a problem. He should be able to complete the job on the payment schedule that was agreed upon.

3) Do however keep to the payment schedule that you agreed upon. There is nothing that will slow down a job like a missed payment. The contractor is more likely to pay more attention and devote more rescources to the job that pays on time. If a delay in payment is necessary then let the contractor know in advance. This lets the contractor know that you are still trying to keep as close to the schedule as possible.

Warranty:
Now the job has been completed how do you ensure that the job was done correctly.

1) Make sure that the warranty is put in writing. This is again something that should be taken care of during your negotiations before the job starts. If you have agreed upon a specific warranty, make sure that it is in writing. Also make sure that the starting date and completion date of the warranty are in writing. Then should there be any concerns with the job within the warranty period there will at least be no question about what time periods are covered.

2) The more detailed the warranty is the less likely that threre will be any confusion should something go wrong. You will know what is covered and what is not. Things like are materials and labour covered for the same length of time, are materials and labour covered jointly or is material covered by the manufacturer and labour covered by the contractor. These things should all be spelled out by the agreement that you made up before the work commenced.

3) If the job is large enough to warrant it, an independant inspection by a third party inspector can help greatly towards making sure that the job is done correctly. A third party inspector is usually a professional in the field and can quickly pick up on any discrepancies on the job.

The examples above are aimed more towards the larger projects. A lot of the companies that do smaller jobs consistently, for example a carpet cleaning company, will have the warranty and and other contract information on their invoice or work order forms.

How to get warranty work done:
Lets face it, no contractor likes to do warranty work. It costs him both time and money. Here is how to help make sure that you don't get pushed to the bottom of the list.

1) Call the contractor. A contractor that doesn't know that there is a problem will not be able to do anything about it. When you talk to the contractor set a date for him to come and inspect or repair the problem. If you set a date then the contractor has made a commitment to you and will be far less likely to put it off then if you leave an inspection or repair date as an unknown.

2) Remember that most contractors get their work by word of mouth advertising. Anything that would damage a contractors reputation is something that the contractor will go to great lengths to avoid. Should you find your project being put off for an unreasonable length of time, you may want to let the contractor know that if he cannot get out to your job then you will have to start phoning others in his industry to get information on finishing your job. For most contractors this would be something that they would like to avoid as it tells others in their industy that they are not handling their warranty work. Most industries are small communities and word can get around very quickly.