Check These Things before Letting Tradesmen Walk into Your House

The old saying “Buyer beware!” is important to remember when you need work done in your home. You are the one responsible for vetting, hiring and making sure you get a quality product or service before you’ve paid your bill. Contractors who do work on your home can put a lien on it if you don’t pay the bill, so the best option is to try to make sure the person you hire is going to do what you’ve asked them to do in the time you’ve allotted for the job. If you’re not sure how to properly screen tradesmen that walk through your door, read up on these five ways to get started before you’ve signed the actual contract.

5 Ways to Screen and Vet Tradesmen

When you need to call a commercial plumber in Sydney right away, you should already have someone in mind who you’ve screened ahead of time. Any professional that will be doing work in your home should go through a careful screening process, which takes time. Thus, get those contact numbers ahead of time by checking out your local tradesmen before you actually have an emergency. You need to find out:

1. If They’re Insured – People who work in your home can also cause fires, have an accident, or just do damage to the home during the course of their work. It doesn’t matter if you are having a roof replaced or your windows cleaned. You need to be sure they have their own insurance that covers them as well as any damage to the property, in case that happens. You don’t want to be stuck for the bill for something that was not under your control.

2. Referrals – Check out local referrals from your neighbors and even third party online sites that deal with tradesmen in your area. Local reviews on online forums can help you decide ahead of time whether someone has good customer service, how they deal with the public, and the quality of their work. It also lets you know if you can trust them or not.

3. Get a Contract – If you have a lawyer, have them review it. If not, read carefully to know ahead of time what you will be signing and how it obligates you to pay, whether the work is done shoddily or late. You should have some way to get out of a contract where the tradesmen do not hold up their end of the bargain. The contract will also indicate any liens that might go on the house to secure payment for the work done.

4. Professional Reputation – Is this tradesman in good standing with their certifying organization? How long have they been in business? You don’t want to just hire someone who is off the street, or new, who can’t prove they know what they’re doing. They should have some sort of certifying paperwork or be a member of a professional organization within their trade.

5. Their Payment Policies – Tradesman differ in how they accept payment. Some will accept half before they start a job and half on completion. Others wait until the job is fully done to take payment. Some take some form of credit, but not all. Some will offer discounts for new customers or those that have given them a paid referral. You can even get a bulk deal for a year-round attention to the home, as a maintenance package, that you either pay monthly or yearly.