Planning a building project? Now is the time to start scouting for the right building contractor for the project. Hiring the right one can significantly improve your experience and project outcome. While most homeowners prefer the building contractors from Konnect Building Solutions, you may want to consider the following important steps if you’re outside of their service area.
Look Locally
One of the biggest mistakes most homeowners make is searching for a building contractor outside their state or city. An out-of-state building contractor is more likely to cost more because of the logistics involved in getting their resources to your project site.
You can effectively save costs and manage your budget better by looking for local, qualified building contractors with a track record. Looking locally begins with a simple online search for building contractors around you or a call for recommendations from family and friends.
Rest assured that you’ll likely find more qualified professionals than you hoped for.
Do Your Due Diligence
Looking locally for a building contractor does not mean lowering your standards. It means narrowing the proximity to save costs.
As part of the hiring process, ensure to do the most due diligence by researching each company on your radar for their quality of work, pricing, customer service, and project outcomes. You can do this by reading reviews online from third-party websites like Houzz, Angi, Yelp, and more. You should also check for the company’s licensing and past work. All of these can help to further streamline the available options.
Contact The Contractors
Contacting the building contractors after shaving off a couple of names from your list of potential hires can make all the difference. During this contact, you want to know a couple of things, including the customer service, how fast the contractors respond, how friendly and professional they are, and how much help they are willing to offer.
Usually, a professional building contractor will offer to come to you to discuss your project needs in detail. The discussion will also include an inspection of the project site to understand your needs and how those ideas can be translated into reality.
Schedule A Physical Appointment
Usually, building contractors would love to lay their eyes on the project site before offering in-depth recommendations and professional advice. This is why they will most likely aim to schedule a physical appointment at the project site.
Ensure that the professional that has shown up for the initial meeting works for the company you’ve contacted. Doing this can save you the stress of working with subcontractors or cowboy home builders.
Once confirmed, proceed to discuss your specific building needs and watch how professional and knowledgeable the representative is. If unprofessional or inexperienced, that’s your cue to cancel the company from the list of potential hires.
Confirm Licensing and Insurance
Licenses and insurance documents are two important aspects of hiring any contractor. You want to ensure that the building contractor knows what they are doing and has been granted permission to erect buildings by the local authorities.
In addition, checking for insurance policy guarantees protection in the event of accidents during the project or damages to your property. With the right insurance bonds, you can also be sure of reclaiming your project cost if everything doesn’t go as planned.
Discuss Materials and Ideas
A good building contractor should be willing to review the materials and ideas you have for your project. They should also have an established network to source those materials to improve the project timeline.
Ensure the contractor has the experience and expertise to translate your ideas to paper. You should also consider their past projects to confirm their ability to handle complex projects.
Discuss Project Timelines
With most of the ideas for the project handled and a few more potential contractors on your list, now is the time to narrow down the project-specific details. Ask the contractors for a realistic timeline for the project. Ensure that the contractor’s timelines are both realistic and suited to your needs. If unrealistic, this may be a red flag to avoid companies that overpromise and underdeliver.
Request Estimates
With estimated timelines in sync with your expectations, ask the building contractors to prepare a quote or estimate for the project. It is important to go through each of the estimates to understand where one contractor’s estimates vary from the other.
You can decide which of the estimates is perfect for you based on the level of experience and expertise each contractor has shown and how realistic their estimates are.
Permits and Other Documentation
Permits are an important part of the building process. Discuss who handles the permit applications and the costs. Most building contractors are happy to handle this, especially as they’re likely to have an established network to facilitate the process.
Sign a Detailed Contract
With all other things perfect, request a detailed contract from the building contractor and ensure that it contains all the important information, including the project details, costs, payment schedule, delivery timeline, and each party’s responsibilities.
Following the above steps will help you trim the available options and choose the right contractor for your construction needs.