Qualified Contractors

Many of my clients were requesting me to recommend contractors to make repairs on the defects or deficiencies found during inspection. I had explained to theses clients that as an inspector, I am not permitted to make recommendations, however, if hired under a consultant agreement, I can.

Any person hiring a contractor should take the steps necessary to qualify a contractor and not just assume, he is qualified, insured, and at the very least not going to run off with your deposit. But, who has the time. It is hard enough just to get a person to come over to look at your project and get a quote.

I have the time. This is part of my service. I do everything that a person should do before hiring a contractor. First, the contractor must fill out a detailed form. Then, I verify the data and if that all checks out, a visit to a work in progress takes place. If this passes, I ask for references on resent projects. Then, if possible, I will visit with the references and ask a number of questions. 

Now i will admit not all contractors are going to have a perfect score and recommendations from previous clients. We live in an area of emotional and sometimes-unreasonable expectations and variable personalities. I have worked retail with John Q. Public for 18 years. 99% of my customers, were a pleasure to work with but that 1% you never forget. It’s the people that expect something for nothing, that make your day miserable.   I have seen some contractors go well beyond what was required and negotiated on a contract and yet the client is still irate. They will never be happy. It’s just part of doing business.  I have to ask myself would a reasonable person, under the same conditions accept, the work and behavior of the contractor. If yes, I will qualify the contractor. If however, the same problems arise more than once and further investigation reveals a pattern the contractor is disqualified. 

I will only recommend a contractor under a consulting agreement and I have seen and evaluated the project.  Contractors are presented in three’s for your consideration. In other words if you needed a new roof I would supply the names of three pre-qualified contractors that do roof work.