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How To Locate And Hire A Good General Contractor Article
11. How to locate and hire a good general contractor
from:A general contractor is a person (or a company) who undertakes work on construction and remodeling projects. If you want to construct a home or remodel your home in any way that involves multiple aspects of work including masonry, woodwork, plumbing and electrical work; then a general contractor is who you’d be looking out for. First of all, you must understand for yourself, the quantum of the work you want done and the finances you’re willing to lay out on the project. Once you have a good understanding of this, you’re in a position to go about locating and hiring a general contractor to get your work done.
Finding the right contractor for the job
If you have a reference from a friend or colleague and are confident in the quality of the reference, you should check out the contractor referred. In any case it is always a good idea to locate and outline the project with competing contractors (even if they’ve been referred). Looking up the yellow pages or calling your local directory service would help you get a-hold of a list of contractors. Take time to call as many of them as possible (the best of the lot may just be the last on the list). Ask them specific questions regarding how they make their quotations, who their client references are, whether they’re willing to undertake a job that’s sized as yours is and whether they’d be available during a specific time period to accomplish the work. You should call up as many of the references as your patience allows and cross check with the referred clients regarding price and service quality. Call in the three best contractors for competing quotations (not at the same time though).
Getting your work done
Select the best contractor based on price and references (you ought to ask them to revise their prices if they can to the lowest competing price). If possible, go have a look at previous work accomplished by the selected contractor. Once this is in place, ensure you have your finances in order and have a place to move to (if that’s required). Call in the contractor and sign a detailed contract that specifies labor costs as well as materials cost (materials may be quoted for separately, or the contractor may require you to purchase the materials directly). You must ensure that the contractor has all the authorized permits and licenses to undertake the job and these may be verified at the local municipal office; before signing the contract. Also, the contract must specify clauses for accidents and damage to the property, for which the contractor should be adequately insured against. When all of this is satisfactory, go ahead and give the contractor the space to accomplish his job in the best possible manner.