6 Things to Look Out For When Hiring a Building Contractor

Hiring a good contractor is the key to a successful building project. Whether it is your home, office or an even larger project, the contractor you select will determine the outcome of your original plan.

It’s the contractor you pick that makes or breaks your construction project. Choosing the wrong contractor can lead to delays, sub-par work, and even legal problems. Basically, the most important aspect of finding and hiring the best professional is their quality of service.  This will result in a high-quality finished product; one that you can be proud to own and live in.

Finding the right contractor for your job will determine the quality and timeliness of the work, and the amount of emotional and financial stress you’ll have to deal with. Although there are many highly skilled contractors, there are just as many who do not live up to the claims they make about themselves.

There are pitfalls in the process of locating a good, dependable and reliable contractor.  You have to know what to look for. In order to avoid hiring an under qualified contractor and to make sure you will get the best work from a contractor, the following are qualities to look out for in choosing a contractor.

6 Things to Look Out For When Hiring a Building Contractor

1. Qualifications

It is important for you to make sure that the contractor you will hire is a registered builder. A license signifies that the company has passed the requirements demanded by relevant regulating agencies such as the Nigerian Institute of Builders.

2. Verify Qualifications

Take out time to confirm licenses and verifications before making any hiring decisions. Check with relevant regulating agencies to be sure your proposed contractor’s license is active and in good-standing.

3. Reliability

If you hire a contractor that is not reliable, your construction project is likely to turn into a nightmare. To avoid a long, frustrating construction project, make sure that you talk to the contractor’s references about how reliable the contractor was during previous projects. If you have any doubts about the reliability of a potential contractor, you should move on and find a more suitable candidate.

4. Experience

How long as the builder been in business?  This is important because it usually takes three to five years to establish a financially-successful and stable company.  The more experience a contractor has, the wiser and smarter decisions he can make regarding the conceptualisation, management, and implementation of your housing project because they must have learned valuable lessons and methods throughout the years that enable them to produce superb results.

5. Competitive Pricing

Your contractor’s rates can be an excellent gauge of their skill. If a quote is extremely low, the quality of the contractor is most likely poor. However, an extremely high price does not guarantee above average quality. Many of the best contractors charge prices that fall in the middle of the scale.

The best way to find the reasonable price range for your project is to obtain quotes from a wide variety of contractors. Once you have these quotes, you can find your optimal price range by comparing the quotes to the contractors’ reputation. Note also that the lowest bid is not always the best; it may indicate that a contractor uses sub-par materials or is desperate for work.

6. Personality

Personality type will play a huge role in how well you work with your contractor. This may not be the most important trait of the contractor you hire, but you should at least take it into consideration.

If you are thinking about hiring a contractor that has a personality which clashes with yours, you should try to find a contractor that is more compatible with you. You will be communicating with your contractor quite a bit, and if you cannot stand them, your building project is going to be an unpleasant experience. The best way to determine if a contactor’s personality is the right fit for your job is to ask how comfortable they are with customer involvement.