6 Keys To Home Defense
6
Keys To Home Defense constitute six critical steps consumers can take
to investigate whether home contractors have consumer-friendly
integrity. Be on top of the game. You might want to web search your device for full name and company name of contractors in relation to your home project BEFORE contacting. They may have unresolved complaints. Maybe not.
1. Search For Complaints
Although
your favorite search engine or web browser is a practically unlimited data
resource, it may not readily answer these questions in ways most revealing to you: Is this home service company and associated contractor corrupt? These
are simple questions. However, in order for you to get the answers you’re
seeking, as you know, you must be very specific in terms of what you'd like
to achieve. Therefore, when you’re web searching [searching your device], as with anything else you would
like to learn in the search engine, accurately enter your questions. Think like
a detective. You can start this search to track down complaints using the name
of the company and the real full name of the home service contractor[ either or both]. Most times, when there are published offenses in relation to the contracting entity, or individual associated it with it, that data should pop up.
2. Contractor Lookup - Statewide, County, or Parish
*
When you search your device for contractor portals where you can validate whether the contractor you're thinking about is legally registered and/or licensed for the area where your project is located, here are a few sources: 'Contractor Board,' 'Contractor License Lookup,' 'Contractor Licensing Board,' 'Business Entity Search' or 'Licensed Contractors'. The browser you access via your device can sometimes immediately direct
you to the area you need for validating the contractor portal in the vicinity where the project is located. If not that, it'll display leads to where else you can look. This is
why it's always critical to specify in which state you would like to get the
data. For example, if your property is in Nebraska, specify that in your search.
But please be aware that all tradespeople in the state might not be registered
at the state level, but instead at the local level. You can then search there for any agency or department which can lead to the local contractor portal or listing of contractors.
*In
other words, some states have statewide purview over home improvement
contractors, others limit authority over these home service contractors or
tradespersons to the county or parish level [local]. Learn which is best suited
for you through inquiring with your device. You might have to check with each
one to locate the company. That's of course conditioned on whether it’s
registered in your area.
*Also
contractors who aren’t working regularly in your state, might not be found in
that state or local registry. If instead these outsiders are legally working in your
state, county, or parish they should typically own credentials to prove it.
They're not usually discoverable in state, local, or both databanks. But, under special circumstances, they might be.
*If
tradespeople are from out of state, it’s not recommended to risk the hire since
they might not be working legally. If they are, they can be checked out via
your state and/or local databanks. They'll still need legal credentials in a large number of circumstances, irrespective. A visible work permit might not be enough since
these can be easily forged. So, if someone presents it to you, you may want to read it carefully, and confirm the permit number with the local clerk's office or the building department. These days, this can be done virtually.
3. Contractor License Lookup
Generally,
in the US, regardless of the kind of license issued, it has an expiration date,
and it has to be current. That includes contractor licenses. No doubt
these are no different from registrations in that they also always have expiration
dates, and they aren’t simply ‘contractor’ licenses. Quite the contrary, they
define their category or the type of work they are licensed to do. Briefly,
there are basically three categories of contractors:
General.
These usually have teams of three or more contractors working with them.
Handyperson.
He or she is usually an individual who has limited maintenance and repair
skills.
Specialty. In this exclusive category are certified and/or
carpenters, electricians, HVAC-R techs, interior decorators, plumbers, etc.
Search your device. Look them up.
4. Contractor Insurance Lookup
Interestingly
enough, if you’re curious about whether the contract firm has adequate
insurance, but that information isn't provided among the licensure data, you
might want to do one of these few options:
*Contractor Insurance Lookup. Make it easy on yourself
since when you search using that wording, alone, it could be a waste of your
time. But assuming the name of the company is ‘XYZ A2B,’ you can ask in the
search engine ‘Is XYZ A2B an insured contractor?’ You can make the attempt to
search whatever the company name of the contractor may be, and successfully locate the
entity providing coverage for that contracting firm. You can use the same
approach when you want to see whether the contractor who wants to work for you is
insured by them. You also can inquire about the type of insurance coverage he/she
has.
*Business Records. Most states have a department
or unit designated as Business Records or the equivalent. Search your device
entering the full name of the contracting entity/individual contractor,
using the county [parish] name, and the state where the work's slated to
occur. Caveat: be certain there's a '.gov' in the link. Otherwise, you have
landed in the wrong place. It has to be government. In the business records
section you might have the option of entering the full name of the contracting
entity or the full name of the contractor, alone. Some business records
verification sources might not only confirm the contracting entity or
individual contractor is registered, and licensed, but they'll also let you
know whether the contractor of interest is adequately and actively registered,
licensed, bonded, and/or insured. Others will only mention whether, besides being registered, they're licensed. So, this is also a hit or miss approach
depending on the state and county[parish] where the work is to take place.
In most states, if you don't locate the contract firm or individual contractor
in government business records of the locality where the work is to be
performed, it’s very likely they aren’t authorized to do the work in that
locality. But some states and localities are lax in this regard.
*Certificate of Insurance. The document provides a summary of a contractor's insurance coverage. Ideally, it should prove the contractors has coverage. However, these can be easily forged. You might need to ask the contractor to contact her/his insurer, and have a copy sent DIRECTLY to you to confirm before signing the service contract, or allowing the contractor to work.
*Last resort: ask the contracting company or individual for the name of
their coverage provider, and their policy number. If the contractor is the principal, then be certain
you know that contractor's full name in relation to that policy number. Spell it correctly, then search to see
if it checks out. It has to, otherwise you may've reached an impasse. Either the
contractor [company or individual] proves having adequate coverage by some
other official means, or you might consider looking elsewhere for the home
project help you require. Hiring an uninsured or inadequately insured contractor can be detrimental.
5. Resident Feedback+
Foremost,
you might want your initial preference to be for a contract firm which
regularly does business in your immediate area, whether in your town, city,
county or parish. It might be far better to opt for home service contractors
nearest you who the folks in your neighborhood or overall vicinity are familiar
with. Often you might not know about them unless you asked. If you notice a new
roof, when you see the person who lives there you might want to ask about who
installed it, especially if you need roofing repairs. Or when you see a company
vehicle of a home service operation, and you anticipate one day needing that
type of service, you might want to jot down the name. Then if you have time to
search your device to check it out, why not? Better to learn as much as you can
about it before connecting. It could save you hundreds, thousands, or tens of
thousands of dollars if you learned the operation is rogue.
6. Paying attention to what contractors do and say
Are you a careful
listener? Are you really good at listening between the lines? Rather, do you
have the intuition to assess what another person is saying while at the same
time know you’re being set up for something he/she is not verbalizing? Does
the tone or manner in which someone speaks often reveal whether this individual
is being truthful? Are there phonetic inflections such as to convince you that you’re
so fortunate to have found the right connection? Let us take this farther
before getting to the core of the matter. How is it that our favorite shows
whether live or digital can make us laugh, cry, shudder, fume, and so on when
they are all make believe? In the moment of entertainment we are translated
into an imagined realm of reality. Surprisingly so, there's a correlation to the effect that
when you watch and listen closely being so impressed by the presence of a
contractor, and by the polity and professionalism in that person's voice, you
just know your hiring decision was impeccable. Perhaps not. Okay. Now for the
clincher: some of the kindest tradespersons you see are great performers,
too. They have mastered the art of lying with a straight face. Be sharp.
By RB Roberts
