Unfortunately, the construction industry is abound with poor principle. How do you begin to find a contractor that’s trustworthy? I suggest thinking of contractors as employees you are interviewing to potentially work for you/your company. It may seem silly at first, but that mindset will give you the confidence you need to feel like you can ask the right questions. To find a contractor with good character, you start with their references. We recommend looking into 3 references.
1- Bank Letter
A Bank letter solidifies the company’s financial status. It gives insight to the company’s cash flow. It also lets you know the company isn’t running the finances through the
owner’s personal finances. The example bank letter has been marked with what to look for.
Make sure the letter is addresses to the company (not the owner). It reenforces that the company has it’s own account.
Look for some clues to how long the financial institution has known your potential contractor. The longer the better.
Having a company that has decent cash flow actually ensures the company has higher skilled employees. If a company needs your job to pay employees for last week’s work, good employees won’t stick around at a company that may or may not pay. If a company asks for half upfront, that money may be used to pay employees or to buy materials for your job because there isn’t enough money in the account to buy materials without your deposit. That’s not a good sign of a good company.
2- Supplier Letter
Getting a letter from your potential contractor’s supplier ensures they have a great business relationship. This letter lets you know the contractor pays their bills. The last thing you want is a lean placed on your home because your contractor did not pay their material bills. Yes that does happen!
3- Customer References
This is very different than testimonials or good reviews. Customer references is a list of customers with addresses and contact information (given with permission). You can call any or all of the previous customers and ask them what it was like working with the contractor. A few example questions to ask homeowners:
- Did they arrive on time to perform the work?
- How was the daily clean up?
- Did you run into any issues? How did the contractor handle those issues?
- Were the employees polite and professional? Any specific interactions?
- Did your neighbors like the crews while they worked on your house?
