By law, any licensed contractor must hand the customer a statement saying whether they do or don’t carry general liability insurance. Yet clients of Dave Cook, co-owner of Cook’s Kitchen and Bath, tell him their prior contractors have never complied with this requirement.
“It says a lot about some of the problems with this industry and some of the issues about integrity,” he says.
When evaluating potential contractors for your kitchen or bath project, it’s important to compare “apples to apples,” says Mr. Cook. He advises against making a decision on price alone.
Here’s a list of questions that can help determine whether a contractor adheres to high standards for quality, ethics and business practices.
• There are about 40 different classifications of contractor licensing. Are you and your employees licensed in the proper categories?
• Do you have general liability insurance? Can you provide the required disclosure form?
• Do your trade contractors carry general liability insurance? Are you named as “additional insured” on each of your subcontractor’s policies?
• Do you carry worker’s compensation for your employees?
• If your trade contractors have employees, are you a certificate holder of their workers' compensation policies?
• Does the Better Business Bureau accredit you?
• Do you guarantee your price? Do you use a fixed price contract?
• What are your dust protection measures? Do you site-protect walls, floors and other finished surfaces?
• Plumbing, electrical structure, wet walls around tubs and showers, and the opening of a wall all require permits. Do you pull permits for your work?
Your contractor should answer “yes” to most, if not all, of these questions, says Mr. Cook. Otherwise, you should consider looking elsewhere.
