Find Best Contractor Part 2 of 4

Okay, we got the names of the contractors. That's sweet. They're going to be pros, we know that

The next thing that's going to happen is you're going to get bids on the job. But after you get the bids, you're going to make your final choice. You're going to pick a contractor

and you're going to have to have a written contract before the work starts

That's really important. And you know what? A contract's a legal document

I'm not an attorney. I'm not allowed to give legal advice. That's pretty standard in every state

And I can tell you this very quickly. If you're doing a bigger job, maybe it's a house, maybe it's a room addition

and there's a lot of money involved, it's really a good idea to get a contract attorney involved

Those guys, I don't care what their fee is, maybe it's $1,000 to just review a contract

It's the best insurance policy you could ever have, so don't hesitate to do that

What I've found in all the years that I've built is that there are eight really important things that you should really have on a contract

Let's go over them right now. Number one, all of the things that have been promised in the bidding phase, maybe you've had a salesman involved

Everything that was promised by either the contractor, the salesman, even you, whatever you've promised to do

that's going to be in the contract. That's non-negotiable. You want that stuff in the contract

Okay number two the plan should really have as many drawings sketches specifications even photographs as part of the contract

You may think that's crazy, but it's not. You know the old adage, a picture's worth a thousand words

Why try to describe something in the contract with words that can get confusing when you can actually show a drawing of exactly the type of crown bowling you want

Maybe it's a window seat. It could be everything. Maybe you're looking for a stamped concrete patio and you saw a photo of one and that's what you want

You've tried to describe it. Well, take the photo that you saw out of the magazine and tell the contractor

this is what I want and it's part of the contract. Number three, the payment schedule

It's got to be really spelled out. This protects you and it helps the contractor

You basically are going to make sure that the contractor only gets paid for work that's in place

both the labor and material that is completely satisfactory. So you set up these timetables

of when you're going to get that money to him and make sure you honor that. In other words

if you tell the contractor that he's going to get paid at this point in time, then you pay him

That's only fair. Number four, the warranty. What kind of warranty are you going to get

Who backs up the warranty? Is it a warranty on just products? Is it a warranty on products and

labor, how long is the warranty, all of those things have to be spelled out. And sometimes

the manufacturers offer an additional warranty. Make sure that that is attached to the contract

It could be the warranty that comes from a shingle manufacturer, maybe from an appliance

manufacturer. Whatever it is, if the contractor is supplying it, get it in the contract

Number five change orders Oh they really important You may not think there going to be a change in your job but you know what It can happen to anybody What you want to cover in the contract is how is that change order going to be administered Meaning is there going to be an extra fee

involved? What is the fee? If there are extra contractors who are brought in, what are they

paid per hour so that you're not ripped off? In other words, if a helper just has to do something

extra for three hours and the contractor's paying them $20 an hour, then, you know, you know that

the change order is not going to be $1,000. So you just want to make sure all of that is

spelled out up front in the contract. Number six, allowances. What's an allowance? Sometimes

before the job starts, you might not know what something costs. Well, that's a mistake

If a contractor gives you a contract that has allowances in it, I would just reject it and say

you know what, let's make the decision now what it's actually going to cost before we get started

So try to avoid allowances. They are financial time bombs. Don't even go there

Number seven, you want to make sure the contract states that the job is going to be done to all

building codes and to all manufacturers' written installation instructions. I know that sounds

crazy. It doesn't take a lot of language to put that in there. It's very important. Believe it or

there are some places that may not require a building permit to be pulled, but you want the

work done at least to the minimum building code standard. So put that in there. And finally, number

eight, one of the things I think that's most important, in case the job goes bad, and it can

the job, something could go wrong. I mean, you could have a disagreement. How's that disagreement

going to be settled You know you don want to have to go to court That extremely expensive you might be surprised to find out that many local Better Business Bureaus they have binding arbitration that part of the process

when businesses get accredited. For example, I'm an accredited Better Business Bureau member

in my city. And as part of that, I have to agree to go into binding arbitration if somebody buys

something from me and we get into a dispute. And then the Better Business Bureau, they settle it

And that's it. That's a good thing. So make sure you put in your contract how these disputes are

going to get settled. And I would really look to the Better Business Bureau for help on this

Contact your local Better Business Bureau. Make sure that the contractor that you're picking

is a member, if at all possible, and see if he isn't bound by this binding arbitration

It's really, really a good thing. I can tell you that right now. I actually had to go through it once where I had gotten ripped off by an office supply company here in town

and I found out that they were members of the Better Business Bureau, and by gosh, I went to arbitration, and you know what

I won. So it really, really was a good thing. So make sure you have that in your contract

So it's really simple. Get a good contract, and once you do, you're going to be really happy

It's going to buy you a great peace of mind. contracts are everything