Picking a contractor for a home or commercail project can be very time consumming and in the end leave you with many unanswered questions about the contractors that you have contacted. As a contractor I advise my clients to complete the following qualifications list to be sure that you have made the right selection.
  1. Make sure your contractor is licsenced for the type of project you will be undertaking. Many contractors will have a business licsence, but not have contractors or trade licsence. You can check to see if they are licsenced through the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. When you go to the site that I will list below you will need one of the following: The Contractors Licsence Number, The Name of the Contractor's  Business, or  the  Contractors Full Name.  At the site you will enter  this information and if the contractor I a  Licsenced Contractor  they will be listed on the site. The website for checking this is:http://www.dllr.state.md.us/pq/
  2. You will also want to know that your contractor in insured. This will cover you if there was ever an accident or proporty dammage during the project.
  3. Get references from your contractor of recent projects and check them. You will want to know if the contractor finished his project on time, with-in budget (without hidden increases), Did they keep the job site clean and safe, was there constant communication during the project to keep the client informed, and finally would they reccomenned the contractor or use them again.
  4. Other things to consider are things like do they give free estimates and consults, can they offer multiable materials, or styles to the proposed project.
  5. Warranty, do they offer one and what will it cover if you need to make a clain against it.
  6. After you complete these steps be sure to look at all proposals to be sure they are alligned in scope and materials supplied. If they are not choose the one that best suits your project and ask the other contractors to respond with the same scope and materials. This might seem like a drawn out process but if you complete these steps you will get the most from your construction dollars and have the project you want.
This list could go on and on based on the size and scope of your project, but for most projects the six steps listed above will be more then enough. If you have a project that has a mechanical, technical, artisan, or other speciality send me an email and I may have more helpful information. I can be reached at: Gary@CCS-Artisians.Com