Allain Construction, Inc.

Hiring A Contractor 

 

First and Foremost - Do Not Hire A Contractor Without Verifying They Have Insurance!

 

When looking to hire a contractor to repair or renovate your home no matter how small or large the project is, request a copy of the contractors Certificate of Insurance (COI). The COI will be prepared by the contractor's insurance agent. The COI typically includes: insurance agent contact information, contractors information, requesters name and/or address, the policies that are in effect, policy starting and ending dates, policy limits, and any named exclusions.  

 

Once you have the COI in hand, make sure the following policies are listed: General Liability, Workers Compensation and Automobile.  As an extra step, you should verify with the insurance agent that the policies are currently in effect and have not lapsed for non-payment.

 

Workers compensation insurance can cover medical expenses, lost wages and even rehabilitation facility costs for an employee if injured while working. As a homeowner, you would be liable if the contractor did not have the correct insurance protection and there was an incident during your project.

 

Second - Contractor Should Be Licensed

 

Request a copy of the contractors' state license(s). These should be a Construction Supervisor License (CSL) and a Home Improvement Contractor (HIC). Verifying that a contractor holds these licenses, will ensure you that they are who they say they are and more importantly that they are qualified to perform the work you are seeking to be done.  To look up the licenses on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts website, please click either of these links:  CSL or HIC.

 

Third - References

 

Request 3 references at a minimum! These should be past clients. Call the references and ask about the contractors work, employees, cleanliness during their project, was the project on time, were there any delays, and if so why.

 

Allain Construction enjoys and appreciates it when potential clients ask for this type of documentation, which is why we always have it available.