It can be tough to determine who to hire for general kitchen renovations. Having one person handle an aspect of the renovation may be a great option if you’re looking for help with a kitchen renovation project, but you’ll also come to expect a higher-than-average level of professionalism from general contractors. After all, they’re not just DIY jacks-of-all-trades.
What Renovation Projects Require a General Contractor?
According to the Alberta Safety Code, any work done on utilities must come from a permit-holder for those respective types of work. General contractors have the experience and licensing needed to install electricity, natural gas, or plumbing during the course of a new residential home build. Therefore they can certainly help with a renovation or remodel. Doing it all yourself could be a terrible idea. But if you only need help with one or two permit-restricted changes for your kitchen renovation, a general contractor is not a bad option.
However, if you are extending your kitchen out into your backyard, the home addition would necessitate a general contractor’s expertise in building new residential homes. But you’ll have to ensure they’re properly vetted, or you may regret it. The other option is to hire a trusted Edmonton renovation company who will do that for you.
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Depending on the renovation in mind, there might be no way around getting permit-holders’ help to work on kitchen renovations. When hiring a general contractor for kitchen renovations, here are some things to consider if you want to vet and hire a permit holding professional. Hiring is the easy part. Vetting depends on several critical factors.
Experience
It’s important to know what a contractor has done in the past and how long they’ve been in business. You can check with the Better Business Bureau to see any complaints against them for the jobs they’ve done, and you can verify their experience that way too. Doing so will help you decide if they are the right contractor for you.
References
You should also ask a general kitchen renovations contractor for references from previous clients and ask them about their experiences with the contractor and whether or not they would recommend them again. This resource will help you determine if this is someone who will take care of your needs and wants while working on your project or if they’ll take advantage of you because you need their services right away.
Insurance Certificate
Any contractor that you hire should have general liability insurance. That way, if something were to happen on your property, it would be covered by their insurance policy. It would be best if you always asked for proof of insurance before hiring anyone to do work on your kitchen renovation.
This document will show you what the policy covers and what it doesn’t. It should also have a detailed description of their services and what company or companies they are insured with. This will help you to make sure that if anything were to happen while they are working on your kitchen renovations, they would be covered by their insurance policy. You wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for any damages or losses on your property while they are doing work there.
Permits & Professional Organizations Memberships
A general contractor needs to hold multiple permits to erect new homes in Alberta, so it’s vital to see their permits for yourself.
In addition to permits, you should check if the contractor you consider hiring is a member of any professional organization. This will help you make sure that they are considered a professional in their field and have been adequately trained and certified. By doing so, you can also determine if this contractor has received any awards for their work or if their peers consider them to be reputable.
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
Asking for references can really help, but the Better Business Bureau (BBB) can show you what the contractor is not telling you about their prior work. If there were any unsatisfactory jobs they did in the past, the BBB can show you the history of anyone who decided to review them in the past, favourable or unfavourable.
When you perform a search on the BBB, your first priority will be checking whether they have any complaints filed against them with the BBB. You can ensure that they have been in business for a while and that they’re not hiding their past. It will also give you some insight into what kind of customer service practices they use and whether they will be easy to deal with when things don’t go exactly as planned.
Check Availability
If you want to hire a contractor, but it seems like no one is available for your timeline, then this might be a sign that this isn’t the right contractor for your project. If you know exactly when you want them there, it should be easy enough for them to schedule their time to work well with yours. If it has been difficult for them to line up their schedule with yours, then you might want to consider finding someone else. It’s a sign they might not have the best time management skills or that they’re too busy to make your project a priority for any length of time.
Cost Estimates
You should always request a cost estimate along with a scope of work before you start the project. This will give you an idea of how much it will cost to complete the work and the quality of the work they will do. It would be best if you also asked for multiple estimates so that you can compare them and get a better idea of which one is going to be more reasonable.
By doing some research before you hire a contractor, you can make sure that you get the best option available. By having a good understanding of what to look for and what to avoid, you will be able to find a general contractor that will give you the best results at an affordable price.
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