Hiring a Painter: Contractors and what to ask

Bringing in a contractor to provide any sort of service or repairs in your home can be nerve wracking. There are plenty of unscrupulous individuals offering services with sub par standards. Protect yourself from a renovation nightmare by learning the lingo of hiring a contractor. Here’s what you should know when hiring a painter: contractors and what to ask.

There are a few terms you will hear over and over when searching for a contractor to provide paint or other services in your home. Going into the project, knowledge will help give you peace of mind.

Bonding

Bonding is a service that protects the homeowner while painters and contractors work in your home. It covers the owner if the contractor doesn’t pay for permitting, disappears mid-job, or doesn’t pay bills for supplies and subcontractors. Without proper bonding, any of these issues could leave the homeowner on the hook for the bills.

When interviewing painters, you just need to confirm that your provider is bonded. The company or painter will be able to provide you a bond number and certificate showing their status. This will give you recourse if there is an issue with your job.

Requirements to be a bonded provider will vary from state to state. You can dig further into what bonding covers and your provider’s participation through local government websites.

Insurance

Insurance is important when bringing crews into your home to work. You’ll want to confirm that the crew carries both liability and worker’s comp.

Liability insurance covers any damage that is caused by the contractor on the job. That being said, it will not pay for shoddy or substandard work. That is covered by the bonding. If something goes wrong that was out of the contractor’s ability, you would file liability claims.

Worker’s comp protects the workers on the job in case of any sort of injury. Even with the most careful contractors, things can happen. With worker’s comp, medical care and lost wages are covered for the injured contractors. This means costs won’t fall on the homeowner.

As you interview potential providers, a reputable company will be happy to provide you their certificates of insurance and policy numbers of both insurances.

Licensing

Once you have confirmed bonding and insurance policies, you’ll also want to make sure you choose a painter that is licensed. Each county or state will require particular trade providers to be licensed. Search the web or call your local government branch to get further information on confirming licensing and what is required for your location.

CertaPro Painters is happy to provide licensing, insurance and bonding information on all of our projects. Get a free, in-home estimate today.