What to look for when hiring a tradesman?

If you’re looking for a tradesman you’re looking for more than just a person that can do the job. You need someone who is qualified, insured, skilled, and experienced. It’s simply the best way to ensure the job you need doing is done properly. 

You’ll have two main choices when searching for a tradesman. You can place the advert and do the work yourself, interviewing and assessing each candidate until you find the one that best suits your needs. Or, you can entrust this process to a third party, such as this one specializing in civil construction jobs.

Whichever route you choose, you’ll need to meet the tradesman at some point. This is when you can ask questions and check they have all the qualities you’re looking for. Here are the things you should be checking for:

License

If you’re taking on a tradesman they should be licensed and registered. You can ask to see the tradesman license to ensure this is the case. If they can’t supply one you should walk away, it’s not worth the risk or the hassle.

Insurance

Unless you’re employing the tradesman then they’re not going to be covered by your insurance. If you are employing them you’ll need to tell your insurance company and make sure they are properly covered by you. But, if you’re not employing them they’ll need to show you that they have insurance. 

This will help to give you peace of mind if something did go wrong.

Experience

There is no harm in finding out how much experience a specific candidate has. Experience can often mean they are faster at dealing with many issues and they’ll have knowledge of the best shortcuts assuming they’re safe and still comply with all the necessary standards.

It is worth considering someone with less experience, they may be cheaper and make up for a lack of enthusiasm with attitude.

Quote & Completion

When choosing a tradesman you need to get a quote and to know when they can do the work as well as when it will be completed. This is important. A quote means that the tradesman will be bound by the price they’ve given. But, it also allows you to compare quotes between tradesmen. 

Don’t forget that the cheapest quote doesn’t necessarily represent the best value especially if it doesn’t include everything that a more expensive quote does. Make sure you’re comparing like for like. 

Personality

It is worth taking a few moments to consider the personality of the tradesman. This is actually quite important because you’ll be giving the instructions and may need to question the decisions or actions they have taken. If you’re not comfortable doing this with a specific tradesman then you need to choose another one.

Of course, if you’re not comfortable doing this wit any tradesman you’ll need an intermediary to do it for you.

Choosing the right tradesman means the job will be completed smoothly and without hassle, that’s worth paying a little more for!