There is not any such thing to be over protective with regards to your home as well as your finances. There are many roofing contractors out there that are willing to bend the guidelines to simplify things for themselves, resulting in problems for you as well as your roof. Even honest contractors make mistakes every once in a while. That’s why it is critical to know these 4 simple methods to protect yourself whenever choosing a roofing contractor.
Flat roof maintenance : You hire a roofing contractor to repair a leak on your roof. One of their employees decides not to use proper safety procedures and falls, breaking his leg. The employee holds you responsible to cover his medical expenses, because he was hurt on your own property.
Solution: Roofers Compensation is really a type of insurance covering roofing injuries. If a roofing contractor has workers compensation, any injured employees have entitlement to recover expenses for hospital bills and being unemployed. Make sure that your roofing contractor has workers compensation so you are saved the trouble and expenses of paying those bills yourself.
Liability Insurance
Problem: Your roofing contractor leaves your roof uncovered after removing your shingles. That night there’s an urgent storm. Water seeps into your home and damages your sheet rock, carpet plus some nice furniture. Your roofing contractor has liability insurance, but there are exclusions preventing coverage of the inside of your building. You wind up paying to fix the damages yourself.
Solution: If damage occurs to your house or building this is the fault of a roofing contractor, you want to be sure they will have good liability insurance. This can cover anything from broken windows to damaged interiors as stated in the situation above. Some contractors have liability insurance, but their insurance provider offers so many exclusions that it’s almost like there is no coverage at all. Look for coverage that doesn’t exclude water damage resulting from leaving a roof open.
Business License
Problem: You hire a new roofing company to work on your roof. A couple of months later you notice a leak. You make an effort to contact the company, but can’t find their information. You try to look them up by their business license and you also find that there was never a small business license issued for that company. You’re forced to cover the repairs yourself.
Solution: Check ahead of time that your roofing contractor has a business license. If they don’t have a license, it could be a sign that they have no idea what they are doing. The company could easily disappear or go out of business.
In hawaii of Utah, your roofing company must have a shingle license and a general roofing license to set up a pitched roof. A flat roof installation only requires a general roofing license.
A general contractor is legally in a position to install a roof with out a roofing license should they have an over-all contractor license. However, there were plenty of cases of contractors branching out and installing roofs themselves when they lack the correct training. This causes problems for building owners together with home owners. It is perfect for a general contractor to possess a roofing license as well as their general contractors license.
In Utah, the quantity for an over-all roofing licence is S280. The overall contractors license is B100.
If your roofing contractor is in the middle of working on your roof and you also find that they will have given fraudulent business license information, (in Utah) you have the choice to terminate their service immediately. You are not necessary to pay anything to the contractor since they were operating illegally. You can then find a qualified contractor to repair your roof and finish the job.
Lien Waiver
Problem: Your roof has been completed and you pay the contractor. However, a couple weeks later, the contractor’s supplier contacts you requesting a payment for the materials installed on your own roof. You discover that your contractor didn’t pay his supplier and that you will be now in charge of that payment. This has happened and can eventually you.
Solution: Make sure you request a lien waiver when the job is completed and before you pay. A lien waiver simply states that when the contractor fails to make his payments to a supplier or employees, you aren’t responsible to cover them. It really is ultimately in place to protect the home or building owner from paying twice. In the event that you have the lien waiver before you pay, it really is conditional upon your payment. However, once your payment has cleared, the lien waver becomes unconditional without any additional paperwork.