Things to look for:
– Obviously you want active status.
– Do they have any complaints showing (BIG red flag.)
– Do they have workers comp. If no, are they representing to YOU that they have employees. If they have any employees they HAVE to have workers comp – but a lot of contractors cheat on this.
– Look at the bonding and the insurance information. Call the bonding company to verify. Ask if any claims have been paid out or are under investigation. Call the previous bonding company (if any) and ask the same questions.
Run the company name AND the principal’s name through the court records for civil suits.
If there are civil lawsuits – google the opposing party and talk to them. We wish we’d done this last step on our first contractor… turned out he abandoned two jobs before he abandoned ours – and one showed as active litigation. If we’d made the phone call we would have saved ourselves the current legal battle we’re in.
BBB is useless. Businesses pay to join. If a customer complains the business is given the chance to deny… It’s pretty much set up to favor the business in any dispute.
Check Ripoffreport.com. If you get a hit, investigate it.
And, obviously, call the references given to you. But keep in mind that contractors will only refer you to customers that didn’t have any problems. It’s more interesting to see how contractors deal when there is a dispute.
