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Choosing a contractor. |
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For most people, this is the first step. You may find a model home you love,
built by a contractor or construction company, or you may be working with a
designer or architect. You may find a contractor through recommendations of
someone you know. However you find the contractor you want to work with, there
is some due diligence you should do at the front end.
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Make sure your contractor has an active Florida license.
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The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation licenses and
disciplines contractors in the state of Florida. Go to
www.myfloridalicense.com
to search for your contractor. You will be able to see whether the contractor’s
license is active, for how long they have had their license, and if you scroll
down to the bottom of the licensee details page, you can check to see if the
contractor has been disciplined for any complaints made.
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Check references.
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Remember a construction license means your contractor has met the minimum
requirements for state licensure. Ask for references and check them. If your
contractor doesn’t want to give you references, that should be a red flag from
the start.
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Obtain Multiple Bids |
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Unless you have a history with a specific contractor, it is customary to obtain several bids for the work you want performed. In evaluating the contractor, you should consider many factors and not just the amount of a bid or estimate to do the work. Sometimes the lowest bidder may not be the best qualified. As the owner you should use due diligence to check out all possible bidders. |
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Have a construction law attorney review your contract before you sign it.
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You may ask, "Why should I spend the extra money to pay a lawyer when I really
think this contractor is great?" The answer is simple. It is relatively
inexpensive to pay a lawyer for an hour of his or her time to review your
contract and make sure it is well balanced and protects you in the event issues
arise during construction. It can be very costly to go to an attorney
after-the-fact and find out your contract does not protect you. The Florida Bar
has a list of attorneys who are board certified in construction law. Go to
http://www.Floridabar.org to search for a board certified construction attorney.
You can enter your locale if you want, or just pull up a list of all
construction attorneys by selecting "more options" and picking construction as
the specialty.
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Get current certificates of insurance from your contractor.
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Your contractor is required by law to carry a minimum amount of general
liability insurance. In addition, your contractor is required to either carry
workers’ compensation insurance to cover injury to workers on the project or to
have an exemption from that requirement. Ask your contractor for insurance
certificates for both liability and workers’ compensation insurance, or for the
certificate of exemption from the Florida Department of Labor in lieu of the
workers’ compensation insurance.
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