It's your project - get it started right...

Commercial contracting is vastly different from the residential world. Working with commercial clients, the goals are: stay on budget; stay on time; and stay in touch. But, how do you know that will happen?

First, ask your contractor about mid-project change orders. Will there be additional costs – and get a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. Checking a reference takes time, but it will save you time and energy in the long run. Frankly, some contractors will stick to the outlined budget (unless you request changes mid-project) and some contractors rely on adding in ‘hidden costs’ throughout the course of the project. It boils down to trust and getting a reference is your best option if you haven’t worked with the contractor on prior projects.

Second, time is of utmost importance when dealing with lease terms or property sales. While every project will have unexpected challenges, they shouldn’t cost you a weeks delay. Ask your contractor about the last job they completed under a pressured deadline – then call the reference to get their feedback. Until you know and trust a contractor, it will be difficult to tell what their ‘style’ is and you don’t want to waste an expensive project on learning the hard way.

Third, get a feel for how your contractor communicates. Do they only take phone calls? Do messages go unanswered? Your contractor should give you options – text messaging, quick responses to voice-mail and email should all be options when communicating. Explore their website to see if they offer live galleries of their work so that you can keep up-to-date while a project is in motion, and test out several ways of communication. Quick responses through different formats of communication are a good sign that you will stay in touch while a project is underway.