There is commercial to be over protective when it comes to your home as well as your finances. There are several roofing contractors out there which 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’s important to know these 4 simple ways to protect yourself when choosing a roofing contractor.
Workers Compensation
Problem: You hire a roofing contractor to fix a leak on your roof. One of their employees decides never to use proper safety procedures and falls, breaking his leg. The employee holds you responsible to pay his medical expenses, because he was hurt on your property.
Solution: Roofers Compensation is really a kind of insurance covering roofing injuries. If a roofing contractor has workers compensation, any injured employees are entitled to recover expenses for hospital bills and being out of work. Be sure that your roofing contractor has workers compensation in order that you are saved the difficulty 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 unexpected storm. Water seeps into your house and damages your sheet rock, carpet and some nice furniture. Your roofing contractor has liability insurance, but there are exclusions preventing coverage of the interior of your building. You end up paying to fix the damages yourself.
Solution: If damage occurs to your house or building that is the fault of a roofing contractor, you intend to be sure they have good liability insurance. This will cover anything from broken windows to damaged interiors as mentioned in the problem above. Some contractors have liability insurance, but their insurance company offers so many exclusions that it is almost like there is absolutely no coverage at all. Look for coverage that doesn’t exclude water damage and mold caused by leaving a roof open.
Business License
Problem: You hire a fresh roofing company to work on your roof. A few months later you see a leak. You try to contact the company, but can’t find their information. You make an effort 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 are forced to cover the repairs yourself.
Solution: Check in advance that your roofing contractor includes a business license. If they don’t have a license, it may be a sign that they don’t know what they are doing. The company could easily disappear or go out of business.
In hawaii of Utah, your roofing company should have a shingle license and an over-all roofing license to install a pitched roof. A flat roof installation only takes a general roofing license.
An over-all contractor is legally in a position to install a roof without a roofing license should they have a general contractor license. However, there have been lots of cases of general contractors branching out and installing roofs themselves when they lack the proper training. This causes problems for building owners along with home owners. It is perfect for a general contractor to have a roofing license besides their general contractors license.
In Utah, the quantity for a general roofing licence is S280. The overall contractors license is B100.
If your roofing contractor is in the center of working on your roof and you find that they have given fraudulent business license information, (in Utah) you have the choice to terminate their service right away. You are not required to pay anything to the contractor because they were operating illegally. You can then find a qualified contractor to repair your roof and finish the work.
Lien Waiver
Problem: Your roof has been completed and you pay the contractor. However, a few 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. It has happened and can happen to you.
Solution: Make sure to request a lien waiver once the job is completed and before you pay. A lien waiver simply states that when the contractor does not 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. If you receive the lien waiver before you pay, it is conditional upon your payment. However, once your payment has cleared, the lien waver becomes unconditional without any additional paperwork.