There is no such thing as being over protective with regards to your home and your finances. There are plenty of roofing contractors out there that are willing to bend the guidelines to simplify things for themselves, resulting in problems for you and your roof. Even honest contractors make mistakes every occasionally. That’s why it is critical to know these 4 simple methods to protect yourself when choosing a roofing contractor.
Workers Compensation
Problem: You hire a roofing contractor to fix a leak on your own roof. One of their workers decides never 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 kind 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. Be sure that your roofing contractor has workers compensation so that you will 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 unexpected storm. Water seeps into your house and damages your sheet rock, carpet and some nice furniture. Your roofing contractor has liability insurance, but you can find exclusions preventing coverage of the interior of your building. You wind up paying to repair 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 will 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’s almost like there is no coverage at all. Search 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 couple of months later you see a leak. You make an effort to contact the company, but can’t find their information. You make an effort to look them up by their business license and you find that there is never a small business license issued for that company. You are forced to cover the repairs yourself.
Solution: Check ahead of time that your roofing contractor includes a business license. If they don’t have a license, it may be a sign that they have no idea what they are doing. The company could easily disappear or go out of business.
In the state of Utah, your roofing company should have a shingle license and an over-all roofing license to set up a pitched roof. A flat roof installation only takes a general roofing license.
A general contractor is legally in a position to install a roof without a roofing license if they have a general contractor license. However, there were plenty of cases of general contractors branching out and installing roofs themselves when they lack the correct training. This causes problems for building owners in addition to home owners. It is ideal 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 middle of working on your roof and you also find that they 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 because they were operating illegally. You can then find a qualified contractor to fix your roof and finish the work.
roofing solutions : 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 your contractor did not pay his supplier and that you are 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 are not responsible to cover them. It is ultimately in place to safeguard the home or building owner from paying twice. In the event that you have 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.