There is no such thing as being over protective with regards to your home and your finances. There are numerous roofing contractors out there that are willing to bend the guidelines to simplify things for themselves, leading to 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 whenever choosing a roofing contractor.
Workers Compensation
Problem: You hire a roofing contractor to repair 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 cover his medical expenses, because he was hurt on your property.
Solution: Roofers Compensation is 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 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 is an urgent storm. Water seeps into your home and damages your sheet rock, carpet plus 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 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 will have good liability insurance. This will cover anything from broken windows to damaged interiors as stated in the situation above. Some contractors have liability insurance, but their insurance provider offers so many exclusions that it’s almost like there is absolutely no coverage at all. Search for coverage that doesn’t exclude water damage and mold resulting from leaving a roof open.
Business License
Problem: You hire a new roofing company to focus on your roof. A few months later you notice a leak. You make an effort to contact the business, but can’t find their information. You try 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 pay for the repairs yourself.
Solution: Check in advance that your roofing contractor has 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 a general roofing license to install a pitched roof. A set roof installation only takes a general roofing license.
A general contractor is legally in a position to install a roof with out a roofing license should they have a general contractor license. However, there have been a lot of cases of contractors branching out and installing roofs themselves if they lack the proper training. This causes problems for building owners as well as home owners. It is ideal for a general contractor to have a roofing license in addition to their general contractors license.
In Utah, the number for an over-all 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 find that they will have given fraudulent business license information, (in Utah) you have the choice to terminate their service immediately. You are not required to pay anything to the contractor because they were operating illegally. After that you can find a qualified contractor to fix your roof and finish the work.
Lien Waiver
Problem: Your roof has been completed and you also pay the contractor. However, a few weeks later, the contractor’s supplier contacts you requesting a fee for the materials installed on your own roof. You discover that your contractor didn’t pay his supplier and that you are now responsible for that payment. It has happened and can eventually you.
Solution: Be sure you request a lien waiver when the job is completed and before you pay. A lien waiver simply states that if the contractor does not make his payments to a supplier or employees, you are not responsible to cover them. It really is ultimately in place to safeguard the home or building owner from paying twice. In Newark Roof Replacement that 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.