Whether your commercial establishment needs a facelift, so to speak, you can call on commercial painters in the Bay Area. Unless you’ve been a loyal patron of these painting contractors and have trusted them for a long time, you may want to consider the seemingly endless series of background checks for every contractor you’re considering to work with.
Many clients have fallen victim to unscrupulous individuals and scammers who pretend to be professional painting contractors. To avoid these pitfalls, here are tips that you should really consider:
- Do not hire a contractor that’s anonymous and unidentified – First, do a background check on their employees, making sure that they are licensed and insured, are not engaged in drugs and alcohol, and have no criminal records. Also, make sure that they have proper documents and official identifications, drive in official company vans, and arrive at work on time and wearing company uniforms.
Many clients prefer painting companies that have many years of experience and have built a good reputation and name in the business. But they all started from scratch like most companies. Even newbie companies have built a reputation quickly because of their good quality service, professional workers, compliance to local/national industry codes and regulations, and consistently good performance. Sometimes, being a veteran or a new player in the industry doesn’t really matter for some, as long as they deliver a good job and provide overall satisfaction to their clients. - Do not hire a contractor that’s not licensed and insured – a contractor should be licensed and insured in order to operate their businesses legitimately. Contractors pay fees plus submit pertinent official documents to achieve a license that will allow them to run their business lawfully. Otherwise, they are scammers pretending to be painting contractors and they may put your business at risk. Unlicensed and uninsured contractors may deliver improper, sloppy or unfinished work, may not show up at the site, or sue you for injuries they claim occurred while working at your commercial property. Worse, they may commit crimes like theft and the additional financial burdens may cause your business insurance company to cancel your policy.
That’s why it’s very important to ask the contractor for their proof of license and proof of insurance. Their company will cover any hospital and medical bills in case the contractor does suffer an injury while they’re on the job. - Do not hire a contractor that doesn’t practice safety measures – Safety is of the utmost importance to both the contractor and their clients. If they are working in an unsafe manner, use risky procedures, or use unsafe paints and materials, then look somewhere else.
- Do not hire a contractor that does sloppy work or doesn’t clean up after themselves – Do you see a trail of dried paint, scattered debris and trash, and used tools that are just lying around after the contractors have finished painting? Would you like to work with a painting contractor who doesn’t care about addressing the obvious lap marks that he left behind? You’re hiring a contractor for your convenience – cleaning up before and after painting is also part of their job. You don’t want to do the cleaning by yourself especially if you’ve got no time and patience for it. If a contractor doesn’t care about cleanliness and order, people would think twice about hiring them.
- Do not hire a contractor who doesn’t give a list of references, written contracts, and written guarantees of their work – A contractor that doesn’t provide all of these documents and requirements means only one thing – that they should not be the ones to hire.
A well-established commercial painting contractor provides a list of references of their past work. It means that they are a legitimate company and they are confident in the work that they’ve done for their previous clients.
A written contract is important because it will give more assurance to both you and the contractor in regards to materials, procedures, timeframes, and payments. Should future disputes arise while the work is in progress, a written contract will be helpful in settling these differences. As a client, make sure that you have read and understood what’s in the contract before signing it.
A written guarantee of the contractor’s work is also a must because it will give you an idea of what the contractor covers and what it doesn’t cover. Defects such as fading paint, peeling, and cracking may be part of the labor warranty. But other things such as graffiti and surface damage due to natural disasters are not usually covered by the contractor.
You have invested much of your time, energy, and resources to build your own business. You don’t want it to go to waste by hiring fly-by-night commercial painting contractors. Doing background checks on commercial painters in the Bay Area will allow you to hire the best contractor to work at your commercial establishment. Make them a part of your business’ success, not a liability.
