Personal Financial Tips

Article by Garry Buben

On the subject of building or remodeling a commercial space, usually your mortgage or rent payments begin before you actually open for business. When your success is riding on exactly how swiftly you can get your space prepared, it’s crucial to have the perfect commercial general contractor looking out for your interests. The difficulty is in the fact that not all commercial general contractors actually have the skills, business experience and record they claim they have – and that can lead to setting your project behind schedule, over budget and making you live year after year with errors or compromises in how good the space looks or how well it functions for you.

Here are some ideas for getting it right!

1. Be certain the contractor’s experience is commercial. General contractors that have residential experience can provide a valuable sense of style and design to retail and office renovation – assuming that they can also provide you with a solid history of commercial remodeling projects. You definitely don’t want to pay for a residential builder or remodeler to practice all it takes to be a commercial general contractor. Also, you want to make sure the contractor has past experience managing the scale of the project that you have.

2. Be sure to ask to see the certificate of insurance. Just about all commercial general contractors will be ready to show you proof of general liability insurance policy, but a general business policy doesn’t always go far enough and may not cover the contractor for liability affecting your property. And what about insurance for the contractor’s personnel – and for the vehicles they drive? That is why you should only hire a commercial general contractor who will be able to show you a certificate of insurance for enough commercial coverage from policies that include: workers compensation, vehicle insurance, general liability and builder’s risk.

3. Examine your contractor’s financial footing. You don’t want to risk choosing a contractor who vanishes before finishing your job. An additional increasingly common problem on commercial projects is that financially unsound contractors use up-front payments for new jobs to satisfy expenses on the prior project, often leaving them with no money to deliver material or labor for the new job. This could leave you needing to start from scratch with some other commercial general contractor. Therefore, don’t be scared about requesting references – including a bank reference who can present some assurance of the company’s financial footing. This is typical business practice and a good contractor should have no problem presenting this reference.

4. Ask to see the contractor’s licenses. Do not settle for a list. Anybody can say they have a commercial general contractor license – you have to see the real thing. It’s also a good idea to check with your county or city government to be certain your contractor has all the correct licensing and that all those licenses are current.

5. Check references. Ask past commercial clients tough questions about their experience before, during and after the project. Has the workmanship held up? Was the contractor easy to do business with? How well did the contractor meet promises about price and delivery time? Don’t stop there! Commercial general contractors hinge on the work of subcontractors – so acquire a list of them and check their references extensively, as well.

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