HGRBS volunteer nonprofit offers multiple free homeowner’s guides which are readily accessible online and downloadable. The design of these essential reading materials is to enable top private home heads, in matters of resident-contractor relations, to enhance their decision-making priorities against hiring the wrong individuals and companies. These informational tools provide invaluable tips on making safer and wiser hiring choices in 2020.

Primary HGRBS Homeowner’s Guide

Each HGRBS homeowner’s guide centers around the basic theme of knowing everything we possibly can about building trades personnel before coming to a decision. This is summed up by this guide: “Who Is This Contractor?” It emphasizes our need for incorporating an application process for contractors.

One major key point conveyed in “Who Is This Contractor,” is the realization that in nearly all commercial businesses, before anyone is hired, there is an application process. Granted that contractors are not employees. Nevertheless, regardless of vocation, they are still workers. Whether they are called handymen, carpenters, roofers, or by whatever title, none of this cancels the fact that they are workers.

Contractors Are Not Self-employed

Further, we can consider, if we accept their services, they are then working for us – not themselves. This is mentioned since there is widespread falsehood to the effect that contractors are "self-employed." This can be otherwise interpreted as the notion of contractors being their “own boss.” Do they pay themselves for doing what we require? Or – do they rely on us for payment?

It follows, since we are who make disbursements toward work they do on our property, and they are the recipients, we have prerogative to require them to fill out applications. We have the right to know as much as possible about their credentials and work ethic before arriving at a decision. This is the fundamental precept in " successful" resident-contractor relations. Somehow this very basic fact has been recklessly abandoned from the reality of this relationship.

Summary

Irrespective of innuendos related to the crux of resident-contractor relations, there remain 3 inescapable facts:

1. Resident is willing to pay for work needed on the property.

2. Contractor is willing to receive payment for fulfilling that need.

3. Resident has right to require unknown contractors to fill out applications in order to validate or invalidate suitability for targeted home projects.

Yet these very basic facts for successful resident-contractor relations are apparently not adequately addressed by an untold number of residents. We are in charge of each project. To ensure best results, we can work on investing time to learn who is the best candidate. Clearly, this is often difficult to do without referring to official documentation. We need to know whether or not each contractor is the best choice for what we have in mind.

Evidently, resident knowledgeability of contractors’ ongoing and past activity on private homes is useful towards making safer and wiser hiring choices. Subsequently, unless we are able to effectively validate the competency and legitimacy of building trades personnel, we are at higher risk for being defrauded.

Please refer to Resource Box for link to access free download “Who Is This Contractor.” We may want to learn more about how we can improve upon our standards for hiring only those most suitable for our home maintenance and improvement needs.

Edited with special assistance from M. Conti

Public Courtesy – HGRBS – Since 2009