Whether you’re renovating your home or making some repairs around the house, there will inevitably be a time where you can’t handle a project and you have to look to outside help. Working with a contractor can get the work done much faster, but it’s also important to keep safety in mind. Contractor security is important.
Remember that, in the majority of cases, you will be trusting a contractor with access to your home. You wouldn’t let just anybody into your home, would you? This is why contractor security is so crucial. It’s very important to exercise caution when working with contractors.
Before you hire someone, make sure to check their references. Many people ask for work samples, quotes and reviews of a contractor’s work, but it’s also very important for contractor security that you check more personal references as well. Someone that is skilled in building kitchens or offers a low rate to repair your plumbing may not be a trustworthy individual.
Whenever possible, get the names of some of the contractor’s former clients. You can use these references to not only research work quality, but also to determine if the contractor is honourable and as a part of contractor security research. You’ll want to know if were any problems with the contractor’s previous work relationships.
Once you’ve selected a contractor, the next decision you must make is regarding access to your home. Are you planning on being present during the contractor’s work? Will you be stopping by occasionally to check in? Or will you trust the contractor to work alone in your home?
Contractor Security Tips
If the contractor is working alone, will you be there to let him or her into the house in the morning and lock up at night? Or do you feel comfortable giving a relative stranger a copy of your house key and the code to your security system? This is an important decision you will need to make regarding contractor security.You will also need to find out if the contractor is planning on using any subcontractors and, if yes, how these people will be monitored. Your contractor may be a trustworthy person, but the three other people he lets into your home to help complete the job may not be. Find out how your contractor knows everyone else involved and make sure you can trust all of these people.
But material theft is not the only contractor security concern you will have. It’s also important to ensure that a contractor isn’t stealing your time. When contracting out work, you need to know if everyone is arriving on time and if they’re working the hours they’re being paid for.
An excellent way to prevent theft and increase productivity is by using security cameras. Just knowing that they’re being watched makes many people more honest and productive and the cameras will record what time the workers start and stop their work. If you have Internet-enabled cameras you’ll be able to watch what’s going on inside your house from anywhere with an Internet connection.
If you don’t have cameras, you can use your home alarm system to make sure people are entering and leaving on time. If you notice that your alarm is being disarmed or armed at odd times, you can be pretty sure that your contractors are not working the hours they say they are!
In addition, at the end of the day when the workers are ready to lock up, they can turn on the alarm and leave your home secure. This improves contractor security a great deal.