PICKING A GOOD CONCRETOR
A projects success largely depends on your contractor. There are other elements as well of course, but good planning includes the acquisition of your concreter. Plumbers and Electricians are Licenced trades and so should be relatively reliable across the board. But many other trades, concreters included have received different levels of training and may be out of their depth on your project.
I have listed 10 essential steps you can take to secure a competent tradesman.
Get 3 Quotes at least
Try to get at least three quotes for your work which should include a referral.
Check BSB, Licence, Insurance etc.
Check the Licences of you proposed contractor. Is he / she insured and registered with the necessary authority.
Referrals / References in Real time
Referrals are key. Don’t ignore your referral if they are not the cheapest. Cheapest is not best. You will be left with a second rate job long after you have paid the price. The new concreting job always looks bright and shiny, but only time will tell whether you have actually got value for money.
Presentaion – On line presence, personal appearance
Does you estimator look like he represents a quality product. Was he prompt. Did he get a quote back to you in reasonable time. These services might indicate the type of job you are going to have done.
Prompt response
As per above, a prompt response can help you to decide your contractor.
Know what you want. Have dimensioned plans if possible.
It helps if you know what you want to achieve. Your contractor needs to understand your requirements clearly before he can give you an informed, accurate quote. Try to have a dimensioned drawing for him. Not only does it assist in the quoting process but can form part of the information you quote is based on.
Happy to provide information for your project.
If you need any product information to proceed with your project, see if your prospective contractor is interested in chasing up the details for you. If he does, don’t disregard his quote in favour of the cheapest option.
Formal written quote
Quotes scribbled on a piece of notepaper or verbal quotes are a direct link to disaster for you project
Experience
Never discount experience. Concreting is a difficult trade and is subject to a myriad of variables. Weather and delivery times are just 2 that make the concreters task difficult. So your contractor needs to have contingency plans to help deliver a successful job. Be sure to check how experienced your contractor is in your particular project
Examples of work if possible
This is desirable but not always as easy as it may seem. Many projects are behind the fence so to speak. Public places and driveways on the other hand are easier to inspect. A site inspection can however give you a lot of peace of mind.