Frequently     Answered questions

Liability Insurance   Issue's like liability Insurance and Workers Compensation, should be concerns if you are a homeowner. What if you were away for the weekend and came back to a flooded house? That new bathtub or kitchen sink plumbing sprung a leak and destroyed your new hardwood floors and 'finished basement'. If the person you hired did not have active Insurance, your insurance company would have to pay the bill and your premiums would go up not to mention deductable payment. Regardless of the outcome, I can assure you that it could be an inconveniencing and unpleasant experience. Even though Due West has never had an insurance claim filed before, we do carry 3 million dollar liability policy which can be confirmed with Irwin & Billings at 1900 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, BC V7M 2K1, Canada (604) 988-1148 Workers Compensation coverage   Please note that anybody who works on your property for more than 8 hours is required to have Workers Compensation Coverage. ".....The law requires WorkSafeBC to compensate injured workers - even when employers have not registered with WorkSafeBC. If a homeowner does not register with WorkSafeBC and pay premiums when required, the results could be costly. WorkSafeBC may charge the homeowner for all compensation costs and unpaid premiums from overdue accounts ..... "   More often than not, some trade's claim to have WCB coverage when in fact they don't, or aren't up to date with there account, which is considered the same. Due West Carpentry And Renovations Ltd. usually hires trades that have WCB coverage but also pays into a 'contractor classification' which is one of the highest rates because this 'Blanket coverage' covers all the higher risk and higher premium trades people that may step onto your property during a renovation. More Information: Work safe B.C. Quotes, Estimates and Budgets?   You should clarify that all the contractors bidding on your project are all providing the same criteria so that you can properly identify what each contractor is specifically going to provide you for the amount of money they think it will cost to complete the job. An 'Estimate' is an educated guess on what the project may cost the client, based on loosley determined needs and wants of the client. This is usually provided for general consultation purposes, restoration projects, mangement only contracts ("cost plus") or to clients who's primary project directives don't concern money.   A 'Budget' is also a prediction of costs but usually based on a bare minimum of requirements and therefore may not provide the customer with a realistic overview of what the 'finishing costs' will amount to as the choices the client makes are added to the final invoice À la carte to the 'contract' without unbiased comparison or competetive review for the additional costs. (i.e. the sky is the limit) Some contractors will form there own opinions of what they think will suit you best or what will make the price appear lower on paper in order to 'secure the job' so they don't have to waste any time on you untill they know they have the job. Overbooking, lack of experience, laziness, cunning/upselling and poor service can also be attributed to 'Budgets' that appear much lower than the proposal of some other competitors who may have spent the time informing, establishing, and determining the clients needs and thus providing a proposal document outlining a specific 'scope of work' known as a 'Quotation' based on the level of quality and sound knowledge that the customer realistically requires to have the project completed.   'Hidden costs' should only be an obstical or obstuction of the intended scope of work not an excuse to bill more because of one mistake or another. Lack of details on the proposal can leave more room for the negotiation of added costs and extras and/or limited choices provided to the client if they make a fuss which can make the client/contractor relationship awkward, uncomforting and in some cases disasterous. 'Additonal costs' are usually associated with client upgrades and changes going over budgetable items (non-standard building materials) within a quotation in order to tailor the project to their needs as they see the project unfold. In other words the more prepared you are as a customer on what you want your project to turn out like prior to the arrival of bidding contractors, the more likely everyone will be picking apples from the same tree when providing you with there proposals. How much does your Quotation cost?  Your average Quote consists of doing a site visit to meet with the client, determining their needs, offering advice and then providing a written quote if it is a project that interests the contractor.   There are not to many other services available where the business actually comes to the client. And unfortunately some people don't seem to acknowledge or appreciate that providing quotes, is time that we could be spending on existing projects and clients and getting paid for that time or catching up on errands. Each visiting contractor will spend a minimum of two hours including travel time to meet and offer the client some sort of insight and information. If they choose to bid on the job, that will require a minimum of another 2-4 hours of preparation time. This may involve making drawings and faxing those details off to suppliers and sub contractors in order to compile an accurate quote to present to the customer.   For various reasons some will bid higher and some will bid lower, but they all will have spent some sort of time on you which they are not getting paid for. It is a professional courtesy not to mention good 'manners', to thank and inform all of them of the results so they can be confident that when the next customer calls for a free quote, that it will be appreciated and not taken for granted. We recommend that you get 3 quotations for evaluation purposes and ask each contractor when you can expect that quote. If you have not received those quotes or a notification of delay within that time frame we recommend getting another quote from a more reliable contractor. How do we retain your services?   Once you have accepted our proposal, a contract will be forwarded to you for your review which will specify a payment and work schedule, and all other pertinent information. After approval of the contract a retainer/deposit (specified in the contract) will be required in order to finalize the booking of your project. At this point final design elements and decisions will be made and any special order items will be ordered. Depending on your project you may also be given a list of items that you will be required to shop for, where my network of suppliers will be welcome to assist you if you do not have any contacts of your own.   If do you happen to exceed any of the modest contract budgets for contractor-supplied materials, the difference will be added and provided on a separate invoice from the contract to avoid confusion and provide transparency. This invoice will be billable at the appropriate phase payment. Any additional work or unforeseen repairs will be addressed in the same matter.