What, you have to do something? Aren’t we the contractors?
To make sure you get what you want in a timely manner, there’s always something you can do to help. In no particular order:
- Try to leave the driveway open for our trucks. We’ll be delivering material, and the driver will usually leave it on the driveway. We’ll try to check with you as to when we’re coming, so hopefully we can avoid trapping your car in the garage. If the driveway is full, the material goes on the street. If the street is full, it goes back to the supplier. You will be rescheduled for as soon as we can arrange it.
- If you possibly can, meet the crew the first day. That way, you can quickly walk the site with the foreman, and make sure you are on the same page as to location, details, etc. It also helps the crew to meet you, because then they’re working for an actual somebody and not just a contract document. You do not have to stay all day. ½ hour and you’re gone. By the same token, if your daily activities or job allow it, try to get by once or twice during the job to talk with the crew.
- Please, please, please (I can’t emphasize enough!) Check the project every night when you come home from work. If there is something you’re not sure about or want changed, or if the crew made a mistake (horrors!) let us know RIGHT AWAY. Leave a note on the deck for the carpenter. Call the salesperson. Or the office. Anything. If you don’t tell us, we’ll keep on working, and of course it’s much harder to change something minor AFTER the job is done, than while the project is in production. We might even charge you for it.
- If there is a swimming pool, (or hot tub, or other recreational equipment) set the ground Rules (I suppose that should be water rules!) immediately. If you do NOT want the crew swimming in it, tell them, nicely. If you don’t mind them jumping in, tell them under what circumstances it is allowed, if any.
- You are welcome to tell the men off if they keep the site sloppy. That is one of our cardinal rules: tidiness.
- Make sure the OUTSIDE POWER OUTLETS and WATER TAPS are on. If the power goes, we either can’t work or we rent a generator, and charge you for it. Alternatively, you might check with the neighbours to see if we could use their power if need be.
- If you or someone is home during construction, cold water, juice, or some fruit or cookies, will make the installers very happy. Happy workers are good workers.
- Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES give the crew beer or alcohol. No Matter What. Certainly not while they are working, unless you don’t mind wavy cuts or missing thumbs, and not after work, and not even to celebrate the end of the job, because they still have to drive home. If you’ve invited them to stay for the night, then it’s OK. Frankly, if you see them drinking (or worse) on the site or in the truck, please let us know right away.
- TELL YOUR NEIGHBOUR about the project. This is mentioned elsewhere, and we can’t emphasize this enough. A neighbour who isn’t expecting the noise and activity can be a very unhappy neighbour, which can lead to maliciousness and worse.
- If you have agreed to do removal or demolition yourself, or you have patio furniture that has to be moved before we start, then please do it. If we show up at the agreed time and this work has yet to be done, we’ll either do it for you and charge you (not as much as a lawyer or TV repairman, but still…); or we’ll leave and go to another job, which puts you back at the end of the queue.
- If it’s a fence, make sure the property lines are marked, or that you are there to help the crew stake it out. You should have a copy (not the original: they tend to get lost) of the survey for reference. We are not legal surveyors (you need 4 years of university for that!), and cannot guarantee our layouts to the centimetre. Please see your salesperson for more details.
- At the end of the job, there is the delicate matter of paying for it. Our contract specifies payment on completion. There are no terms. We accept cash, cheque, money order, or email transfer. Please note: minor touchups or a few bad boards should not hold up payment. This could jeopardize your warranty.
- Please arrange your schedule to meet with the crew at the end of the job to do a walkthrough and to sign the warranty certificate. Then give them the cheque. If we are not paid in full within 5 days of substantial completion, the warranty is null and void. Please read the contract.
- If we agree for you to pay the crew directly, DO NOT pay them without specific approval from the office. Period. No matter how much they beg. Any unauthorized payments will not count towards payment of the contract.