Why You Should Look for a Contractor With a License Bond

Is it finally time to build your dream home? Or are you planning to do some renovations and give your house a whole new look? Whatever the case may be, we both know why you’re really here.

You’re probably wondering about how this whole contractor thing works.

Whether it’s building your new home or transforming it into a whole new look, one thing is for certain: you need an incredible contractor to help you out.

After all, a house is not just something that you’ll use for a week or a month. Under general circumstances, it will be a place where you’ll spend a good chunk of your life. Making sure that it’s built well and beautifully is a very valid concern. Check out whether you should build or buy here: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/is-it-cheaper-to-build-a-house.

Anyway, as we were saying, it’s very important to choose the right contractor for the job. Someone who is both reliable and capable, whom you can trust with your hard-earned money, and most of all, who will make your dream come to life.

But wait, what do contractors do anyway?

Who Are Contractors?

By textbook definition, any independent individual or company that provides services related to building, renovating, altering, and improving homes and other types of infrastructure is considered a contractor. They are people who help you achieve certain outcomes as agreed upon on paper—hence the name.

Contractors play a major role in building your dream home or executing much needed renovations. From manpower, materials, design, and engineering, contractors take care of all the tedious work and formalities that go on behind the scenes during a build so that you don’t have to.

However, not all contractors are the same, not just in their skill sets but also in the values they uphold. Most contractors are also entrepreneurs or business owners who run their own construction companies, and each one has their own way of doing things. When choosing who to partner with, make sure that you also help guarantee the success of your project.

One such thing you can do on your end is to look for a contractor with a license bond. And below, we’ll break down the reasons why.

Why Choose a Licensed Contractor With a Surety Bond?

Contractors also need to meet prerequisites in order to get licensed and legally operate their businesses within the state. Apart from passing a written exam and attending multiple training courses and seminars, they also need to get something called a Contractor License Bond.

A contractor license bond (we’ll call it CLB to keep things simple) is a type of government-mandated surety bond that is a primary requirement for contractors to get license approval. The purpose of this bond is to ensure the financial safety of the general public or whoever engages in business with the contractor.

Long story short, it’s an insurance created not for the interest of the contractor but for the interest of the public, including clients, laborers, suppliers, and every other person who is involved in the building process. You can also visit this website to learn more about contractor bonds

All that being said, it’s safe to say that contractors with no CLBs do not have the legal capacity to help you build your dream home. They are likely unlicensed or have an expired license, and that is something you need to be wary of. To better understand what we mean by this, here’s a hypothetical situation:

Let’s suppose you’ve already hired a contractor, and it has been a couple weeks since they started work on your property.

At first, everything is going well, they seem to know how to do their job, and there’s really nothing you can complain about skill-wise. However, one day, they accidentally break something in the property that would be hard for them to compensate based on how much they will net from the contract they have with you.

Even if you refuse to pay them due to the error, they also don’t have enough cash on hand to pay you for damages, so instead, they went radio silent and stopped all construction work on your property as well as all communications with you. Disappointed and likely upset by what’s happening, you would want to take legal action.

Here is where the ending diverges.

If the contractor is unlicensed and doesn’t have a license bond, things can escalate a lot, and you’ll be thrown into a whirlwind of inconveniences as you take legal action to have him pay back what he owes, including any additional damages the delays in construction have caused.

On the other hand, if this contractor is licensed and has a license bond, the process would be way easier, with you filing a claim for damages through his insurance provider. Not to mention that these types of claims are overseen by relevant government authorities, making the process faster.

Even if something bad happens, it's clear which of the two possible outcomes will provide you with a more positive experience. If you want a stress-free building experience, choosing a contractor with a license bond should be your top priority, so make the wiser choice!