If you’re looking for a commercial electrical contractor for a new commercial building or to repair, maintain or retrofit your existing commercial building, then you might be wondering how you find a good one. Word of mouth referrals are a good idea, but what else can you do to find a great company?
1. Ask Construction Professionals
Your general contractor, engineer, architect and other construction professionals involved in your commercial construction or renovation project will probably have a list of companies they have worked with in the past, and might be able to recommend some that you can contact.
2. Contact the Electrical Contractor’s Licensing Board
In order for electrical contractors to legally work in Florida, they need to be licensed. You can call the board or visit the website MyFloridaLicense.com and search by name and contractor type to verify that their license is up to date. You can also search for licensed contractors by area, which can help to narrow down a list of options.
3. Check Their Better Business Bureau Rating
Another great way to do your preliminary investigation about potential commercial contractors in Florida (electrical and otherwise) is to check their Better Business Bureau rating. Not all companies are accredited by the BBB, but it is a good place to check reviews and ratings, because it is an established platform.
4. Check Sites Like Yelp and Angie’s List
Aside from trusted resources like the contractor’s licensing board website and the BBB, there are many other online resources that can help you to gauge a contractor’s capability, and Yelp and Angie’s List are just two of them. However, while rating sites can help, they’re not infallible, and every once in a while, a phony review will show up on one of these sites, so take really terrible reviews or extremely positive ones with a pinch of salt.
5. Set Up a Meeting
Good commercial electrical contractors will be willing to visit your building or work site, discuss your needs, and provide information about their completed projects, with references. They’ll be willing to discuss your scope of work, provide a quote based on your specifications, and, if you choose to give them the option to, provide you with viable alternatives. Never hire a commercial contractor who isn’t willing to do at least one site inspection, or who does not feel that a visit to your work site is key.
6. Read The Fine Print
Once you have short listed commercial contractors to provide you with a quote or a proposal for an electrical service agreement in West Palm Beach, make sure that you pay close attention to the wording of the contract, quotation or estimate. Good contractors will use standard terms and conditions, but if there are any that make you uncomfortable, be sure to ask. Likewise, be wary of any significantly low bids on a commercial electrical project. While they may well simply be cheaper than the competition, there may also be a calculation error in their bid, and that’s never good for anyone.
When you do find a good commercial electrical contractor, and if you know you’re going to need to use them in future, it’s worth establishing a relationship with them. Get to know their business, set up payment terms, and let them know what your needs are.
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