We asked our lead instructor Sid, about what are some common mistakers to avoid and this is what he had to say...
A couple of common mistakes that we're seeing out there. As some of you know, I get involved in a lot of lawsuits and similar cases dealing with homeowners, contractors and MIOSHA.
Common mistakes that are happening out there right now is insurance. The guys don't have proper... Either they don't carry enough of liability or they don't have liability and don't have workers comp. I'm dealing with a situation right now where the subcontractors provide a false insurance statement and they didn't have liability insurance, and the general contractor is now being brought into this litigation because they didn't verify the subcontractor has got the proper insurances.
Also in another situation a subcontractor employee was injured on the job. Find out nobody bothered to check if the subcontractor had workers comp insurance. Now that's falling back onto the general contractor.
Look at your contract. Make sure your contract... You've got an ADR clause, alternative dispute resolution clause, some way to resolve conflict. If you don't have it, that's almost as good as not having a proper contract. Make sure you've got alternative dispute resolution in there and unknown conditions. A contractor was digging a hole, they ran into a prior concrete foundation, and he had to pull it out because he didn't have unknown conditions are the responsibility of the homeowner.
Guys laugh at this one, but on your contract you always have some space to add room, and most of you know the story... I don't have time to share it right now, but if the people have pets in the house make them responsible for care and maintenance of pets, not you.
Estimates. Some of the guys are goofing up on estimates. They're relying on last year's dollar amount for material, the material cost list, and as a lot of you know those prices have gone uphill and you're not allowing for... Not only not allowing for your overhead on your costs, but you're also not putting a markup on your materials to cover your mistakes or inaccurate numbers.
