Property Malaysia

Navigating The 1099 Independent Contractor Compliance Landscape

Saving your company from ruins due to worker misclassification

Executive Summary

Over the years, full-time employees in the United States have enjoyed the fruits of long-term employment benefits where a good majority of the baby-boomers practically worked for a single employer until retirement.  However, business circumstances have lead to a new trend in the industry over the last 2 decades where companies have adopted a contingent workforce comprising of independent contractors in almost every industry, including IT or Information Technology.

From the business perspective, this was welcomed and embraced by employers who saw opportunities to enhance their bottomline due to perceived or realized cost savings from this new industry practice.  The use of these contingent workforce enabled high scalability for companies to wind-up or wind-down resourcing depending on business demands.  Add to that the realized benefits due to decrease in amount of employment taxes and costs of employee benefits, and exempting the companies from responsibilities under the traditional labor laws.

However, as years pass by, the concept of contingent workforce was so over-used which can lead to significant risk exposure for companies who misclassify independent contractors.  This was obviously attributed to their lack of understanding on the underlying differences between an independent contractor and an employee.  The grey area had since grown much wider and complicated as interested parties took notice of it and started asking the right questions.

While most companies understood that such worker misclassification have penalties such as increased tax liabilities, this is just the icing and not the cake.  Some employers have not yet considered the full devastating impact of other problems it can bring to them such as unpaid benefits, attorneys and court fees, etc.  To sum it all up, the total business impact of worker misclassification can actually cost these companies their whole business.

However, proactive initiatives by companies to conduct third-party audits bring in good value to their organizations.  This is especially so in order to understand better and mitigate risks involved in employing these independent contractors.  In the recent years, we can take a look at actual cases related to workers misclassification and gain a deeper insight on the complexity of the issues, and how your company can avoid the pitfalls of erring companies in the business.

FedEx: A Case of Independent Contractor Misclassification

The company received a bad news from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on December 22, 2007 with regards to independent contractor misclassification issue.  The IRS has assessed approximately 9 million in back taxes by FedEx for tax year 2002 due to misclassifying a great number of FedEx Ground/Home Delivery drivers as “independent contractors” instead of as employees.  FedEx has disclosed this decision of the IRS in its recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.  The 9 million assessed liability was only for 1 tax year, you must understand, and it can still increase when the IRS start looking at their other tax years for similar infractions.  Class action lawsuits against FedEx have also increased in number around the country, and over 50 lawsuits were consolidated at a federal court in South Bend, IN.  The class action involving around 14,000 current FedEx Ground/Home Delivery drivers nationwide may still grow with inclusion of additional 10,000 former drivers.  In California, FedEx’s position was further challenged as the California Supreme Court released its decision on the case Estrada vs. FedEx which affirmed an Appeals Court ruling that FedEx Ground/Home Delivery drivers were indeed misclassified as independent contractors instead of as employees of the company.

While FedEx has been largely considered as the common example for worker misclassification, it used to be Microsoft Corporation who carried that bill for a while back then.  Sometime in the late 1980s, the company employed around 1,000 workers under the category of independent contractors.  As part of their processes and procedures, those workers signed an agreement that affirms their being independent contractors, and that they were not entitled to the company’s Benefits Program for employees.  The IRS conducted an audit on the company during the 1989 to1990 tax year, and found that those workers classified by the company as independent contractors should actually be employees.  The IRS findings were based on Microsoft’s inherent ability to “exercise direction and control” over the services performed by those workers.  Thus, Microsoft decided to comply and paid employment (back) taxes for the workers and even hired some of those workers as employees.  However, Microsoft’s woes did not end there when a group of those former “independent contractors”, now employees, demanded for benefits that they could have enjoyed during the specific period they were classified as independent contractors.  While the company disputed the claims, around 8 of those employees sued Microsoft (Vizcaino vs. Microsoft) for the right to participate in the Benefits Plans.  Microsoft settled the suit in December 2007 in the amount of million.

Looking at the two examples above, the issues resulting to worker misclassification infractions were not new at all.  And they illustrate the continuing legal trend in the industry with regards to worker misclassification.  Problems continue to hound the conflicting interpretations of the legislation and the ambiguous guidelines followed by federal and state agencies to enforce the law on worker misclassification.  In September 12, 2007, then Sen. Barack Obama introduced Senate Bill 2044 known as the Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act of 2007.  The bill is still pending in the senate, and related bills were also introduced such as HR 6111 and S.3648.  With the proponent of the bill now sitting as President of the United States, it may not be long before S.2044 becomes a landmark legislation that will affect all industries using and benefiting from contingent workforce.

So, who are the Independent Contractors?  Who are the Employees?

In distinguishing between an independent contractor against an employee, the degree of “control and direction” over the worker plays a key part.  This particularly with regards to the degree of control exercised by the employer over the manner and means that service is to be performed by the worker.  A real independent contractor is a master craftsman, they are qualified experts in their trade, with verifiable professional credentials and do not need any degree of “control” over their manner and means to perform their services.

Employees, however, would usually require basic to advanced training or instructions on how to perform their work assignment.  This also includes instructions on designated hours of work, production rate, and the work area assignment among others.  Potential risks happen when the employer’s degree of control over the work output (per independent contractor relationship) crosses the line over the manner and means of performance of the work output (showing an employee relationship).  Not all members of employer’s supervising team are appreciative of those salient nuances which can really be ambiguous especially during times of tight deadlines to meet.

It is when these dividing lines merge or the distinction blurs, such can easily fall prey to scrutinizing eyes of the independent contractors themselves, the employees, or other interested parties such as federal or state agencies, union organizers, labor lawyers, etc. which may lead to further scrutiny.  And when these parties identify that a company may be misclassifying workers, they will make allegations of an employee relationship violation resulting to aggravated risks on the part of the employer.

Among the things often looked at in this case are the degree of control exerted by the company over the worker’s time and work hours, the degree of assistance given by the company’s employees to the independent contractors to perform their services, and the company’s control over the means or methods used to perform the work.  That is, the way to complete a work assignment versus concern only for the final output.  This is further aggravated where the so-called “independent contractors” are provided training by the company.  Depending on pending circumstances and contributing factors, the company will be liable for violation of the law concerning employment of independent contractors.

Impending Liability: Sword of Damocles?

Numerous studies showed that the US government was losing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes annually due to this worker misclassification practices in various industries.  This lead to intense deliberations in the legislative bodies and new bills introduced to remedy the problem.  While deliberations are still going on, let us revisit what can be the potential risks carried by non-compliant companies:

Back taxes, with both employee and employer contributions.
Cost of settlement for benefits that should have been enjoyed by affected workers had they been considered employees.
Pension contributions or profit shares that should have been enjoyed by affected workers.
Penalties from federal and state agencies plus accrued interests over the years covered in the violations.
Intentional misclassification of independent contractors which can lead to punitive or triple damages.
Encouragement of potential union organization efforts by affected workers.

While we cannot guarantee that nobody will challenge any company’s efforts to comply with proper worker classification legislations, what happened to FedEx and Microsoft were just sneak peeks of a potential upsurge on these cases that may come in view of the expected .58 trillion dollars budget deficit of the US government for the year 2009.

How can you protect your business?

It is true that, no matter how much you comply, it is still possible that someone or somebody will challenge you for a variety of reasons – trivial or otherwise.  Even the experts believe that the issues on worker misclassification will continue to exist not necessarily due to employers’ misgivings but also because of the changing legislations concerning the matter which opens new avenues for debates.  Be that as it may, the sure thing is that there will continue to be a need for careful and factual interpretations of these laws and their impact to the business.

Today, a lot of employers have limited appreciation of what processes do they have in place for properly classifying their workers, or how their current independent contractors are providing services to their company.  The first thing they needed to do to review their existing policies for worker classification.  While their staff may be able to follow what is already written on the policy manuals, interpreting the ambiguities of various legislations for worker classification is usually not these companies’ core competencies which open the door for potentials risks to happen.

The IRS has Section 530 Relief Requirements for those employers who engage independent contractors’ services.  Obviously, the burden of proof rests on the employers to support their qualifications to avail of the relief under Section 530.  Taking into consideration the broad interpretations on each of the three (3) requirement areas, even an employer who complied having “Reasonable Basis” can still fail under Substantive Consistency or Reporting Consistency.  The margin of error is too narrow to allow for uninformed decisions on the part of the employers.  There can be so much at stake for too little to make as benefits for taking the risks.  You must always refer back to the courts’ notion about the “duck.”

We can lay down a few steps for companies like yours to consider in regards to employing independent contractors in your organization:

Be sure to apply appropriate government guidelines. Many federal and state agencies provide basic tests that are applied during a tax audit.  Follow the guidelines as completely as you can when engaging independent contractors in your organizations.  A lot of these audit guidelines are public information and may be found on the agency’s website.  But be careful about the making ambiguous interpretations, and be sure to ask or qualify your interpretations as necessary.
Only use independent contractors with an established business already. Select independent contractors who have a good list of multiple clients serviced over the years, and which can be verified or validated.  Require your prospective independent contractors to present supporting documents such as client references, professional licenses, marketing materials, and proof of insurance before signing them up for services you require.
As possible, only use independent contractors who provide services which are not integral to your core business. Never engage independent contractors for services that are similarly performed by your regular employees.  Doing so will be indicative of staff augmentation instead of a defined project allowed for contracting.
Be sure to create and execute proper contracts with each independent contractor for each engagement. Make sure that the contractual agreement you sign with an independent contractor clearly defines the relationship of both parties to each other.  Engage the services of an expert to review your contracts to ensure that you are compliant to federal and state government guidelines.  Remember that each state may have varying guidelines that you need to comply with.  It must be that your contract presents a business-to-business transaction and veer away from any employer-employee language that hints about supervision or management of the worker.  The contract must include a Statement of Work that details the contractor’s actual deliverables (work output) and subject to acceptance by your company.  You should also include Non-Disclosure Agreements in contracting, and the standard provisions about Intellectual Property Protection on the contract itself.
So as not to lose track of compliance, be sure to address worker classification for all projects that you do. Be mindful that even while you deal with a real independent contractor, your compliance can be diminished due to the ambiguity of your project scope and definitions.  To remedy this, having an expert eye to review your documents can save you all the trouble in the near future.  Problems may not happen now, but it does not mean they will not happen at all if you miss out on current compliance requirements.
Always maintain audit files / records as references to support your worker classification decisions. In classifying workers as independent contractors, be sure to support this with as much documentation that you can have – from evaluation of competencies, customer references, proof of concept, etc.  With the process in place, you can be well prepared to support your worker classification decisions in case of an audit.  The more supporting documentation and processes you have, the more credibility you have in the eyes of the auditors.
Make it a rule never to engage a former W2 employee of your company as a 1099 independent contractor. This is the most common mistake committed by a lot of companies today.  This is highly risky because more often than not, these workers are re-engaged to perform similar work that they used to do as W2 employees.  It will for your best interest to instead engage a real independent contractor with excellent track record of delivering your required services.  The difference can save you the trouble supporting your worker classification decisions during an audit later on.
Explore about outsourcing your compliance assistance. Ensuring defensible compliance to 1099 independent contractor legislations require resources and strong expertise.  The ever changing legislations both on federal and state levels continue to pose challenges for companies to ensure a worry-free path to compliance.  Engaging the help of experts improves your confidence on compliance and weed out potential risks.  Further, where an independent contractor engagement is not feasible, there may still be other means to acquire the talents you require for your projects minus the compliance risks.
Be a good citizen of the country, and make no compromise about it. This country has offered your company great opportunities to do business and improve the lives of those who work with you.  Be a model citizen and pay your taxes honestly.  Cutting corners to save thousands or millions may actually cost you three-folds or more in the near future.  And being a good American is your best contribution to our industry and our society at large.

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by U.S. Army Garrison – Miami

Doylestown Kitchen Contractors

So you have decided it is time to bring in a professional to renovate your kitchen. This is an exciting and important decision, but one that can bring a lot of stress as well. Making permanent and costly changes to your house is a big undertaking, but with some well thought out planning, the process can be a lot easier. Try to avoid an emotional decision and be prepared to take a step back and look at all the information you will have gathered. All the time you take in the beginning in preparation will help your project run more smoothly. One indispensable asset to your renovation project will be finding a good, reputable kitchen contractor. The process can be less daunting if you follow easy step-by-step directions.

Steps to finding a good contractor:

1.) Check to make sure that they have a contractor’s license.
2.) Get two or more references.
3.) Ask how long they have been in business.
4.) Get at least three total bids for the job to do a comparison.
5.) Find a contractor that will give you pricing for small jobs over the phone.
6.) Get flat rate estimates so you know the total you will pay beforehand.
7.) Ask if they do free in-home consultations.

Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat, you’re going to do some sleuthing! You are going to want to find honest referrals and ask some questions. The best place to start asking about contractors is your family and friends. Other good sources of referrals include other contractors, real estate agents and your local designers or architects. You may even ask for a material supplier and check to see which contractor is in good standing. Your city may even be able to provide a list of recommended contractors who are familiar with the local codes in your area. When asking for referrals, be sure to check the type of job the contractor accomplished. Also, determine if the contractor specializes in residential or commercial work.

Some good questions to ask your referral:

Were you happy with the quality provided by the contractor? Everybody has their own ideas of quality, so you should to take a look at your referral’s completed project and judge for yourself. Pay attention to workmanship, painted areas around doors, windows and trim, quality of materials, fine details like moldings and trim work and overall appearance.

Did the contractor protect surfaces and areas? For exteriors this includes concrete, roofing and plantings. For interiors, moving and protecting furniture is a major concern but don’t forget about the flooring. Contractors who are careless and sloppy with one customer will probably be that way with all customers. If you are left to clean up after your contractor this will cost you more time and money and frustration.

Were they courteous and polite? This is a very important consideration and addresses the attitude and behavior of the contractor and his crew. They will be working closely with you and will be in your house and may be around your family. Ask the referral’s overall impression and if they say no, do not go any further, you should avoid working with this person.

Was the contractor on budget? Find out if the contractor had any cost overruns due to his mismanagement or errors and how he dealt with them. A professional contractor will have a well-formed plan and keep to schedule barring any outside issues beyond his or her control. If errors are made on their behalf, they should be responsible for fixing the problems at their cost.

Were they professional? This is the key question to ask. Professional contractors will be patient when dealing with problems or issues. They will problem-solve and find a solution that will work. They manage their crew effectively and address any client concerns. They will communicate with their crew and with their clients effortlessly and answer all questions.

Now it’s time to do some work and start interviewing your prospective candidates. Give yourself some time and be patient. Good contractors have long days and busy schedules, but should be available to make an appointment with you for your first interview. Just as you would do your homework when choosing a new car or buying a new house, a little research goes a long way. Avoid just picking out a name from a big phone book ad. Time spent talking to different contractors before picking one for your job will save you many headaches later on. The old adage of “let the buyer beware” still rings true. Here are questions to ask to get you out of the gate quickly.

WHO WILL BE MANAGING THE RENOVATION? Confirm who will manage your project from start to finish. You don’t want to find out that your contractor has sub-contracted the work and will not be actively involved on a daily basis. If your contractor has a designated employee who will be the manager, make sure you make an appointment to meet him or her. Confirm that the designated manager will be fully capable to handle all aspects of the job and able to execute important decisions. Finally, confirm how you will communicate with the project manager and how often. If you want to be involved in the daily progress of your project, make sure your contractor will be open to your communication style.

WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE PROJECT’S DESIGN? Find out if your contractor will also design your space or if they have a designer with whom they work. There are contractors who will do your work, but do not give any design advice. They will just install the materials you have chosen. If you are apprehensive about choosing a design for your project because you do not know where to start or what materials to pick, then hire a designer if your contractor does not work with one. The best kitchen contractors work closely with reputable designers, cabinet manufacturers and granite and tile suppliers. The best scenario would be to work with a contractor-designer team to ensure all aspects of your kitchen renovation will be taken care of, leaving less stress for you.

WILL THERE BE A SIGNED CONTRACT AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE? Knowing this protects you and allows you to plan your monetary outlay ahead of time. If your contractor decides to quit your job or leave town, at least with a payment schedule you will not have paid all your costs ahead of time. It is a hard fact to swallow, but contractors have been known to stop their jobs due to poor financial management, employee problems and overlapping project schedules. Having a good referral and doing research should keep this from happening to you.

WHAT IS THEIR SAFETY AND CLEAN UP POLICY? Safety: Accidents can happen with almost any home improvement project. So ask your prospective candidate what steps he or she will take to prevent injuries and property damage. Again, if a contractor is good at his work he or she will be able to answer this question with ease.
Clean Up: Ask the contractor how he or she intends to leave the work area at the end of each working day and at completion. You don’t want to be cleaning up after a contractor for hours after they’ve left your home. Inquire about dumpsters, daily garbage removal and clean-up areas.

WHAT IS AN AVERAGE TIMELINE FOR THE PROJECT? Know up front the estimated time it will take to do the renovation from start to finish. The majority of projects go beyond their due dates due to many factors, which can include: delays in material or product delivery, damaged products, issues with sub-contractors like plumbers, electricians, roofers, and equipment issues. The rule of thumb is to add 30% extra to your estimated time line to cover unforeseeable delays.

HOW DO THEY PLAN TO PREPARE THE RENOVATION AREA? Proper prep work is the key to a well conducted job. Make sure your contractor has a clear plan for accessing dumpsters, bringing in materials and equipment, setting up work stations and protecting furniture, entryways and floors.

HAVE THEY HAD ANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST THEM? Even good contractors can have disgruntled customers, for whatever reason. No business has zero complaints. Find out ahead of time if there are any pending issues you should know about and if they can explain them. During your construction project you don’t want to be surprised from another source that your contractor has had complaints or is actively battling a customer issue.

DO THEY INCLUDE A WARRANTY? How will you be protected after the contractor finishes your renovation project? You can have issues with defective materials, leaky faucets, uneven doors, poor connections etc. A professional and ethical contractor will provide a straightforward warranty for service before he even starts demolition or drives a nail. A warranty should be good for one year after the project is completed and your last payment. This warranty should cover against material defects and workmanship errors.

Once you have gathered information and have narrowed your search to about 3-4 contractors, invite the contractors to look at the job and ask for a quote in writing. In the quote also ask them to specify the time it will take to complete the job. It is stressful to try and live in a house that is covered with protective material and is full of construction equipment and workers. Make sure all proposed contractors are quoting on the same specifications for your project so comparisons will be accurate.

When you decide on the contractor you will be working with have him or her execute a contract specifying the work to be done, total cost, payment schedule, start date, estimated completion date and warranties. Make sure the contract includes the brand and specifications of all materials, appliances, paints, etc. The contract should specify that the contractor is responsible for cleanup and the removal of all debris, dangerous equipment or electrical gear after every working day, especially if your family will have access to the work space during off hours. Have your contractor clearly state the process for dealing with any design changes you may want during the kitchen renovation period.

There are a couple of key qualifications that set a professional apart from the rest. The first is insurance. Be sure that the prospective contractor you are considering is fully insured, having both workers’ compensation and liability insurance. Your selected contractor should be able to provide you with a copy of his or her insurance policy. The second is good standing with the Better Business Bureau. You can contact them by phone or go straight to their website: www.bbb.org. Here you can find out if there are any complaints filed against your candidate. Another source for investigation that has popped up in the recent years is the website called Angie’s List at www.AngiesList.com. Here you can see what others have to say about this person locally. If a contractor has good reviews on Angie’s List then it is a good bet they will do good work for you too.

by U.S. Army Garrison – Miami

Ottawa General Contractors Get the Job Done

You have a great salary recently and you are concerned on what to do with your 20-year old home. What are you going to do if you are seeing that your home needs to have some makeover since it has been too old? Who will you call to have the job done? Will you be just settling for anyone who can do it for you? Definitely not! We are talking about your home, and it is one thing that you cannot be thrifty about. Asking the assistance of Ottawa General Contractors is the place to start.

No matter what we do or what we say, it later comes to the point that we wanted our homes to good look on the outside and a lot better on the inside. Should you be starting with Ottawa kitchen additions or having those Ottawa bathroom renovations so that visitors can have the glimpse of your new modifications and that you may find pride with what you have done for your home. Alternatively, would you be the discreet type that you wanted to begin everything from down going up by renovating a basement in Ottawa to be accomplished first?

Whatever you want to do, as long as you have everything done according to plan, all the things needed to be done or what to start first is all up to you. The company is there waiting for your recommendations and see if things can be done suitably. While you are at it, my suggestion is to begin from the busiest to the least visited. This may apply to having Ottawa kitchen design taken care of. Once you have decided that this be the first, you may have to be specific on mentioning that Ottawa kitchen counter tops and Ottawa kitchen cabinetry will be added in all one go.

When every little Ottawa kitchen renovations have been done and there are more things in need of work, you may consider the bathroom being done next since it cannot be avoided that these kinds of rooms are used more often when having visitors in. You may consider having just Ottawa bathroom additions be done for lighter labor and faster output or an Ottawa bathroom design as an alternative for speedy results. However, if you will not be expecting someone to come soon and you wanted to have that great looking bathroom, then renovating a bathroom in Ottawa would be your best choice for the meantime.

Now that two things are done and you no longer have to worry about people, you may now have that decision of having Ottawa basement renovations done right away. When that hard part is done, you may have some Ottawa basement additions processed for better finish and finalization, being able to utilize Ottawa basement design so that the outcome and be absolute and great. It may cost money to renovate that home of your dreams. However, remember, a home being invested today can become a home that can be an investment tomorrow. This is how great when they are able to get their job done.

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by infomatique

Huge Fall In Vacancies For Financial It Contractors

Vacancies for private-sector financial IT contractors have fallen to their lowest level for seven years.

A Computer Weekly/SSL survey shows that in January the number of finance jobs advertised for contractors fell by 16.1 per cent – the biggest drop since 2001.

Meanwhile, a Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs, shows overall vacancies slumped for the eighth month in a row in January.

The respected report, first published 21 years ago, also highlights sharp reductions in permanent and temporary staff employment during January plus further falls in appointments, vacancies and pay

In terms of month-on-month decline the report reveals IT was the second slowest sector.

It also shows:

An underlying shift in bargaining power towards employers, with the rate of decline in average permanent salaries at its fastest since information was first collected in 1997

Hourly pay rates for temporary staff down sharply on the month

Skills in demand for permanent IT staff include .NET, C# and PHP developers.

According to the REC the availability of staff to fill vacancies continued to rise strongly in January, with increasing numbers of redundancies being cited and fewer new job opportunities becoming available.

Mike Stevens, partner and head of business services at KPMG, said:

“Most employers are now looking at ways to cut costs to mitigate falling sales revenues. High on the list of costs, for what has largely become a service economy, is wages. So most companies are considering redundancy plans. The best employers are already looking at more imaginative ideas, for example by inviting staff to volunteer to reduce pay in return for a shorter working week during the recession.”

by ww_whist

Putting Service First is Key at Danbro the Contractors Accountant

At Danbro, we understand the importance of looking after all of our clients. We recognize that customer service plays a key role in the success of a service including the Umbrella Service sector and is one of the main ways we differentiate ourselves from other umbrella service providers.

With an ethos of “it’s always the small things that make a big difference”, we are constantly striving to ensure a high level of customer service. In order for DANBRO to maintain such a high level of service we are constantly carrying out training for all of our employees right across the company and pushing the importance of providing a quality service.

We regularly receive feedback from contractors expressing their positive views about our service, many of which can be found on our website www.danbro.co.uk. One client recently explained, “the customer service is excellent and I trust the people at Danbro. Any queries are dealt with quickly and you never feel you are being ‘fobbed off’.” (K. Berry, 04/2008).

Evidence of this high quality service can also be found on many of the umbrella comparison websites, including Umbrella Supermarket and Bytestart. These sites compare the 100’s of different Umbrella Companies, helping contractors to choose the right umbrella company for them.

Umbrella Supermarket’s rating system does not solely rely on the site’s personal opinions but compiles the votes of thousands of contractors. They recognize that a contractor’s experience of an Umbrella Company’s online facilities is very important together with customer service and of course the contractor’s net pay. Danbro is positioned second from top on the Umbrella Company League with an overall rating of 81%. This is a very encouraging figure not only for the contractors but the whole team here at Danbro.

The Contractors State License Board has produced a 15-minute educational video titled “Doing It Right: Hiring a Licensed Contractor.” The video guides consumers through the process of selecting, hiring and managing a contractor including: How to verify a contractor’s credentials, What to include in the written contract How to prevent common disputes, and Where to go if problems arise.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Looking For A Contractor in South Florida?

So you’ve got an old living room in that house you own in South Florida. You look at it and think to yourself, “man this place does look old. Like, omg-did-that-just-fall-off old”. And you know that this calls for something a little more drastic than just rearranging some furniture… or adding that plastic flamingo you’ve been eyeing from the mall. You know it’s going to take a major overhaul to make it the living room of your dreams. So you decide to find a guy who can do the job for you. Because let’s face it, sitting thru all those Queer Eye marathons won’t give you interior design superpowers.
You look up the South Florida phonebook but get cross-eyed in the process just looking at those names. All the listed general contractors seem to offer the same services. Of course you can just close your eyes and pick one, but if you’re the type of person who knows that this is both an investment of time and money, you’d probably know better. Instead, do some research. You’d want to take your time before finding the right builder for you. The smart move would be to get a general contractor who can do what you want, how you want it done, and within your budget.
Let me explain more about that last bit. What you want means getting a building contractor who knows how to build or renovate based on your preference on design. You don’t want to hire a guy who specializes in rustic when you’re going for minimalist. Or hire a guy who’s good at doing country style-designs (a la Martha Stewart) to set up that dream bachelor’s pad. So it’s always a good idea to have a look at the contractor’s previous projects to see if his style matches what you want. It’s better to hire a general contractor that’s done it rather than another that says he can, but hasn’t done anything like it before. Doing this would also be a good opportunity to see the quality of the general contractor’s work.
How you want it done means how you’d want your contractor to handle the build and how much control you’d have over it. Is the general contractor the type that won’t give up control over how the job turns out? Will the contractor be at the site all the time or will he hand it over to a foreman? Will the contractor update you on new developments with the build and ask you to clear up tough details, or is he the independent type who’d want as little input from you as possible? It’s these questions that make you realize how important it is to know if your contractor’s someone you can trust, especially in the professional sense of things. Make it a point to interview a contractor to see if they’re a good match for you and how you want things done.
In terms of budget, it’s for sure that you’d have to make some tough calls. Have a range of how much you’re willing to spend, but be wary of getting it too cheap. You may be getting the bad end of the deal by doing this, because the contractor may opt to use low quality materials.
Because having a building or remodeling job isn’t an easy decision, you can’t just have any general contractor to do it. I won’t even start with the risks involved, but let’s just keep it with the most important things to consider— namely, time and money. P&T Construction Inc is a West Palm Beach General Contractor . They have been in the industry for over 30 years. And they have more than what it takes to give you the peace of mind you deserve knowing that your commercial or residential constructions turn out the way you want without fuss, without delay.

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