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MJM · 01-09-2009, 08:48 AM

In my family's case, references were checked, and all resulted in an acceptable comfort level in hiring the contractor. His own work was decent, he used good subcontractors, etc.

We did lose a lot of money, sued in court and won, but of course you can't get $$ from someone who has none, and we were far down on the list of people to be paid if there had been any money.

I believe the key is in the payment schedule. You can't put too much cash in the contractor's hands prior to the work being done. You need a specific payment schedule (i.e. certain percentages at certain milestones).

01-09-2009, 08:48 AM	#10
MJM Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 262 Thanks: 0 Thanked 23 Times in 11 Posts	References aren't foolproof In my family's case, references were checked, and all resulted in an acceptable comfort level in hiring the contractor. His own work was decent, he used good subcontractors, etc. We did lose a lot of money, sued in court and won, but of course you can't get $$ from someone who has none, and we were far down on the list of people to be paid if there had been any money. I believe the key is in the payment schedule. You can't put too much cash in the contractor's hands prior to the work being done. You need a specific payment schedule (i.e. certain percentages at certain milestones).