Five signs you hired the wrong Facilities Maintenance contractor

If you have ever hired a facilities manager before then you know the difference between great and shoddy craftsmanship. Here at Ideal NW, we have heard the horror stories that go from water leaking out of outlets and exposed wires.

These signs will let you know that you hired a dud and should be looking for a replacement for the people that take care of your company. In no way is this an exhaustive guide to making sure you hire the right person, but if you are looking for something like that then I would recommend looking at Greg Berge’s Simplified Guide for Hiring Contractors. Now lets get into it!

The Five Signs You Hired The Wrong Contractor

1. They are not licensed, insured, or bonded
Your friend that does electrical and plumbing on the side may not be the best choice for handyman work when it comes to keeping your facility running smoothly. There are many instances where you may find someone that is willing to offer you a cheaper price to overlook their qualification for the project. You must make sure to protect your business that your contractors are both licensed and insured to ensure the job is done correctly. Do not hire the guy off craigslist who told you that they have a team of guys that show up expecting you to have all the tools.

2. They are not actually part of the company that you hired

In the industry of facility management services, it is common to hire from a company that is not self-sufficient. The fact of the matter is that taking care of problems in other states requires an ecosystem of different employees that run the show. If you are hiring a national provider, make sure you are asking the contractors that are working on your facility what company they are with. This sign is important because the people on the end of your phone line may just be that and outsourcing their work to those people that we talked about in sign #1. To ensure autonomous facility management contracting services are the people you hire, ask them questions like these. If they are hard to answer, or they beat around the bush, then you can be sure that they are not a self-reliant company.

- What areas do you service?
- How many employees do you have in your company?
- How are you supposed to work on my store in New York City when you are based in Washington?

3. They are not a specialist in the specific project
Often it may be that you hire a contractor that does your remodeling, ask him to work on your deck at home, and then fix some leaky plumbing in the women’s bathroom. This is all great that your contractor can do many things, but, may be a sign that they are just be handyman rather than a specialist. You may recognize this sign if they are always the person that shows up for the work, or they bring along people and spend more time instructing than working.

It is important to hire a contractor that has many different specialists so that they can take care of any problem with people who know exactly what they are doing, and able to show the professionalism that you as a client deserve. It is not wrong to hire a handyman to do a lot of different things for your business and household, but from our experience over 28 years of facility management we know that the people you hire make the difference in true craftsmanship.

4. They show up late and miss appointments
Contractors that are not punctual are one of the worst contractors to hire for a facility maintenance contracting company. This is because you need someone there that can take care of things when they say they will. If great work comes with the price of missed deadlines, late workers, and wasted time then you may need to start looking elsewhere for a person that takes care of your facility with time as one of their key factors.

5. They give you a bad vibe
Humans have improved their ability to recognize signs that other individuals give off with great accuracy. If you get a gut feeling that the contractor you have hired is not in line with the culture that your company has created, it is a sign that you have hired the wrong one. This is possibly the most important sign to be mindful of because of the possibility for that company you hired not holding up the values you or your company have worked for. They may start off telling you everything you need to hear to get their foot in the door, but once they are in they may display some of the signs like mentioned above.

In Summary, it is important to be aware of these signs so that you can determine if the company you hired to do your electrical, plumbing, or handyman work is a competent and reliable source for solving current and future problems. In the future, it will be extremely beneficial for you to make your hiring decisions based on if your contractor has any of these signs apply to them.

If you can hire the right facilities contracting company, you will see an improvement on efficiency, cleanliness, and productivity. Your company will thank you and the contractor you hire will continue to perform if you make your decision based on these facts.