Is Your Lake City Electrician Insured?

Hiring a Lake City electrician can be a frustrating and expensive process, but hiring the right person for the job can save you time, money and frustration in the long run. When choosing an electrician to come out to work on your Lake City home, no matter how small the project, being licensed and insured should be a requirement.

You might be wondering why hiring an insured electrician is so important. Here are a few reasons:

Safety

First and foremost, your safety is of the utmost importance. A properly licensed and insured residential electrician is more likely to do the job correctly, reducing the risk of trauma to you or anyone else. Death or trauma by electric shock due to an improperly wired outlet, switch, or other mishap is a very real danger. To avoid this sort of accident, you are better off hiring a reputable, licensed, and insured electrician.

If an electrician has a good reputation and carries the appropriate licensing and insurance, he or she is much likely to perform good work and leave no loose ends, which means your home and the people in it are likely in good hands.

Knowledge

If an electrician is licensed and insured they are more likely to actually have the experience and know how to fix all manner of electrical issues. Review their website for services offered and level of experience.

It's not that someone can't be a talented electrician without being licensed and insured, it's just that a licensed and insured reputable Lake City electrician is very unlikely to be very unskilled or a phony.

It is highly unlikely that a shoddy repairman trying to pass himself off as an experienced electrician is going to go through the difficulty of obtaining a fake license and proof of insurance, but it doesn't hurt to call and verify that they have valid coverage for the task being done.

Coverage

If an accident occurs, you want to be covered for any damages. In the worst possible scenario, if some terrible accident occurred at the hands of an uninsured electrician, you could be responsible for the damages to your home and whatever medical bills are incurred by anyone involved in the accident. This includes any damage or trauma that the electrician suffers as well. Yes, you could be responsible for someone else's mistake if the electrician is not properly insured.

A properly licensed and insured electrician is required to have a certain level of liability insurance coverage depending on the extent of the job. That way, if an accident does happen, both you and the electrician are covered.

Hiring a reputable electrician who is licensed and insured might be more expensive than a handyman that you found on Craigslist, but in the end the extra expenditure is worth it. The project could go off without a hitch, but if something does go wrong you want to make sure you are covered.

Steps to Hiring a Professional Lake City Electrician

Hiring a professional electrician is something many people do over a lifetime. It could be due to needing a home built, a home rewired, or it could have to do with building out a retail location. Whatever the reason it's a good notion to learn the steps to hiring a professional electrician.

Describe the Project

You need to know exactly what work needs to be done before you embark on your search for an electrician. Each Lake City electrician or contractor specializes in different types of work, so you want to be sure to contact the right people so that you don't waste your time or theirs if they don't even do your type of work. Even if you don't understand the details that go into the work you need done, you can describe it in general.

Ask People You Know for Recommendations

Once you know what type of project you need done, now ask your friends and family for recommendations. Try to gather five to eight different recommendations so that you can compare them. It helps if the recommendations are from people who have actually utilized the electrician in question and if the project is similar in nature to yours.

Research the Recommendations

Now that you have several recommendations take the time to research the companies or individuals in question. During your research you might find other names to add to your list. Check their backgrounds ensuring they are not involved in any lawsuits or other issues. Plus you want to be sure they are actually certified and licensed electricians. Many people wrongly call themselves electricians when they are not.

Interview the Recommendations

Now you can call the recommendations describe your job to ask if they would be interested in bid on the project. Ask for a written and detailed free quote from each electrician. As you get the bids, also ask each electrician some thought out questions in advance about their licensure, certification, experience and payment policy.

Compare the Results

Now that you've got the bids, and you've interviewed each candidate, compare the results. Don't always select the lowest bid. Select the candidate who answered your questions accurately, and who most impresses you regarding their work ethic. Choose the person most willing to work with you in the way you want.

Create a Contract

Most of the time the electrician will create a contract, make sure that it has everything in it you've discussed along with a detailed description of the job. It should define what the electrician will do, and won't do, and how much it will cost. It should also describe contingencies such as weather issues or issues outside of your control or their control, and issues within their control and how they'll manage that if they get off schedule. You can ask for things to be added to the contract so that you're satisfied with it before you sign.

Pay Your Deposit

Typically you'll need to pay up to 50 percentage of the estimated cost to get your project started. After that, you'll receive bills on an agreed upon schedule that is spelled out in the contract. Ensure that the last payment is not due until you've had a chance to evaluate whether the project is completed and successful or not.

One final note is to always keep track and keep tabs on your Lake City electrician. If it's a big chore you want to find out exactly what is done and what needs to be done periodically. One way to compare is to ask for itemized billing so that you can check that you're only being billed for parts of the job that are actually finished.

Florence Electrician Pros services Lake City and surrounding areas. Check out our homeowner tips page for articles to keep you informed.

 

Florence Electrician Pros

Florence, SC 29501

843-212-4173 

http://electricianprosflorence.com/