Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132tors in the area. They will be the contractors who either pay for the lead or pay to advertise. Some online services even charge the contractor a percentage of the sales price; guess who really pays that fee? Think of online services as another advertising outlet, not a source of quality contractors. Wrong advice: request a detailed breakdown of labor and material costs for each part of the project This isn’t necessary if you’re working with a cost-plus con- tract (more on that later). It also isn’t necessary when you’re work- ing with a fixed-price contract because you were given a firm, fixed price. We’ve talked about itemizing estimates and transparency on our blog. It’s a wasted exercise for the contractor and for the client. If you don’t trust the contractor you’re working with, or if you don’t like the price they quoted you, don’t hire them. Wrong advice: include a penalty fee in the contract if the comple- tion date isn’t met This is only fair if you include a bonus if they finish before the completion date. I know the argu- ment; they’ll rush to finish the job quickly to collect the bonus. Guess what? They’ll also rush to finish the job if it looks like they’ll have to pay a penalty. Go ahead and include a penalty as long as you include a bonus as well. Fair is fair. Wrong advice: fixed price and cost plus contract comparisons A related article on the Consumer Reports website (included in the print version) discusses fixed-price and cost-plus contracts. There is a warning that with fixed-price contracts, the contractor might cut corners to stay on budget if their costs are higher than estimated. Keep in mind that this is also a risk if you negotiated down the price of the job, and it won’t happen at all if you hire a reputable contrac- tor who knows how to price their work properly. I strongly recommend against using a cost-plus contract; that’s covered at length on our web- site. I disagree with their state- ment that most cost-plus contracts come with a guaranteed maxi- mum price, or a ceiling on addi- tional charges. If they did, there would be far fewer disagreements, but there would also be many jobs left unfinished when the maxi- mum price is reached before the project is completed. BUSINESS TIP –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 28 TileLetter | August 2016