Top Things to Investigate When Hiring an Electrician In Vancouver
Licenses & Certifications
Hiring an electrician or finding homebuilder contractor in Vancouver can be dangerous if not careful during your initial screening process. The wrong person or company taking on your project could cause delays, damages, and an overall unpleasant experience. A lot of electrical companies always include the tag line “Licensed, Insured and Bonded” But what does that really mean?
Some more specific questions you can ask your potential Electrician or Electrical Contractor would be: What type of electrical license does your company hold? Are you electricians Red Seal Certified? How much liability insurance do you have? Is your worker’s compensation reporting up to date and paid?
A licensed Electrical Contractor in BC must hold a certification through the Technical Safety Authority of BC (https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/), a contractor will typically hold a license with the numbers (LEL) in front of their registration number. Always inquire about this number to ensure you are working with a company that is registered and licensed to perform work in Vancouver and BC.
Every company should also retain a RED Seal Journeyman Electrician that holds a Field Safety Representative card (FSR) which allows the company to apply and hold electrical permits in BC. This is specifically important for small, medium, and large-sized projects that will need electrical permits.
When it comes to liability insurance there are many different types and electrical contractors in Vancouver or electricians can hold. Always ensure that their insurance covers the type of work that they are hired to do. The industry standard is 2 Million in liability, however, as well know insurance claims can quickly add up in a serious situation and you may want to ask your potential contractor if they carry a 5 Million liability ticket.
Do not be fooled by the misconception when you see “Bonded”. Bonding is project-based, and the electrician or electrical contractor must apply for a project-specific bond with an insurance agency. Depending on their credibility and financial statements, they will be accepted or rejected at the time of the individual application. There is no one Bond fits all.
Credibility & References
Have you done this type of project before? Would you happen to have a reference? These two questions are a must when hiring your electrician or electrical contractor. You need the confidence that they are capable of completing the work with minimal deficiencies or setbacks, nobody wants to deal with things that don’t turn on at the end of your project (although it may happen, you want to mitigate this as much as possible).
Some ways to define credibility could be as simple as checking to see what type of organizations the electrical contractor is a member of. The Electrical Contractor’s Association of BC is a chapter that is part of a larger organization of Canada where many of the top contractors can be found. This organization keeps its members up to date with code changes, technology, and educational courses in many different aspects of electrical construction. You can also reference the Better Business Bureau to see if there had been any complaints filed against the company and if they were resolved. A complaint is not always a bad thing either! You can observe how a contractor deals with conflict resolution, which is extremely important in construction and renovation projects.
Two other associations that electrical companies can be a part of are the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) and the Homebuilders Association Vancouver (HAVAN) these two organizations cover construction and renovation companies in the commercial and residential sectors all over the lower mainland. They are great organizations for anyone to gather resources about companies that they may want to engage work with.
“You are only as good as your last job” is a common phrase in the construction industry, hence the importance of relative references. Industry-standard when hiring employees would be to do a reference check, so why would not you do a reference check when hiring an electrician or electrical contractor. Do not always expect the feedback to always be positive either! Focus on the bigger picture, more positives than negatives! Everyone has had a bad experience at a good restaurant before!
Website, Online Presence, and Reviews
Always be skeptical! What you do not see you do not know. If you cannot find anything about an electrician or electrical company that you want to hire in Vancouver should you really hire them? Probably not. We are living in modern times. Websites are very affordable and easy to establish in this day and day and age. If a company does not have time to take care of their image online, do they have time to take care of your project properly?
Now, we are in the construction and renovations industry, we are not in the marketing business. So, if they are present online it probably means that the risk of them disappearing on you in the middle of your project is unlikely. Nobody wants to be left high and dry in the middle of their project so due to your diligence and look online first before hiring. Some common channels where you can connect with electrical contractors would be Instagram, Facebook, Website. These are all platforms that revolve around the photo and video content which will allow you to make a connection with the company before calling with your inquiry.
We live in the age of reviews, everyone wants to know how many 5-Star reviews a company has, who has the most, and then lean towards that company first. Always take the time to read a few of the online reviews to have a feel for how the company appreciated great feedback and the not-so-great feedback was dealt with. Great companies learn from feedback that is not always the best, they make improvements and continue on their journey of servicing their clients at the highest standard that they can. Everyone makes mistakes, we are all human. Accountability is extremely important with electrical contracting. If a company or even an electrical supplier is not accountable, and a mistake is made it could cost you thousands of dollars in the end. Make sure that your electrician is accountable, reasonable, and highly reviewed before making your decision to hire them!