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Check legitimacy
If state licensing and/or business licensing is required in your state or area, make sure to ask for these credentials from your potential contractor and independently verify these with the appropriate agencies or your local city government. In California, we have a Contractor State Licensing Board. Check to see if you have a similar agency listed in your local phone book. Also, your contractor should provide liability insurance to protect you against any claims for injuries that might occur on your job to third parties because of poor workmanship or negligence. In some states, such as California, all contractors are required to have workman's compensation insurance on everyone employed by the contractor. Check to see if your state also has workman's compensation insurance requirements. It is important to check for workman's compensation insurance because if someone employed by the contractor is hurt while working on your project, you will be ultimately responsible (YOU COULD BE SUED!!) if the contractor does not have the appropriate insurance coverage. Ask the contractor to have his/her insurance company forward a certificate of insurance coverage DIRECTLY to you for verification.
There are many other items that could be added to this column, but there isn't enough space. However, if you have a question regarding this column or any information presented in it, you can send email to: myquestion@msfiscallyfit.com and MsFiscallyFit.com will do our best to answer it for you.
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