What to consider when choosing a home or commercial maintenance contractor

It’s important to understand the do’s and don’ts and what to look out for when choosing a contractor to action repairs, maintenance and new projects on your highly valued residential and or commercial properties in South Africa today.

In this article, we will give you a few important pointers to be aware of when you are looking to match the right company to the job at hand.

What is the scope of the job?

The scope of the work required will determine whether you choose a contractor that is more within the casual sector or if the more complicated and higher risk will need a more formal and qualified company to carry out the work.

Relatively low-skill work such as painting, plastering, gardening etc. doesn’t require a formal qualification and as a client, one can get fairly cheap labour to handle such work. Although as is with most things, going the cheap route doesn’t always pay you. The downfalls and risks associated with hiring cheap untrusted workers to complete even the simplest of jobs can result in dire consequences, hassles and further expense. We will discuss what to look out for in the next few points below…

How much relevant experience does the contractor have?

Many cheaper contractors in the casual sector that you may pick up outside of a Builders Warehouse or similar will tell you they are a “jack of all trades” but in reality, these guys are sadly desperate for work and will try to convince you that they have extensive experience when in truth they are purely desperate for work and will say anything to earn some sort of income.

It is imperative for bigger projects to ask the contractor that is quoting you for examples of their work and furthermore an excellent idea to ask for two or three references of clients they have done similar work for.

Do they have online reviews?

Google, Facebook and other platforms such as Hello Peter and Trust Pilot are very reliable ways of understanding what other previous clients have said and experienced having dealt with the company that is quoting you.

Simply Google the business you are dealing with and or search for them on any of the above-mentioned platforms for quick access to public reviews and comments from previous clientele. Most of these platforms use an average of 1-5 (normally in a “star type”) rating format worked out by an average of every review given. Anything above a 4-star rating with a minimum of 10 ratings is an excellent score for any business… But be sure to read the comments included albeit with a pinch of salt. Clients can be excessively difficult and abuse their online power with scathing and unfair comments and reviews. Best to look at the average score and general comments regarding the business in question.

What accreditation do they have?

There are various accreditations to look for when choosing a service provider in South Africa. The aim of this is to insure a good standard of work as well as to protect the client as well as the contractor carrying out the work.

The two main ones to make sure they are affiliated with are:

NHBRC – The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) is a regulatory body of the home building industry. It was established in 1998 in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No. 95 of 1998).

Our mandate is to protect the interests of housing consumers and to ensure that builders comply with the prescribed building industry standards as contained in the Home Building Manual.

CIDB – Construction Industry Development Board Established by Act 38 of 2000, CIDB helps to transform the construction industry through inclusivity, and high ethical standards and amplifies contributions made by industry participants towards South Africa’s economy and society. All government institutions must register their projects in the Register of Projects (RoPs).

Contractors must apply for grading through the CIDB to become listed in the Register of Contractors (RoCs) and subsequently advance their business opportunities. All firms providing consultancy to clients and contracts in the building environment must comply with the CIDB.

The quotation process

In our experience over the years, almost no client can be accurately quoted over the phone, there is in 90% of the cases more work than the client is aware of or understands involved even in what may seem like the smallest and easiest of jobs.

Make sure that before you accept any quotation that the contractor who is providing the quote has physically visited and evaluated the project in its entirety. Although this may cause an initial inconvenience, it will most definitely mitigate against much further hassle and stress later in the process.

What guarantees and warranties on work do they provide?

Make sure that the work carried out is guaranteed and that there is a proper route of recourse should the job not be completed to your satisfaction, using a more established contractor or service provider will make sure you have some sort of peace of mind should there be any need for touch-ups and or repairs on later defects.

A further point to note is, should you as the client insist on providing any material for the job, the contractor cannot be held responsible for any defect in so far as the actual materials used that may arise in future.

Our advice is, to let the contractor supply the required materials and provide a guarantee/warranty on the entire project!

Safety and security concerns for your family, staff and valuable assets

Using an unregistered and unknown contractor unfortunately can result in a bad experience not only with the quality of work carried out but in terms of safety and security for the people and items on the property.
Too often we hear that a hijack or a robbery occurs shortly after contractors have completed work on a property.

Unfortunately having anyone that is unknown in your personal space carries its risks. Use a contractor that employs their staff permanently and takes their reputation and your security seriously.

About Mzansi Sky

Mzansi Sky, formally Mzansi Sky Projects CC, has over 15 years of experience operating and completing professional small to medium size projects throughout South Africa. They offer a wide range of professional services to both the public and private sectors. They pride themselves on professional project management and an unmatched standard of work. Their teams continually attend upskill programs in order to provide their clients with the best possible service and advice. Management is hands-on and directly involved in each and every project. All projects come with a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.

Their Services Include

Project Management, Roofing, Thatching, Security Solutions Solar and Inverter Systems, Electrical Work, Alterations, Minor Construction Projects, Renovations, General Maintenance, Painting, Tiling, Garden Services