Advice from

our experts

We want to be proactive in alerting our customers to unethical and suspicious practices in the roofing/remodeling/construction industry. If you, the customer, will do proper investigation of any contractor you are considering using, you can save yourself time, heartache and money.  Here are some items to look for and some practices that are common among unethical "contractors":

1. Only use a contractor that is Arkansas licensed, bonded and insured.  Here is a link to the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board that you can check to see if a contractor has a license: http://aclb2.arkansas.gov/clbsearch.php  Check the Better Business Bureau to see if the contractor is accredited or not and if they have unresolved complaints that have been filed against them.

2. ALWAYS have a printed (not hand-written) contract that describes the scope of work for your project to be completed.

3. Be suspicious of giving a contractor money up-front, unless it is for special order (non-returnable) items you are specifying for your project or until product arrives to your home that offsets your down payment. A contractor should have an adequate credit line with their supplier and be able to order your material without requiring you to pay something down. 

4. NEVER write a check to an individual, particularly if your contract is with a company. This is where an unethical salesperson/project manager is going behind the back of a company to steal your money and leave you contractually liable for payment with the contractor when the work has been completed. There are many "salespeople" who identify themselves as working for a company and actually do not, then they get a down payment from a customer and disappear with your money.

5. MAKE SURE the representative at your door actually works for the company that they say they are representing; anyone can have business cards printed! Call the company to verify, unfortunately, this happens often and these are the people that want to steal your money.

Every potential contractor that is in business for the long term should be Arkansas licensed, bonded and insured, highly (A or A+) rated by the Better Business Bureau, have won multiple awards by companies such as Angie's List and Home Advisor, have several references available upon request and have a good website and social media presence.  These are good indicators of a legitimate business but it is important that you DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you hire. 
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