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Glen Haege is a Detroit based kind of "handyman expert" and is our go to source when we have questions like this. This information on hiring contrators is Michigan scewed, but it's still applicable information.

This is a recent article on hiring contractors, including swimming pool contractors:

Article requested from http://masterhandyman.com/

By Glenn Haege
(All rights reserved)

Publication date: 04/29/2006

Save yourself some headaches when hiring a contractor

Spring. Time to get all those jobs done around the house. Many of the jobs you can and will do yourself. A few will have to be done by someone else. This year, you have to be particularly careful that the folks you hire to do a job can actually get the job done.

Every spring, groups of people travel around neighborhoods, knocking on doors and offering deals to homeowners "because they are in the neighborhood." Sometimes, these are legitimate small contractors. All too often, they are con men collecting deposits on cement, asphalt and roofing jobs that they never intend to do.

This year, you have to be even more careful whom you hire. Many well-intentioned people who have been laid off may decide to try their hand at home improvement. We do not have enough people in the trades, so as long as they know what they are doing, this is very good for the economy. However, if they don't know how to do the job, the homeowner can be in a world of hurt.

Whenever there is a building downturn, some new homebuilders decide to try the remodeling business. New home building and home remodeling may use the same materials, but they have different challenges. A builder starts with a raw piece of ground. A remodeling contractor starts with an unknowable that can turn out to be a rat's nest of pre-existing problems.

Our housing stock grows older every year. Your home is different than mine, and my home is different from the neighbor down the street. Over the years, materials and building codes have changed. Homes that were not built too well to begin with only get worse with age.

If the contractor doesn't account for potential problems, he can underbid the job. Getting too good of a deal could be a problem for the homeowner. A couple of underbid jobs can put a conscientious contractor behind the eight ball. If labor and materials are not paid in a timely manner, suppliers and trades will place liens on your house. You could wind up paying for the job twice: once to the builder and once to the suppliers and subcontractors.

You may say there ought to be a law. There is, but the law won't protect you in time to prevent years of aggravation and a definite weakening of your bank account. You can take the builder to court and get a judgment, but that is only a moral victory if he is out of business and doesn't have any assets or a bank account.

The best protection is to be a smart consumer. Don't settle for just seeing a salesperson. Go to the showroom. Get and check references. Be sure to ask to see examples of the same type of work that you want done.

Don't be shy about actually driving out and taking a look at some of the jobs.

In Michigan, any building or remodeling job that costs more than $600 is required to be done by a licensed professional. Builders and remodelers should have a Residential Builders license. Specialists often get Maintenance & Alteration licenses. These fields are basement waterproofing, carpentry, concrete, excavation, house wrecking, insulation, masonry, painting and decorating, roofing, screen and storm sash, gutters, siding, swimming pools, tile and marble.

Salespeople may say their company is fully licensed and insured when it is not. You have no protection under the Michigan's Construction Lien Fund unless you are dealing with a licensed contractor. If you want more information, you can download a 21-page guide to the Michigan Construction Lien Fund on the Web at www.cis.state.mi.us/bcsc/forms/conlien/llf-600.pdf.

To check to see if a contractor has a valid license in Michigan call the Bureau of Commercial Services, Licensing Division at (517) 241-9254, or check on the Web at www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_free/default.asp.

You have to have the exact name as it appears on the license or you won't get a valid answer. If you can't get validation information, call the contractor and get the exact verbiage on his license and then check again.

If a problem happens and the contractor's insurance is not in force, you can be stuck paying the bill. To make certain that both the contractor's casualty and workmen's compensation insurance are in force, have the insurance companies, not the contractor, send you certificates of insurance.

Always be sure to call your insurance agent and ask for a rider on your home insurance that will give you extra protection while your remodeling job is being done.

Verbal agreements are hard to enforce and just lead to misunderstandings. Make sure that everything about the job is written in the contract. This includes not just how much the job will cost, but when the job will start and when it will be finished. It should also include the brand names of the major materials specified for the job.

If you do your homework and take the proper precautions, you'll get a quality job you can brag about.