Washington State requires all construction contractors to register with L&I. State law also requires construction contractors to be bonded and insured to protect the public.

Once registered, contractors can bid, advertise, and perform construction work. This can include constructing, remodeling, repairing and demolishing buildings, roads and other real property.

Specialty contractors can only perform work in the specialty they are registered in. They cannot hire subcontractors.

Liability insurance is a requirement for licensed contractors. It covers claims arising out of damage a contractor causes to a third party. This is one of the most important coverages a contractor can get because it covers the liability risks associated with your ongoing operations (while at the job site).

 North Creek Roofing carries $2 million in liability insurance to cover any damages to our customers’ homes or property that could arise due to accidents while working on your home.

A company with a tight-knit culture or a reputation for consistency or a program with great benefits is looking at hiring employees. That’s because you need to exercise a high degree of control of your workforce to create and maintain a specific type of culture or a particular way of doing things. You can only exercise this level of control over employees. If you try to do so with independent contractors, you’ll be breaking the rules set forth by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.

Owner Dan McNeely has been in the roofing industry for more than 40 years. He established North Creek Roofing in 1996 and has operated under the same license from inception. 

North Creek Roofing has thousands of satisfied customers and our reviews are impeccable. Our employees are highly trained and certified with the top three shingle manufacturers in the USA.

Needless to say, longer is usually better. Under three years may signal an unstable business or one low on the learning curve.

On the other hand, everybody has to start somewhere. References will be helpful to double check any business and are especially important when dealing with a new business.

A newer business may have a great future but it is only reasonable to be more careful when considering its referrals. The failure rate of small businesses in the first three years is high.

We don’t usually think about financial risks when planning a home repair or remodeling project. Yet each year L&I hears from hundreds of homeowners who have fallen victim to contracting scams. Here are the basic steps you should take before you hire a contractor:

• Plan your project
• Get bids and interview your contractors
• Verify your contractor
• Watch for warning signs of a scam

Getting the complete address of the company can be an important factor in determining a company’s stability. If a post office box is given, ask for a full street address as well. A company that has been in business for a long time is generally assumed to be more stable.

If you hire a contractor that has an office nearby, the likelihood of better service and quicker response time is greater if the company is based near your home.

By Law, Washington contractors are required to carry comprehensive liability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance to protect you in the event of a roofing accident.

This can be verified by asking to see the contractor’s certificates of insurance. Contractors may also carry other kinds of insurance, including health, life, and auto. These insurance policies are not the same as workers’ compensation* and general liability.

Don’t be fooled. Ask for current certificates of insurance to be sent to you by the insurer before the job is started.

Ask for photos of completed work, if available. Keep in mind, however, that many roofers will not have photos.Request a list of 10 names and phone numbers of recent customers (from the last 12 months). It is not necessary to check all 10, but you will be able to pick randomly from the list those you do call.

Typically, contractor workmanship warranties are for one year or more. Longer warranties are not necessarily more valuable than shorter warranties.

The length of the warranty is less important than the intent and ability of the roofer to stand behind their warranty. That is best evaluated using customer referrals. Ask their prior customers specifically for information about these four things:

• Did they perform their work on a timely basis?
• Were they responsive when asked for information and changes?
• Did they act as if they cared about the customer’s interests?
• And finally, would you call the company trustworthy?

Usually, problems of either workmanship or material show up very quickly. Therefore, the near-term warranty given by the contractor or manufacturer is more important than the warranty coverage during the later years of the warranty.

Try to find out how your contractor handles problems when they do arise. Request a referral from a job that involved a complaint.

Ask the contractor if they ever lost a job-related court case, or if their contractor’s license has ever been suspended and why.

Also, in talking to the appropriate authorities, such as the Better Business Bureau and licensing departments, find out if any complaints have been filed against the contractors whom you have interviewed.

Many contractors in business for any length of time have been involved in a dispute. Ask how the dispute was resolved, to test your contractor’s reputation.