Do not trust, check - 7 ways to protect yourself from scammers

How to calculate an unscrupulous developer even before the start of work, so that you do not have to sue for a long, tedious and ineffectual

A tarnished reputation dries for a long time and always goes ahead of its owner. This principle should be followed when choosing a contractor. The choice of the contractor is as important as the choice of the project or materials from which the house will be built. It is strictly forbidden to allow amateurs and swindlers to participate in the construction. Read the article and you will find out: how to choose a contractor so as not to worry about your money.

Content:

• Where to start looking for builders?
• About construction brigades.
• About construction firms.
• How to collect as much information as possible about the contractor: 7 methods of verification.

There are now two opposing camps on the construction market - construction firms and private brigades. Both those and others are fighting for the client, using the most sophisticated methods of information warfare.

The former say that private crews guarantee nothing but problems, while the latter claim that construction firms are robbing the client. Some take the quality, and the second low prices and availability.

In this turmoil, the customer suffers most of all, who cannot decide on the choice of builders. In the flow of information, the client is lost, and often entrusts his hard-earned money to unscrupulous developers or scammers. To insulate ourselves from such problems, let's take a closer look at the methods of determining the reputation and professionalism of a contractor.

Where to start looking for builders?

Usually, the search for builders begins with a survey of friends and neighbors. If someone was built of them, then he will definitely advise a team or a company. It is, of course, very good that there are friends who will advise, but what they will advise is a question.

It is not uncommon for contractors to pay the referrer a fee for the client they bring. This should be feared, as the opportunity to earn extra money for the referrer can play a cruel joke on you. The information received from such a friend needs to be checked.

First, you need to carefully inspect the house that the recommended team or firm was building, and do it with a person who understands construction. “The house is good, and the guys are great” is not a criterion for choosing builders. You need to inspect everything - from the foundation to the wiring. If the inspection reveals obvious flaws or errors, then there is no guarantee that these "jambs" will not appear in your home.

Secondly, you need to ask for gas bills and, through a simple analysis, determine how warm this house is. In a cold building, winter gas bills will be 10–20% higher than in a warm house with the same area and similar boiler parameters. This, of course, is not an axiom, but some conclusions on the thermal insulation properties of the structure can be drawn.

If the house on display suits you, then you need to look at the rest of the objects made by the contractor.

Here the main criterion is one - a good builder must build and have a sufficient number of houses for demonstration. The presence of objects indicates the demand for the contractor.

During the inspection, you need to talk with previous customers and find out what problems arose during construction. If possible, you should inspect all buildings. There are many questions to ask at this stage. If a problem comes up in a conversation with all customers, then it is worth focusing on this.

About construction crews

If your choice fell on a construction team, then keep in mind several features when working with private traders.

• Do not give money and start work without a contract. Even a small team must have IP documents.
• Do not give money to buy an instrument. A normal brigade has everything of its own. If specific adaptations are required, then discuss it immediately.
• In the absence of an individual entrepreneur, give money to the foreman only on receipt. Attach a photocopy of the brigadier's passport to the receipt. Important! In case of failure to perform services, the receipt may become the basis for refunding money through the court or the reason for initiating a criminal case.
• Require photocopies of passports of all persons involved in work at the facility.
• Check the foreman or the person to whom you will transfer money on the database of bailiffs. If it has debts, then we can assume that the advance will go to repay them.
• Check the estimate and work list carefully. Agree immediately and finally that the price will not change.
• Define clear boundaries for turnkey work.
• Define a strict payment schedule and deadlines.
• Demand only cashier's checks or strict accountability forms for the purchase of material, transport costs, and other additional services.
• Check the quantity and quality of the purchased material. Check the leftovers.
• Specify penalties for missed deadlines or any violations at the construction site. If you find an employee with fumes at your facility, then this should be financially punishable.
• Monitor the execution of work and visit the site as often as possible. If neighbors live near the construction site, then arrange with them to report incidents at the facility.

• Be a complex customer with quirks (but don't overdo it). Pay attention to the little things. This will allow you to get the maximum quality of work.
• Don't befriend the crew, don't trust idle chatter, trust the facts.

No matter how critical this attitude towards private brigades may seem, it should be understood that it is better to immediately show serious intentions, than then run after the foreman with a request to finish something or fix.

Experience shows that the more careful the control in the process, the less problems at the end.

About construction companies

When choosing a company, consider a few nuances so as not to run into intermediaries, scammers or unscrupulous developers.

• The firm must have an office. If you are offered to meet at your site, either in a cafe or on the street, then you need to understand that, most likely, you went to an intermediary.
• The company should not have one or two people. The construction company must have a staff.
• Experienced builders will name the approximate price of the object at the first meeting, and will not demand to order a project.
• The existing construction company will present a selection of several completed projects with final prices.
• A serious construction company makes a free project when ordering services.
• Demand a specification for the project with a written cost of work and materials. The negotiated price must not change. This is indicated in the contract.
• Check out the work schedule, which lists all stages.
• Before concluding an agreement with the company, give it to a lawyer for review. The agreement should not take into account the interests of just one party.
• Agree only to a phased payment of work, according to the established schedule. Don't pay a big upfront payment.
• Check with the company managers for all your questions.
• Ask to introduce you to the foreman who will be responsible for your facility. Ask him questions.
• Ask for video reports with the works of interest to you from their construction sites.

A construction company is, first of all, an organization that must have sufficient resources to fulfill an order, and be fully responsible for its execution.

In simple words - a serious company has equipment, work materials, materials, tools and can provide a full range of services on its own.

How to collect as much information as possible about the contractor: 7 methods of verification

If you are looking for a construction company on the Internet, then use the recommendations for collecting information and some tricks by which you can identify scammers. To select a contractor, you need to understand who you will be dealing with and check their reputation. Of course, it is difficult to find the ideal option, but you should look for builders a little better and a little more honest.

This list contains extensive experience in checking counterparties.

• Be extremely careful about sites that do not have an address or company contact information. If there is only a mobile phone or you are asked to leave your contact details, leave this site, even though the prices are low.
• Ask the contractor if he works by bank transfer and if he provides cash receipts and forms of strict reporting (not to be confused with a credit slip). If the company does not provide this and it does not have a current account, cross it off the list of applicants.
• Ask for a contract with the details and compare the received details with the information on the company's website. If the website of a potential contractor says about a group of companies or a holding, and the details indicate an LLC or individual entrepreneur, then most likely you are in front of an intermediary who will have to overpay.
• Find the company's TIN in the details and check it through the website of the Federal Tax Service. There you will receive an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities / EGRIP, which will contain the following information: the year of foundation, the address of the company, information about the founders and managers. Compare the information received with that indicated on the site. If the site lists the company's many years of experience, and the tax authorities find out that the company is only a year old, then you should think about the reliability of the rest of the information from the site.
• For details, find out on the website "Bulletin of State Registration" whether the company is in the process of bankruptcy or reorganization.
• On the website "Electronic Justice", find out what court cases were or are in the proceedings of the counterparty. If there are any, then study the court decisions and draw a conclusion.
• Check out a potential contractor through the bailiffs website. If he has debts, then the prepayment can be arrested on a writ of execution.

Such a check will take no more than three hours, but it will help to save what you have earned over the years.

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