What to Ask When Hiring a Landscaping Contractor

When hiring contractors to work in our homes or yards, we hire them assuming that we are hiring safe, professional, and honest workers. Unfortunately, not all contractors are the same, and this is especially true in the landscape industry. Often, unsuspecting property owners hire amateur landscapers with workers that should not be allowed on residential or commercial properties. Property owners should not have to worry about their own personal safety or their property’s safety when hiring landscape contractors to work on their property or in their own backyard. Yardworks, Inc. respects your property and we respect you offering us the opportunity to earn your business. We take the time and due diligence to make sure that the people working on your property are good people.

Below you will find a couple of questions that property owners should always ask of their landscape company to ensure they are hiring professional, safe, and reliable workers to maintain their lawn and landscape.

Do You Perform Background Checks?

Although it might seem unconventional for a landscape company to do background checks on newly hired employees, the fact is that these workers are given access to your private backyard, gated communities, and secured commercial sites. It is important for you, the homeowner, to know that your landscape company is not hiring individuals convicted of crimes such as theft, vandalism, or assault.

Do You Have References?

Property owners are often swayed to hire a landscaping company based on a low price, only to discover too late that they’ve hired an incompetent, unsafe, or dishonest contractor that has performed partial work or damaged their property. Landscape contractors should offer references to demonstrate that their quality of work speaks for itself.

Do You Have the Proper Licensing?

Hiring a landscaping company with the proper licensing protects the consumer in cases where protocol was not followed during the installation and problems arise from faulty installations. If you hire a landscaping company that does not have the correct and up to date licensing then you suddenly become on the hook for everything that happens, you become the employer in the official eyes of the law. Sure, there are a lot of good landscape contractors out there that don’t have their licenses and proper insurances.  They probably do good work and are a lot cheaper than companies that have to spend a significant amount of their profit on protecting you, the homeowner.  But, in the end, you the homeowner, must decide if the cheaper price is worth the potentially disastrous accidents that could happen.  Always ask your landscape contractor for up-to-date business licenses, worker’s comp insurance, and general liability insurance.

Are You Fully Insured?

When hiring a landscape professional do you ask them for a Certificate of Insurance proving that they do in fact have the proper insurance coverage? All contractors that you hire to come onto your property and perform a service for you should be fully insured. It is a protection for you and them if something were to go wrong and they or an employee were to be injured on the job, if damaged is caused to you or your property.

Yardworks, Inc. is pleased to offer residential and commercial property owners a full range of exceptional landscape services, all performed by workers that undergo background checks  for maximum client safety. In addition, Yardworks, Inc. offers a full list of references for both residential and commercial projects to confirm the quality, safety, efficiency and reliability of their work and crew.

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3 thoughts on “What to Ask When Hiring a Landscaping Contractor”

  1. I like that you point out that it is important to ask the landscaper if they have the proper licensing. I can see why this would help protect you against any possible responsibility should something happen. You could even ask the professionals what potential problems could happen and what they would do to prevent such a problem. That way you know that they are taking preventative measures during the project.

    1. Hi Scott,
      yes, licensing is an important aspect in the landscaping world – the consumer needs to be aware of the pitfalls that can occur when hiring a company that is not capable of handling their particular job. Licensing ensures that the contractor has the education and experience to tackle the project at hand.

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