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21 Questions to Ask when Qualifying Your Contractor

1. How long have you been in business?
   
   
2. In what kind of work do you specialize?
   
   
3. How many employees do you have?
   
   
4. How long have your key employees been with you?
   
   
5. Will you use your own crew for the work or will you subcontract all or part of the job?
   
   
6. What types of work are you licensed to do in our state?
   
   
7. How many other synagogues have you built or renovated?
   
   
8. Who will be the project manager on our project?
   
   
9. Do you have a working relationship with any architect who specializes in synagogues?
   
   
10. How much insurance do you carry? What about general liability insurance, worker’s compensation insurance?
    
    
11. Are you a bondable company? To what limit?
    
    
12. Have you ever had a claim against either your insurance carrier or your bonding firm?  Explain
    
    
13. How will this project fit into your production schedule?
    
    
14. How long do you expect the outlined scope of work will take to complete?
    
    
15. What type of contract would you propose for the work that we desire?  Design/Build, cost plus, fixed fee, hourly, etc.?
    
    
16. What kind of warranty do you offer?
    
    
17. What is your best “synagogue” project? Why?
    
    
18. How do you handle clean up, do you broom clean or do you hire a professional cleaning company?
    
    
19. How do you feel about members of the congregation who are contractors donating or bidding work on this project?
    
    
20. What about synagogue members who want to volunteer their time and talents?
    
    
21. How we please obtain a list of other synagogues for whom you have worked?