renovation education
How to Choose an Edmonton Renovation Expert
Selecting a contractor here in Edmonton is one of the most important aspects of your renovation project. Simply put, you want a professional renovator who will be able to provide you with the quality and service that you expect and deserve; someone who can get your project done in a timely fashion with a reasonable price.
Here is a list of questions you might want to ask at the first meeting, to help you decide if this is the right Edmonton Renovation Expert for you.
- How long has the company been in business and how long have you been operating in the Edmonton area?
- What is your area of expertise?
- Are you registered and covered by Workmen's Compensation?
- Do you have contractor's liability and property damage insurance?
- Do you have a municipal business license?
- Do you have a GST registration number?
- Do you have a provincial license as a Prepaid Contractor?
- Are you bonded to take a deposit?
- Do you use a written contract?
- What does the warranty cover and for how long?
- Do you use products that meet the relevant building codes?
- Can we visit one of your work sites?
- Who in the company does the work? How much of the work is subcontracted out?
Nord Alta has celebrated over 30 years of success in the Greater Edmonton area as a family owned and operated business. Our longevity in the industry is due to our commitment to you, our client, in providing great value.
Nord Alta is a full service general contracting company. We are capable of providing both residential and commercial renovation services. These include kitchen, bathroom, living room, basement and home office renovations, as well as commercial lease hold improvements, custom home projects and barrier free remodeling. We embrace the notion of only using licensed sub trades for licensed sub trade work. You can guarantee that a plumber will be doing the plumbing work and an electrician will be doing any electrical work and not the other way around. This philosophy ensures that our work gets done with the best results for the least cost.
Yes, Nord Alta is covered under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Most homeowners don't realize that if a contractor, whether it is a general contractor, subcontractor or an employee, is hurt on their job site, the homeowner could be held responsible. Having WCB not only protects employees by offering them coverage should they be injured, but it also ensures that the homeowner does not become the general contractor by default and therefore found liable. To check on the status of a potential contractor visit the Workplace Health & Safety website or call your local WCB office.
Yes, Nord Alta has liability insurance with two million dollars of coverage for each occurrence. It is standard practice for companies in our line of work to carry liability insurance in case of property damage. Nord Alta has never had to file claim for any liability in its lifetime.
Yes, Nord Alta has a municipal license for the City of Edmonton. With this license we have been given permission by the municipality to apply for building and development permits on behalf of the homeowner. The application for building and development permits demonstrates the contractor's willingness to follow procedure as well as have his work scrutinized by others. This increases the likelihood that the work will be done correctly.
Yes, Nord Alta has a GST registration number for which we pay the goods and services tax on the home-owners behalf. If your contractor isn't willing to pay the GST on your project, what else are they unwilling to do?
Nord Alta has the designation of being a prepaid contractor within the province of Alberta. This license is through Consumer and Corporate Affairs by legislation of the Alberta Government. The Act allows prepaid contractors to take deposits for various construction projects. The criteria for meeting the requirements to be licensed is that one has to be bondable as well. The act was also first enacted to give consumers a cooling off period to ensure that no one signed a contract under duress while in their home.
Yes, Nord Alta is bonded to receive homeowner deposits as a prepaid contractor.As a bonded prepaid contractor, if we were to take a homeowner's deposit and not fulfill our obligations, the bonding company would pay out an amount up to $25,000 dollars and they would go after us for the bond that they had to pay out. There have been countless cases of contractors that have taken deposits and moved on without doing any work, never to be heard from again. We provide this peace of mind to our clients so they know their deposit is safe.
Yes. Everything is completed in writing so there are no surprises. The benefit of having a contract is that all of the details of the project are spelled out, whether it is the scope of the work to be performed, the amount of time in which the contract is to be fulfilled, or the terms of payment. All these aspects should be included. The contract also outlines the duties and responsibilities of each respective party. It used to be that everyone relied on a handshake to seal the contract. Today we still have a handshake to seal the deal, but because there are so many details it's important to get it in writing. Not all contracts will be the same but they should all include the scope of work, timetable of start date and completion, the cost, when progress payments are to be made, warranties, and mechanisms to arbitrate disagreements. With these details, a customer can be assured that their best interests are taken into consideration as well as the contractors. It's important to remember that a contract should be mutually beneficial to all parties.
Our warranty is for one full year on labor. Product warranty is dependent on the manufacturer's warranty. It is important to note that cases arise where a homeowner chooses to supply materials for a project (For example, a homeowner buys plumbing fixtures for a plumber to install). In this case, any warranty issues that arise from a defective product are the responsibility of the homeowner.
Yes. We use only the products that are of the highest standards, which meet or exceed the building codes. Are there substandard products in the marketplace? For the most part, there are few, if any substandard products. Where contractors run into trouble is when they try use products that are simply not designed for a specific application. We make sure that this does not happen. In addition to using correct products for their intended use, we also make it a habit to inform our clients that using the cheapest product in not always the best value. In some cases, using a higher quality, more expensive product can lead to significant savings in the long run.
We would be more than willing to show you our work but only if we have the homeowner's permission. Due to liability issues, we are not allowed to permit entry to anyone without consent from the homeowner. We do, however, keep a library of photos of our previous work for you to look at.
At Nord Alta we are actively involved in developing your project. We work as a team in conjunction with select sub-trades to get the project done. Either we are actively completing some functions of the project or we are supervising our subtrades. This allows us to keep tabs on the work being done so that we can avoid any uncertainties or difficulties that may arise and keep the work schedule on track.
