The Big Question? How do you Hire the Best? Keep reading…
These questions are designed to educate YOU! and help YOU! find the right person to do your job correctly and uncover problems before they happen…
- If your company comes out to my house or office to clean the windows or service some aspect of our property, are any of the personnel sub-contractors, that you 1099, or are they 100% Employees? If not, can you guarantee that they are covered with Worker'sComp Insurance?
- Do you have Worker’s Comp insurance? What would happen if one of your guys got hurt on my property? Can you fax me a copy? Can you add me as additional insured?
- Do you have at least $1 million in Liability Insurance?
- Are they professional in appearance and quality of service ?
- Do you have a supervisor that inspects the windows after each cleaning? If not how am I assured my windows will be up to my specifications every time you come to clean at my property?
- How many years has your company been an established company within the state of California?
OK, how did they answer the questions? Did you know that an owner is not required to pay Worker’s Comp Insurance on himself or any of the officers of a corporation? Do you know what that means? You Do Not want the owner climbing up those ladders! If someone gets hurt and they do not have Worker’s Comp, the Property Owner will be responsible for all of their medical expenses. Plus any lawsuits that may arise, some people have nothing to lose, but you do.
Worker’s Comp is expensive, especially in California, for a window cleaning company it can be anywhere from 15-60% of payroll, on lets say $200,000.00 in payroll that can be $120,000.00. Do you think that there are companies that don’t want to pay that? YOU BET They DON’T. And if you’re betting they don’t, guess what? They Don’t.
Did you know a company can have a Worker’s Comp policy that does not have anyone on the policy? For $700.00, not $120,000.00, a company can have a policy, that they can fax to you but it is a bogus policy, because it is a policy that they report no one on their payroll. They pay their guys cash.
Some companies get around Worker’s Comp by using Sub Contractors. But by law the Original Company hiring Subs is required to show that the Subs have Worker’s Comp. But guess what, do you think a guy that rides the bus or drives an old car and can barely pay his rent is going to contract with a Worker’s Comp Insurance company? You guessed right again, No. Make sure if there are sub-contractors working on your property that they have the proper insurances in place.
Liability Insurance is in place in case a worker damages your property. A ladder falls on an expensive car etc.
Hire a reputable company that has been around more than a few years, and get references from people in your neighborhood. If the company is going to give you an estimate, they should already be established in your area, Ask for references. Talk to the owner of the company; see if she or he sounds honest. Ask to meet with the owner, and meet them at their office or yours. Do they have an office? Do they run their company out of their home? Or worse they are just a cell phone?
Maybe, you want to meet them at your home; that is standard, they come out and give you an estimate. How ever…
The bottom line is you get what you pay for. If they are the cheapest, guess what they are cutting corners; and you will get what you pay for.
Did you know that a reputable Window Cleaning Company has as much overhead as a reputable Plumbing Company? And you pay $85-$175.00 an hour for that service. Why would you expect to pay 20 or 30 an hour for Window Cleaning?
There are many good Window Cleaning Companies in the Los Angeles area, and there are a lot of one-man-shows and disreputable companies to be avoided.
Be Well and choose a good company.
All the Best,
Jeremy Jenny
President and CEO
AHS Inc.
Pacific Window Washing
PO Box 158
Malibu, Ca 90265
(888) 457-1995
jj@pacificwindowwashing.com
