How to Choose a Commercial Paving Contractor
In such a heavily saturated consumer market, you’ve undoubtedly received a few deals you knew were too good to be true. However, you don’t want to risk choosing the wrong contractor for paving. While pavement can be costly, are the face-value savings brought by instant offers really worth it? In this article, discover why you should not jump on just any deal and who you should turn to instead.
When choosing a contractor, the most important things to consider are;
- Their assessment and design process,
- Their project experience and credibility,
- Their team communication and reliability,
- And their project planning and the disruption it will cause.
Put Your Contractor to the Test
Beyond the job that needs to be completed and the price it can be completed for, the ultimate question is, who should do it for you? And how do you choose the ideal paving contractor? Before signing on the dotted line, it’s crucial to assess your contractor in a few different areas.
Assessment and Design
Before starting the job, your paving contractor will visit your property and assess the area where the project will be completed. This site visit will allow your contractor to get a more precise idea of the crew required, the disruption the project will cause and how to minimize it, and the amount of material required for the job. The assessment of the property and how it is completed is a crucial starting point for the project to be completed effectively.
When requesting a quote from your contractor, they should be able to provide you with a guaranteed, accurate assessment of the material requirements for your project, ensuring that you only pay for what you need. After assessing and analyzing the property, your contractor should design your new pavement with ADA compliance, ease of access, and the property’s beauty in mind. For the project to be successful, the assessment and design must be thorough and strategic.
Project Experience and Credibility
It’s important that the contractor and the crew have credible experience in the type of project, purpose, or environmental condition you have. Pavement installation and repair teams should have a wide range of skills to tackle various asphalt problems, from minor cracks to major sinkholes, potholes, damaged catch basins, striping of parking lots, and more.
Another aspect of experience has to do with customer experience. A reputable paving company should be able to provide references and showcase their recent work in your local area. You could do your own research, too! Seek recommendations from your network. And if you can’t get a personal referral, reading online reviews or asking for references from the potential contractor themselves can help you feel confident in your choice. Reviewing references provides valuable insight into the company’s work style and what you can expect from their services.
Reliability
When you take a deal that seems too good to be true, you risk hiring a contractor that you won’t be able to rely on or effectively communicate with. In such a hands-on, all-encompassing project as paving, you must have a contractor you can regularly communicate with who will be there for you even after the project is completed.
Even with the highest-quality, most structurally sound pavement, maintenance and repair are inevitable. It’s important to have a means of continued communication with your contractor so that your pavement is always maintained, for both safety and aesthetic concerns.
Minimized Disruption
Paving projects on commercial property are no small tasks, and often will come with some disruption to the normal operation of your business. An experienced contractor will be able to minimize this disruption, ensuring that the project doesn’t stunt foot traffic or create unsafe conditions for customers.
The best contractors will create a project plan based on your property layout, parking lot size and access points, and sidewalk locations to ensure that your patrons can still access the building with ease.
E. Meier Contracting Covers All the Bases
When choosing who should do your paving project, it’s important to consider your contractor’s experience and credibility, their assessment and design process, their reliability, and their disruption plan.
If you’re in St. Louis, Missouri, E. Meier Contracting is the trusted company that builds paving projects designed to last. In 2022 alone, E. Meier was awarded three different distinctions on both the regional and national levels. With our large, versatile crews, we can complete your projects quickly, on schedule, and within budget. And because we’re a fully complementary construction company, no matter the size of the project, you get the benefit of our highly skilled professionals and equipment.
Starting your next project? Contact E. Meier today and schedule your property assessment.