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Questions to Ask and Things to note when Hiring a Landscaper

The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI)

There are a few questions you should ask when hiring any Landscape contractor, to get the most out of your experience:

· What levels of experience or expertise do they have?

· Are they any a member of a trade association, such as BALI?

· How many years have they been trading?

· Do they have any speciality areas?

· What you, as the client, will get from the experience?

· Who will be doing the actual work? An employee, subcontractor? And how qualified are they, do they have Skill cards or qualifications? Do they have CRB checks (if required)?

· Who will be your point of call, a manager or supervisor? And what are there contact details (do get both a landline and mobile numbers and also take note of the company address).

The Project Details

· How long will the work take?

· In what condition will the project be left at the end of each day?

· How do the employees intend to gain access to the site, will they require access to facilities? Will they have access to my home or property?

· How will payment(s) be made and on what schedule? Will I incur any extra costs if anything unexpected arises?

· When the project is completed will the manager or supervisor visit to discuss the garden?

A few helpful hints to avoid ‘cowboy’ landscapers

· Always use a written contract, which sets out the proposed costs of the project, and read this carefully

· A Landscape Contract should include

· Landscape Contractors business name, address, phone number

· Consumers name and address

· Address of jobsite

· A list of plants and materials used, their size, quantity (this can be referenced to the plan)

· General description of the work to be performed

· Estimate time for completion and completion date

· Description of Guarantee. If there is no guarantee this needs to be stated

· Signatures of both parties

· Obtain any required building permits

· Some parts of a landscaping project may require permits, usually landscape contractors obtain these permits, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the property owner

· Pay in instalments

· A landscape company is usually entitled to a down payment to ‘cement’ the contract. Usually this is from 25% - 35% of the total contract price. It is important to find the "balance" where the business has enough money to buy the materials necessary to start the project but you retain enough money to ensure satisfactory completion.

· Keep good written records

· Keep a log of conversations, correspondence, the contract, orders and receipts.

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