7 Points to Consider When Selecting a Lighting Contractor

Need a lighting project done but not sure where to start? We’ve listed out some of the most important things to look for when selecting your contractor.

It can be a bit nerve racking selecting your lighting contractor. I know personally that I never buy anything without first comparing it with another similar product to ensure that I am getting a good deal, but also a good quality product. Take the time to find the best lighting contractor that is fit for your project to save yourself headaches in the end. There are many things to look for when selecting your lighting contractor, and here are a few of the most important considerations:

1.    Safety Rating
Look into any potential contractor’s safety history and see if they have any previous violations, or some that still may be open. If they do, see how severe they are and how often this may have occurred. If you see anything that would be a red flag such as recent or multiple fatal accidents consider looking into other contractors. When having someone on your property the last thing you want to worry about is if they are being safe and if they are being save around others who may be working around them or pedestrians. NW Edison is proud to have an A+ rating for our safety. Check out our blog about safety as well as our safety page. 

2.    Their Experience
We have a portfolio page to not just show off some of the great work we’ve done, but to show potential customers that we really do what we say we do and we are the best in the Western US. NW Edison has been in business since 1993 starting in Washington State, and has largely expanded since. If you are ever concerned because you don’t see a similar project on your portfolio, please give us a call! Our portfolio is only a small portion of our recently completed projects and it is not even close to what we have done. We would be happy to give you examples of similar projects we have completed.  

3.    How is their Communication
Northwest Edison loves to hear about your ideas, potential restraints and concerns for your future projects. We are here to make sure your wants and needs are met. Throughout your entire project you will have one of our project managers assigned to your project and will be in full communication with you about scheduling, project updates, material delivery, etc. We are able to accommodate customers with specific scheduling needs and restraints (sometimes with high-rise buildings we need to schedule out floor by floor what days we will be there.) 

4.    Value-Engineering Ideas
An “LC” title means that an individual is Lighting Certified, and Northwest Edison has three of them. This means that they have gone through intense studying and a 4 hour exam of 180 questions to get this certification. They also have to take classes every year to keep this certification renewed. Because of this we have some of the best lighting auditors and design team there is! We are there for you to help save you money but to also love your new lighting design. 

5.    Are they Financially Responsible?
A big red flag is if your potential lighting contractor is willing to take the job for too cheap or if they ask for the money up front. If a contractor is giving you dirt cheap pricing for your project this could be a warning sign that they may not finish your project correctly or they don’t understand what work they are required to do, most likely due to lack of experience. It is normal for our customers to ask for a bond of about 5% for large projects, which NW Edison is happy to do. We want our customers to feel conformable working with us. If your lighting contractor is financially responsible it is good to know that they will use that same care and respect when working with you and your project. 

6.    Recommendations/Word of Mouth
If you have been working with us for at least the last few years you will know that our old website was completely outdated. We relied solely on word of mouth and returning customers for business, and honestly it treated us well. We have our testimonials page that has just some of the many happy customers we have and as you can see many of them come back for more upgrades. 

7.    Think beyond price – what are you really paying for?
When looking for any work done with contractors you have never worked with before, you should always reach out to multiple contractors and get at least two different bids for your work. Compare what materials they will be using and see if the followed your ideas and/or requests. If not, did they explain why? Without an explanation this could make you feel a bit nervous wondering if they are trying to give you a more expensive product, or maybe they just didn’t hear your requests at all. When choosing a contractor it is important to be able to have trust and if you are having mixed feelings already make a phone call and see if they can explain themselves. If it doesn’t help, go with your gut feeling.

NW Edison offers competitive bids, though we may not always be the lowest bidder. Unless a customer refuses to budge on a specific product we will usually offer a different project to compare with. It is the customer’s choice of product in the end, we help guide and suggest. We don’t believe in “going cheap” to earn us the bid, because in the long run we will usually end up with an unhappy customer. We have seen this happen many times where a customer is mid-way through a project with another contractor and they come to us for help, and we come in as the “clean-up crew”.