How to Find a Reliable Contractor Tip #1: Choosing Greatly By Association

A question we get a lot here from readers who are planning renovations on their home is how they can find reliable contractors to help get their project done. So in this on-going series, we'll look at different ways to do just that, online and offline. Today, let's dive in and discuss one great way to find trustworthy tradesmen using the vast resource that is the internet: Online Association Directories.

1) Leverage the Power of Governing Bodies

While the main purpose of most trade associations is to provide networking and partnership opportunities to their members, and provide their members with support relevant to their industry, etc., another role that these institutions often play is one of legitimization. 

That is to say that for many contractors, belonging to the flagship organization of their given industry can often be viewed as a sign that they run an above-board, legitimate enterprise and one that can be trusted implicitly.

This is not to say, of course, that all contractors who aren't members of their relevant associations are not running viable, reliable businesses. In fact, when I used to run my own painting company, I actually abstained from joining any industry associations, so I would by quite hypocritical to suggest as much!

But if you are wary of getting tangled up with one of those few bad egg contractors who make the lot of us look badly sometimes, then going the Association route can be a great first step towards greater peace of mind. 

Of course, I can't very well list every association for every trade and every region in this small space, but they do exist in plentiful abundance and should be fairly easy to find: Just go to Google (or your search engine of choice) and type in "TRADE TYPE, REGION, Association" and that should point you in the right direction. 

For example, if we were to search "Ottawa Builder Association", the first few results all point to one of our proud association partners, the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association, which features a comprehensive directory of all its members (comprised of local builders as well as contractors who do a lot of new construction, and some renovators too. The reno-only section of the directory can be accessed here.)

Or say you were looking for an electrician in Ottawa for your renovation. A quick Google search for "Ottawa Electrician Association" brings us the Electrical Contractors Association of Ottawa as the topmost result. They too have a comprehensive directory of all their members. 

You get the idea. Now why not give it a try and see if you can find an Association for the type of contractor you need! As always, let us know in the comments how it goes. You can also suggest other ways to find contractors in the comments below and we'll feature as many as possible in future parts of this series.