Handyman Vs Maintenance Contractor in Vancouver?
Whats the difference between the two, and what should you choose?
Whats a handyman?
A handyman is typically a self employed “jack of all trades” they may have a labourer or helper with them, but typically they are what one might call a lone wolf. Handymen often tackle many “odd jobs” within a home or building, like fixing leaking drains or a burnt out bulb, maybe replacing some rotten boards on a deck. There are huge swings in the skill and ability of handymen, as there’s no licensing or mandatory insurance structure for their trade, so be sure to do your due diligence when hiring a handyman and check how long they’ve been in business, if there’s any active lawsuits against them, do they have the proper insurance. If you find a handyman with a clean record and good insurance, along with some rave reviews, they can be a very affordable way to tackle one off jobs as they happen unexpectedly.
What is a maintenance contractor?
A maintenance contractor is a company you typically keep on call, for ongoing jobs on larger residential properties or on commercial buildings and storefronts. They provide preventative maintenance and cleaning on a set schedule, as well as 24/7 emergency service. A maintenance contractor will typically have a staff of technicians, as well as a group of pre vetted and insurance checked and licensed subcontractors. For example, say a maintenance contractor came to clean your roof during a scheduled annual exterior clean and discovered damage to your roof near the chimney; instead of fixing it themself like a handyman would, the maintenance contractor would dispatch their pre checked, licensed and insured roofing sub contractor passing on two things to you. 1. preferred pricing as they do a lot of work with this roofer 2. time savings and convenience; no need for you to spend hours searching google looking for a roofer, then asking to see their proof of red seal and insurance before even getting to booking them for the leak likely weeks out, the maintenance contractor has already done this work for you. Maintenance contractors for commercial buildings also typically provide inspection reports to their contracted clients, for example Craig and Company Contracting in Vancouver provides all their scheduled cleaning contracts with a full property visual inspection at every treatment, like the popeyes restaurant Craig and Company cleans quarterly, at every deep cleaning the technicians go inspect for things like blocked and leaking drains, broken locks, broken caulking, burnt out lights, etc. This provides the properties on duty manager with the ability to increasing business profits, managing staff, keeping up with inventory, and more without losing time to searching for a handyman or individual contractors… Or even worse, only finding out about a maintenance issue from a customer complaint.
Which should I choose?
Well, there’s a couple slight differences between home owners and commercial building owners, so lets start with homeowners and which they should choose. Homeowners are well to pick a handyman for unexpected repairs around the house, like a clogged garbage disposal or a shower head not working quite right anymore. This is the fact because handymen can cost less than other options, while being good enough to fix non critical or structural components around the house. Handymen may also be used for some preventative maintenance around the house, like caulking or door seal replacement, but make sure you check their credentials and portfolios before hand as their work can make or break the continuing structure of your house. For larger tasks, its usually better to contact a maintenance contractor, things like draught proofing, HVAC efficiency testing (blow door testing) bathroom renovations, exterior renovations, waterproofing, roof replacements or repairs, annual deep cleanings, room and wall alterations, and other large tasks which should be performed by a licensed and insured contractor. As for commercial building operators, it is almost always suggestible to use a maintenance contractor rather than a handyman. A maintenance contractor should already be contracted and in place for commercial properties as they require more constant cleaning and repair, there should be almost no unexpected repairs as a quality maintenance contractor like Craig and Company Contractors in Vancouver will inspect a property at every treatment date making sure you know on a regular basis whats broken, whats starting to go, and what to expect in the near future.
