The most important person in your dental office design is the contractor you choose. You need to identify someone who shares you values and your vision, and is willing to work with you to help your bring your ideas to life. This is one of the most important relationships in your dental business. A good dental office contractor will save you time, money and make the process less stressful so you can focus on your patients.
Invest your time and resources in the search process to help you identify the right person for the job. Some of the questions you can ask potential contractors include:
How Much Experience Do You have In Dental Office Design and Construction?
The experience your contractor brings on board will influence the success of the project. While there are several experienced contractors in the market, find someone with experience in building dental clinics: they will understand your vision and are in a better position to offer industry-specific solutions.
As a follow-up, ask for contacts with previous dental design clients – contact these clinics personally and if possible, visit them to check out the contractors work. Ask about the contractor’s accessibility and ability to meet deadlines. It will help you narrow down to the right company faster.
Are You Licensed, Bonded and Insured?
A license gives you an assurance that you are working with a professional. Depending on the amount of work you need, your contractor will use their license to help you acquire additional licenses and construction permits.
Bonding acts as additional protection if your contractor fails to complete the job, pay suppliers and subcontractors or cover damages caused on your property during the construction process. Often, the contractor will pay a premium to a separate business, which will cover the losses, for bonding.
Insurance in construction protects everyone working on the premises against injury. Insurance from the contractor speaks greatly about their values and the kind of environment they will create for their employees. Someone who cares about their workers is more likely to pay attention to your work.
Is Your Contract Negotiable?
Most contractors will provide you a general contract that covers the scope of work, payment terms and defines the responsibilities of both parties. However, most professional contractors will willingly review their terms to accommodate your needs. For example, instead of making your payments in four big installments, you can request for terms that allow you to make monthly installments, to ease your financial burden. Negotiable terms may help you adjust the timeline to accommodate the workload or even the working schedule to allow you to continue serving customers even during the renovation.
A willingness to negotiate shows good faith from the contractor and sets the precedence for an enjoyable dental office design process.
How can we contact you?
Communication before, during and after the construction is important, especially if you plan on staying open during the process. You can assess a contractor’s availability on the phone, via email and even physically during the search process. You need someone you can access easily in case of an emergency, or when you need an update on the progress of the work.
Establish Trust With Your Contractor
Dental office design work depends a lot on the contractor you entrust with your vision. HJT Dental Designs combines expertise from different fields such as dentistry and architecture among others to ensure your office meets the highest construction standards, while allowing you to serve your patients. Their industry leading services combine aesthetics and functionality to take your practice to the next level.