How to Hire The Right Electrical Contractor

Considering what is at stake when you do electrical work in your home, selecting a reliable electrical contractor matters a lot. Not only should your electrical installation be perfectly safe and up to code, but it should also help you save on your electricity usage.

Licensed local electricians are most often competent. But do they have all the knowledge necessary to plan out an energy-efficient installation? You can’t expect all electricians to check all the right boxes. But you ought to select the local electrical contractor that checks most of them.  

In this article, we share professional insights on selecting a reliable electrical contractor for the job you have, based on the criteria of certifications, knowledge, experience, insurance coverage, reputation, process, cost and warranties. Follow this list, and rest assured your work will be done correctly the first time.

Is this local electrician qualified for the job?

Your first selection factor should be qualifications. Is the person (electrician) or company (electrical contractor) qualified for the job? There is only one way to be sure: check for their certifications and licenses.

A local electrician must have the proper qualifications from a reliable certifying body that proves they are suitable for the job. In San Antonio, an electrician will at a minimum have his electrical contractor’s license, known as the Texas Electrical Contractor’s License (TECL). You can check with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). This site shows the license number of the electrician.

Also, you need a copy of the electrician’s insurance, usually provided as a Certificate of Insurance. No insurance? No hire.

Check the size of the coverage too. A small coverage indicates poor financial stability. Insurance companies give more coverage to businesses that have good financial stability and a good track record. Now, there are coverage minimums too, so ask the contractor. 

Check these items first: you will know if you are dealing with a properly certified electrical contractor.

Is this local electrician experienced enough?

There is no substitute for experience. All certified electricians have thousands of hours of experience, so the right question is not “is this local electrician experienced?“, but “is this electrician experienced enough for the type of job I plan to get done?“.

You probably don’t have yourself the knowledge necessary to perform the job. So how can you know upfront if the contractor bidding for it has the right level of experience? A simple way to check is to ask to see a portfolio of work, and then check client references.

Their portfolio should show a good diversity of electrical installations similar to yours. While you review the portfolio, ask questions: What do I see on this photo? Do you repair the hole you had to make in the drywall to route this cable? Why did you use this type of wiring rather than another type? How much did it cost to do this entire job? The way the contractor answers your questions will give you some idea of whether this is real or… not.

Check their references. An electrical contractor with plenty of experience will have plenty of client references to give you. Not all clients agree to be a reference, for sure. But the right contractor has accumulated hundreds of clients over the years and is definitely able to give you some references that match your own job. Call the people. Ask them how good their experience was. If the contractor finished their job in time and on budget. If there were any issues afterwards and how the contractor fixed them.

How good is this local electrician’s reputation?

Client references are great. But all contractors will give you their very best ones. Not the horrible references where they really botched up the job. You need to read reviews.

• Google: Google offers a well-diversified mix of reviews. Peole have to have an account to drop a review, so this tends to filter out the fakes. Not 100%, of course: Google also has fake reviews. But in general, the mix is good, and the ratings are realistic. Check out our own reviews on Google here.
• Facebook: Facebook’s recommendations give good insights in what people appreciate most with the contractor. Read our Facebook reviews here.
• Yelp: To maintain a great rating in Yelp is really hard. Yelpers tend to vent out. So the reviews on Yelp are usually more negative than elsewhere. We have a 4.6 rating on Yelp, and that’s something we are pretty proud of.
• Angi (formerly Angie’s List): Reviews on Angi tend to be either very long or very short. But they are verified reviews, so Angi has few fake reviews, if any. You can read our reviews on Angi here.
• BBB: The Better Business Bureau has a Reviews section on their site but few people go to the BBB to leave a review. However, the BBB offers a previous view into the history of complaints of a business. This is important. An electrical contractor with an A+ rating on the BBB has a clean track record. Even if there were (a few) complaints, the contractor resolved them to the satisfaction of the client, or the BBB decided that the client was wrong and the contractor was right. The BBB does not maintain an A+ rating when a contractor has too many complaints. So check the BBB to see the “Customer Complaints” and the rating of the contractor. Our listing at the BBB is here.

What’s their process, cost, and warranty? 

As far as process goes, a reliable contractor will always be willing to answer directly any questions you have in regards to the plan they propose, and explain each step in detail so that everyone is at the same page.

The electrician’s estimate should include materials, labor, and any additional costs such as permits or inspections. Estimates for residential electrical work are usually free. For very large homes and businesses, they may be subject to a small fee, but will often be deductible from the price of the job if the contractor is hired.

Lastly, ask the electrical contractors bidding for your job about their warranty policy. Any electrician worth their salt will offer a strong warranty to back up their work. A good warranty is at least 6-month long. A great warranty is valid for 1 year and more. All Star Electric offers a 2-year warranty.

How long will it take you to decide?

Before the electrical contractors give you their bids, be upfront with your timing. Tell them if you want the job to start next week, next month, 6 months from now, or… you don’t even know for sure. This makes a huge difference in the bidding process, and it affects the cost of the job too.

During the 2020 pandemic, the prices of electrical supplies increased by 3x, sometimes as much as 5x or 6x. Electricians had a hard time getting their hands on the materials needed. The cost of transportation had become a real concern. People had received a quote several weeks before the lockdowns, but did not act on it until after the lockdown orders. The contractors had to eat the cost difference. Some went bankrupt on this factor alone.

This is an extreme situation, but with the wars going on, there is a lot of uncertainty on the stability of the supply chain. When the contractor puts a bid based on the timing you gave, if you move this timing and delay the starting date, their planning goes up in smoke and you may wind up waiting a long time for the job to be complete.

Readiness

Big electrical jobs typically create a lot of disturbance in your routine. You will likely have to move stuff out of the way., and disconnect some of your electrical devices to put them elsewhere in your home. You may have to contact other contractors to do jobs that must precede the electrical installation or modifications.

Your own readiness matters very much to your electrical contractor.

So while “readiness” is not a factor in your selection criteria, it is a vital component of your overall experience with the work of your contractor. If you are not ready when you said you will, this will delay the process planned out by your electrician, and impact the whole project. 

If you need to move a set date by which this or that should be ready on your side but won’t be ready for some unforeseen event, give your contractor enough advance notice to allow them to rearrange scheduling. Be aware that a small delay could result in a much longer one, especially if several contractors work at the same time on your home or business place.

A savvy and experienced electrical contractor will discuss this aspect with you before you sign the contract. When you are both looking at the proposed planning, the contractor will give you dates and tell you what he expects from you at these dates. Be ready when it is time to be.

How can All Star Electric become your electrical contractor of choice?

Electrical contractor All Star Electric has been operating in San Antonio and the area for almost 30 years. We have seen many, many different situations, in thousands of homes and businesses in which we changed and upgraded electrical installations.

We can provide you with all the documents you need to make a well-informed decision. All Star Electric practices reasonable prices, and looks after the best interest of its clients. When we upgrade an electrical installation for instance, we always seek ways to minimize your power usage and decrease your electricity bill.

As you have probably seen on our website, we do all types of electrical work: from service panels, to outdoor lighting, from kitchen electrical remodeling to electrical safety inspections. For our team of certified electricians, there is no job too big or too small. We invite you to call us at (210) 391-0274 and discuss any project you have in mind for your home or business.