The credential each trade carries
On top of the two insurance documents every company files, HVAC and electrical are each gated on one credential of their own.
A company verified for one of them is not thereby verified for the other. The two credentials are issued by different bodies and prove different things.
| Trade | Before it may propose |
|---|---|
| HVAC | General liability · EPA 608 certification |
| Electrical | General liability · Electrical contractor license |
Two credentials, and only one of them expires
The EPA 608 certification is the federal certification required to handle refrigerants. It carries no expiration date, so it is filed once and stays good.
The electrical contractor license carries the date it expires and is watched to the day. A company whose license has run out cannot answer requests for the trade until the state has issued the next one.
- EPA 608Verified once. No renewal date to watch.
- Electrical licenseWatched to the day it runs out.
Set your own insurance limits on top of the license
A license says the state let this company do the work. A certificate says who pays if the work goes wrong, and that figure is yours to set. A person opens both, and the figure on the certificate is checked against the number you typed.
You set a figure per trade, so mechanical work can carry a heavier number than the rest of the building without dragging every other trade up with it.
| Coverage | Your minimum |
|---|---|
| General liability (per occurrence) | You set the figure |
| General liability (aggregate) | You set the figure |
| Workers’ comp / employer’s liability | You set the figure |
| Auto liability | You set the figure |
| Umbrella / excess | You set the figure |
| Professional liability | You set the figure |
| Pollution liability | You set the figure |
| Crime / employee dishonesty | You set the figure |
Write the scope your engineer would describe
The address, the trade, what the work is, and a date for answers. An engineer’s description of a job is usually better than a form’s, so it is published in the words it was written in with your insurance minimums printed underneath.
Answers arrive priced line by line with the attendance each company is offering. Whoever you award was already carrying the license and the insurance.
- The building
- One address.
- The trade
- HVAC or electrical.
- The work
- In the engineer’s words.
- The insurance
- Your minimums, printed on the request.
- Submission
- The date answers are due.
