A Contract With the Contractor Is a Smart Back-Up

Most co-op and condo boards have an alteration agreement in place that must be signed by all residents who want to modify their apartments. But what about the arrangement between the resident and his or her contractor? Is it smart for them to draw up a contract of their own as a back-up to the alteration agreement?

“When we prepare and sign a contract, it’s to protect us every bit as much as our client,” Jos Dudgeon, a principal in the contractor Tristate Sustainable, tells the Ask Real Estate column in the New York Times.

And make sure the contractor is licensed and duly insured, he adds: “If the contractor isn’t licensed and insured, then the client is courting disaster using them, regardless of the size of the job.”

Paying a lawyer to draw up a contract before the work starts might wind up saving money in legal fees once the work is under way and problems start surfacing. And a detailed contract has an added bonus. “Maybe the biggest potential pitfall in renovation is mismanaged expectations,” says Paul Barnla, founder of the Brooklyn contractor Artistic License Interiors.

Four words to the wise: Get it in writing.