6 Things to Look For When Hiring an Electrician

Hiring an electrician is one of those decisions where you can't really evaluate the product. The work ends up behind drywall, and a bad job and a good job look identical from the hallway for years. So you end up judging the process instead — and fortunately, the process tells you almost everything.

1. A license number you can actually check

In Arizona, electrical contractors are licensed through the Registrar of Contractors, and the license number should be on the truck, the website, and the estimate. Ours is ROC#326755. Anyone can say "licensed and insured"; a number is a claim you can verify in about a minute on the ROC website, including whether the license is current and whether there's a complaint history.

2. Insurance, and a willingness to prove it

Ask for a certificate of insurance — general liability, plus workers' compensation if they have employees. This isn't a rude question and a real contractor won't treat it as one; the certificate takes one email to produce. Without workers' comp, an injury on your property can become your problem.

3. A written scope, not a number on a business card

A usable estimate says what's being installed, what materials and grade, whether permits and inspection are included, who patches drywall, and what happens if something unexpected turns up in a wall. Verbal quotes and one-line totals are where disputes come from. Ranges are fine when the unknowns are real — as long as the estimate says what would push it to the top of the range.

4. They bring up permits before you do

A contractor who proposes skipping the permit to save you a few dollars is telling you how they'll handle the parts you can't see either. Panel changes, service upgrades, and new circuits are permitted work in Coconino and Navajo counties. An inspection is a second set of eyes on your house, paid for in the permit fee.

5. How they behave before you've paid anything

Returned calls, arriving in the window they promised, and explaining the problem in plain language are all free to do — and they're the best available predictor of how the job will go. So is the opposite: high-pressure "today only" pricing, scare tactics about your panel without showing you what they're looking at, or a large deposit demanded before any work is scheduled.

6. Local track record and a warranty in writing

Reviews that describe specific work in your area are worth more than a star average. So is a workmanship warranty stated in writing — separate from manufacturer warranties on equipment — and a straight answer about who to call in two years if something fails. A contractor who lives in the same town has a reputation to protect at the grocery store.

If you want to see how we answer these questions, the about us page covers our licensing and history, and an electrical safety inspection is a low-commitment way to see how a contractor works before a big project.