Hiring local: what ‘local’ should actually mean

‘Local’ is one of the most used words in home services. It’s on truck doors, lawn signs, and nearly every listing. It sounds reassuring, and it’s meant to. A local business is supposed to be one that knows your area, answers when you call, and will still be around if something goes wrong.

But the word doesn’t come with a definition. Some businesses that call themselves local are family operations a few streets away. Others are call centres that pass your job to whoever happens to be free. Both can do good work, but they aren’t the same thing, and you deserve to know which one you’re hiring.

When I’m hiring someone to work on a house, these are the things I want ‘local’ to mean.

A real address or a clear service area

A local business should be able to tell you where it’s based. For some trades that’s a shop or office you could visit. For many others, especially smaller outfits, the work happens from a truck and the business is run from home. That’s fine. What matters is that they can tell you, plainly, where they work from and which areas they serve.

A clear service area is a good sign. It means the business has thought about how far it can travel and still show up on time. A business that claims to serve everywhere may be leaning on subcontractors, or may struggle to come back quickly when you need it.

It’s reasonable to ask how long they’ve been working in your area. You’re not looking for a particular number. You’re looking for a straight answer, and ideally a sense that they know the streets, the soil, and the kinds of houses you have. A roofer who has worked on a lot of homes like yours already knows where they tend to leak.

Who answers the phone

Call the number and notice who picks up. Is it someone who works for the business and can answer a question about your job? Or is it an answering service that takes a message and promises a callback?

Neither is automatically bad. Small businesses often use answering services so the owner can stay on the tools. But it’s worth knowing how your call will be handled when there’s a problem after the job, not just when you’re trying to book one.

A simple test: ask a specific question about your kind of job. If the person on the phone can answer it, or knows exactly who can, that’s a business where information moves.

Who actually does the work

This is the question many people forget to ask. The company you hire and the people who show up at your door aren’t always the same.

Subcontracting is common and normal in the trades. A general contractor usually brings in licensed electricians and plumbers, for instance. The concern isn’t subcontracting itself. It’s not knowing about it. Ask directly:

• Will your own employees do the work, or will you bring in subcontractors?
• If you use subcontractors, who are they, and how long have you worked with them?
• Who will be on site day to day, and who do I call if something isn’t right?
• Who is responsible for the work if a subcontractor makes a mistake?

A good contractor will answer those without hesitating. They know you’re trusting them with your home, and that you’ll feel better knowing who’s coming through the door.

It’s also worth asking whether the same people usually work together. A crew that has been with a business for years tends to share its standards and habits. A rotating cast of strangers can still do fine work, but the quality depends more on who happens to show up that week.

Licensing and insurance you can ask to see

Many trades are regulated by the province, and some work requires a licence or certificate. Electrical and gas work almost always does. Plumbing often does. Your municipality may require a business licence for certain contractors too.

You’re entitled to ask for proof, and a professional won’t mind. Ask for their licence number where the trade requires one, and check it with the provincial body that issues it. Ask for proof of liability insurance, and confirm it hasn’t lapsed. Where it applies, ask whether their workers are covered by your province’s workplace injury insurance, because an uninsured injury on your property can become your problem.

It takes a few minutes, and it’s one of the most useful few minutes in the whole hiring process.

Being around for the warranty

A warranty is only as good as the business that’s still there to honour it.

Much of the value of hiring local shows up after the job is done. Roofs leak in the first heavy storm. Tile cracks as a house settles. A fitting that was fine on day one weeps a little six months later. When that happens, you want a business that picks up the phone and comes back.

A business that has worked in your area for a long time, depends on word of mouth, and plans to be around for years has every reason to honour its warranty. A business that moves from region to region has less reason to.

Ask how warranty calls are handled. Who do you contact? How quickly do they usually respond? Is there a written warranty, and does it cover labour as well as materials?

Local is a promise, so check it

In the end, ‘local’ is a kind of promise: that the business is part of your community, knows the houses in your area, and will stand behind its work. Plenty of businesses keep that promise. Some just use the word.

The difference is easy to find if you ask. An address or a service area, a person who answers, a clear answer about who does the work, proof of licensing and insurance, and a warranty you can actually use. Those five things are what local should mean, whatever the truck says.