Contractors: Ask These Questions When Hiring a Drilling and Blasting Contractor
As a commercial contractor, you have to handle a lot, and unfortunately, you can't always handle everything on your own. In particular, if you hit stone while developing a plot of land, you may need to hire a drilling and blasting contractor. To help you find the right partner for your job, consider asking prospective candidates the following questions.
What Technology Do You Use?
Drilling and blasting has come a long way over the years, and for the safety of your crew and success of your project, you don't want to work with a company that's using last year's technology. Instead, you need a company that uses software to guide the process as well as the most precise blasting equipment on the market. Ask prospective contractors to walk you through the process so you can compare their approach and technology to other potential candidates.
How Much Space Do You Need to Manoeuvre?
Depending on the equipment, the drilling and blasting contractor is bringing in, they may need different amounts of room to manoeuvre. For instance, they may need a certain amount of room for hydraulic drills and rams, and they may also need space to store explosives or bring in other equipment. You need to ensure you can accommodate that on your site.
What Is Your Previous Experience?
Ideally, you want to hire a blasting and drilling contractor who has experience working on your type of project. For instance, if you're doing a residential build, you need someone that can handle coming and in possibly doing their work in a crowded urban or suburban environment. On the other hand if you're doing a civil project like building a bridge, you need a contractor who can blast away the unnecessary rocks while still keeping the rest of the supporting ground intact.
Can You Do a Hazard Analysis?
To be on the safe side, you may want the professional you hire to do a hazard analyses. In particular, you need to know if there is any dangerous gases or materials locked behind or under the rocks being blasted or drilled. You also want to know how much debris is going to fly and what you need to do to keep crews and equipment safe during the process.
Do You Have a Project Manager?
So that everything is coordinated correctly with the blasting and drilling company and your own team, you may want a project manager to oversee the process. That point person can be a critical liaison who helps to keep your project on track and avoid delays.