Who is the company behind the name on the door?

A good job, a good contract and a good partner all depend on the company behind them.

You do not need a research team to size up a company in this industry. You need an hour and the right questions.

Start with the basics:

• Who owns it? A subsidiary, a private firm and a listed company behave differently.
• What does it actually do? Owner, operator, contractor and supplier are different businesses.
• Where does its work come from? One big customer is a risk, many is a business.
• How long has it been around? Not a guarantee, but a signal.

Then check what it leaves behind:

• its safety record, where it is public
• its project history, including the ones that went badly
• how it treats subcontractors and suppliers, which you can ask them about
• how it talks about the work, and whether it names the people who do it

The name on the door tells you what they call themselves. The record tells you what they are.

For job seekers, the same questions apply. For suppliers, add one more: how long does it take them to pay?