15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a General Contractor
The questions that actually surface whether a contractor will deliver — or whether you'll be chasing them in six months. Print this before any walkthrough.
Licensing, insurance, and credentials (Q1–Q4)
1) Are you licensed in this state, and can I see the license number? Verify it on the state board's website — don't just take the card.
2) Can I see your certificate of insurance — general liability AND worker's comp? Ask for it to be issued naming you as a certificate holder, so you're notified if it lapses.
3) How long have you been in business under this name? Companies that fold and rebrand to escape obligations are a real pattern.
4) Will you pull all required permits, or are you expecting me to? Contractors who push permits onto the homeowner are doing so to dodge code inspections.
Scope, schedule, and price (Q5–Q9)
5) Is the quote line-itemed — labor, materials, allowances, contingencies — or is it a single number? Single-number quotes are where change orders live.
6) What's the payment schedule? Anything over a 10% deposit upfront is a warning sign; tying payments to clearly defined milestones is the right pattern.
7) Who will be on-site every day, and who's the single point of contact? You want one phone number to call, not a rotating cast.
8) What's your timeline, and what happens if you miss it? A real timeline has a start date, milestone dates, and a contractual remedy for delays.
9) How do you handle change orders? Every change should be a written addendum signed before work proceeds — never a verbal agreement settled in the final invoice.
Quality, accountability, and references (Q10–Q15)
10) How do you inspect your own work between phases? A written QC checklist signed off before drywall closes a wall is the gold standard.
11) What warranty do you offer, and is it in writing? One year on workmanship is the minimum; two years is better.
12) Can I see three completed projects similar to mine — and talk to the owners? Their answers about communication and punch-list responsiveness matter more than the photos.
13) How do you handle subcontractors — is it the same crew every time? Stable subs mean accountability; rotating subs mean none.
14) What's your safety record, and what's your protocol for site cleanup? Daily cleanup is a culture indicator.
15) Will you put everything we've discussed in writing before we sign? If the answer is anything other than yes, walk away.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the biggest red flag when hiring a contractor?
- A single-number bid with no line items, paired with pressure to sign quickly and a large upfront deposit. That combination is almost always a setup for either a disappearance or a long string of change orders.
- How many bids should I get for a construction project?
- Three is the standard. Fewer than three and you have no calibration; more than five and you're wasting everyone's time. Make sure all three are bidding on the same written scope, or the prices are not comparable.
- Should I always pick the lowest bid?
- Almost never. The lowest bid usually wins by leaving things out of the scope, then collecting on them as change orders. Compare bids line by line, and ask the low bidder to show you exactly what's different about their assumptions.