9-Step Checklist for Vetting a Contractor Before You Hire
Every year, homeowners lose a fortune. It goes to unlicensed contractors, unfinished work, and flat-out fraud.
Most of it is preventable. A few hours of homework before you sign anything is all it takes.
The 9-Step Checklist
1. Check the License
Every state keeps a public contractor license database. Search your contractor's name and license number before your first meeting.
Make sure the license is active. Make sure it covers the work you need. Make sure it is in the contractor's legal business name, not some other company.
2. Confirm Insurance Yourself
Do not take a proof-of-insurance form at face value.
Call the insurance company using the number on their website, not the number the contractor gives you. Confirm the policy is active and covers your job. Ask to be added to their policy for your job (this is called being an "additional insured").
3. Check for a Registered Business
A real contractor has a registered business in your state. You can search for it on your Secretary of State's website.
An unregistered "contractor" working under a personal name has no real accountability.
4. Look Them Up Online
Search the company name plus "reviews," "complaints," and "BBB."
A few bad reviews among many good ones is normal. A pattern of unresolved complaints or walked-off jobs is a deal-breaker.
5. Ask for Job References
Ask for three references from jobs finished recently, in the same kind of work as yours.
Call them. Ask if the job came in on budget and on schedule. Ask if they would hire the contractor again.
6. Visit a Job They Are Working On
Ask to see a job in progress.
How the crew treats someone else's home is how they will treat yours. Look for a clean, organized, professional site.
7. Read the Contract Closely
A handshake means nothing. A one-page "contract" is almost as bad.
A pro uses a written contract. It spells out the work, the materials, the schedule, the payment milestones, how changes to the work get handled, and how disagreements get settled.
8. Understand the Payment Schedule
For the upfront deposit: in California, never more than 10% of the contract or $1,000, whichever is less. Some states allow a bit more, but never go above your state's legal limit.
Tie the rest of the payments to finished work, step by step.
Then hold back the final 10 to 15% until you have looked over the finished work and signed off. This is money you keep back until the job is done and checked. It is not a deposit. It is your safety net at the end.
9. Pull Your Own Permits
If a contractor tells you to skip permits to "save money," walk away.
Work done without permits can void your home insurance. It can cause problems when you sell. And it can leave you on the hook.
Permits protect you, not just the contractor.