Questions to Ask Your Contractor Before You Sign
February 24, 2009
About the Contractor
- Are you the qualifier on your contractor’s license?
- How long have you been licensed?
- Has anyone ever registered a formal complaint against you?
- Have you ever been investigated or disciplined by any state or local authority?
- Have you ever had any legal actions filed against you or your business?
- Have you ever declared bankruptcy?
About the Business
- How long have you operated under your current business name? (When was your current business established?)
- How is your business organized (corporation, LLC, partnership, proprietorship)?
- Do you have an office or do you operate from a home office?
- How many actual employees do you have?
- Do you have Worker’s Compensation Insurance?
- Will you be able to provide me with a certificate of insurance?
- Do you have commercial general liability insurance?
- What are your coverage limits?
- Can I be named as an additional insured?
- Will you provide me with an insurance certificate?
- What other construction companies have you been involved with?
- What professional organizations do you or your company belong to?
- Will your banker give you a good reference?
- Can you describe the projects you’ve completed in the past 12 months?
- Can I speak to any of the owners on these projects?
- Can you describe the projects you have currently underway?
- When are they scheduled to be completed?
About Project Management
- What’s the process for obtaining plans and permits?
- Do you include those costs in your bid?
- Will you be physically working on this project, or will you be mostly supervising?
- How many other projects will you be working on while you’re working on mine?
- How much time do you expect to spend on my site in the beginning? At the end?
- Will you have a supervisor (or foreman) assigned to this project?
- How much time will this supervisor spend on my site in the beginning? At the end?
- How much authority/responsibility do you give your supervisor?
- When can I meet him/her?
- What parts of the work will you perform with your own employees?
- What parts of the work will you perform with subcontractors?
- Are they all licensed?
- Can you provide me with a list?
- Can they provide certificates of insurance?
- Will you give us a detailed schedule before you start?
- How often do you update the schedule?
- How (and how often) do you keep us informed on progress?
- Who will be keeping us informed?
- How often and at what points will we be able to inspect and approve the work?
- What happens if we’re not satisfied with something?
- What are the arrangements for billing and payment?
- Do you provide invoices and receipts?
- Do you invoice based on percentage of work complete?
- Is the final payment due before the work is actually finished?
- Do you obtain lien releases when you pay your subcontractors?
- Will you give us a lien release when we pay you?
- Can we have copies of the subcontractor lien releases?
About the Work
- What are the hours of work?
- How will workers be getting access to the project site?
- What can you tell me about how you keep the job site clean?
- What are your safety practices?
- Do we need to take any special precautions to keep our children safe? Our pets?
- What warranties or guarantees will we receive?
Related Articles
- How to Chose a Contractor
- Shady Contractors: Warning Signs to Watch For
- What Does Contractor Liability Insurance Cover?
- Should You Ask for a Performance Bond?
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