Verify license, insurance, and bonding
Ask for the contractor's state license number and a current Certificate of Insurance (COI) listing both general liability and workers' comp. Don't take a screenshot of an old card — call the carrier on the COI to confirm the policy is still active. If your state requires bonding for your trade and your project size, ask which surety they use.
- State license number — verify on your state licensing board's website while they're in front of you
- General liability insurance: $1M minimum is the common floor for residential
- Workers' comp: required in nearly every state for any employees on your property
- Bonding: required in some states for projects over a threshold ($1k–$10k varies)
Who is actually doing the work
There's a meaningful gap between the salesperson at your kitchen table and the crew on your roof. Ask who runs the job day-to-day, how many years they've been with the company, whether work is subcontracted, and if so, what credentials the subs hold.
- Who is the on-site lead, and how do I reach them directly?
- Are any portions of this work subcontracted? To whom?
- How many crews are on your team and how many jobs run simultaneously?
- What's the start-to-finish timeline for my specific project?
Payment schedule and change orders
A reasonable schedule is ~10% deposit, progress payments tied to milestones, and 10–20% withheld until final walkthrough. Walk away from anyone asking for 50%+ upfront. Get the change-order process in writing before signing — what triggers one, how it's priced, and who has to approve it.
Warranty: what's covered, what's not
Most products carry a manufacturer warranty (the material) and a separate workmanship warranty (the labor). The material warranty often requires that the manufacturer's certified installation specs were followed exactly — including their specific underlayment, ventilation, fasteners, and so on. Ask which manufacturer warranty applies, what specifically voids it, and how long the workmanship warranty is.
- What's the manufacturer warranty length, and what voids it?
- What's the workmanship warranty length?
- Is the workmanship warranty transferable if I sell the home?
- If something fails, what's your response-time SLA?
Permits, code compliance, and inspections
For most jobs over a few thousand dollars, somebody has to pull a permit. That somebody should usually be the contractor, not you — when the contractor pulls, they're on the hook for code compliance and inspection sign-off. Anyone offering to skip the permit to save you money is a hard no.
- Who pulls the permit — you or the contractor?
- Is the permit fee included in the quote or billed separately?
- Does the project require code-upgrade work (e.g. electrical to current code, ventilation)?
- Who schedules and walks the inspection?
References and recent work
Ask for three references from jobs completed in the last 12 months — same trade, similar scope, similar zip code. Call all three. Ask about timeline accuracy, change-order honesty, and what the crew was like to have around the house.
Common questions
- Should I get the cheapest quote?
- Usually no. The cheapest quote is most often missing a line item (permit fees, tear-off, disposal) or budgeting a lower-grade material than the other bids. Compare quotes line-by-line — when a $5,000 gap shows up between bids, it's almost always traceable to one or two specific items.
- How many quotes should I get?
- Three is the standard. One gives you a number but no comparison. Two gives you a comparison but no sanity check. Three lets you spot the outlier — the bid that's wildly low (probably missing scope) or wildly high (probably padding).
- Is it OK to sign at the kitchen table the day of the estimate?
- It's almost never necessary. Any "limited-time discount" that requires same-day signing is a sales tactic — the same discount will be available next week if the contractor wants the job.
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