How to check a contractor before you sign
Signing with the wrong contractor is usually not obvious until the work has already started. A few checks done before you sign cost nothing and can save you from a project that goes over what you planned, in time, money or both. None of these checks need legal expertise, just a habit of asking and reading before agreeing, and most of them apply just as much to a small renovation as to a full house build.
Start with the paperwork
Ask to see the company's commercial licence and commercial registration before discussing anything else. Check that the name on both documents matches the name you are dealing with, and that the listed activities actually cover construction, contracting or the specific work you need done. If the person you are talking to represents a different name than the one on the paperwork, ask why before going any further.
A phone number and a nice portfolio are easy to put together, but a real office address is harder to fake. Confirm the address matches what is on the licence, and visit if you can. A company that only meets clients at the project site, with no fixed office to point to, is worth a second look before you commit, since it makes following up much harder if a disagreement comes up later.
Ask to see real past work
Photos on a website or social media page are a starting point, not proof. Ask for examples of completed work, ideally similar in scale to your own project, and ask if you can see one in person or speak to whoever owns it. A contractor who is proud of what they built will not hesitate to arrange this.
Walking through a finished house or building tells you more in a few minutes than any brochure. Look at how the finishing meets the walls, how doors and windows sit, and whether the details were handled with care. Ask the owner, if they are willing to talk, whether the project stayed close to what was originally agreed, since that answer tells you more than the finish itself.
Put the scope, materials and payment stages in writing
A verbal agreement is not something you can point back to later, and memory tends to shift once a project is under way and small decisions pile up. Getting the following in writing before work begins protects both sides, not just you.
- The full scope of work, described clearly enough that nothing is left to interpretation
- The materials and finishes specified, not just "good quality" written without detail
- Drawings that match what was actually agreed, not a rough sketch
- A payment schedule tied to stages of completed work, not one lump sum paid upfront
- Who is responsible for changes requested after work has started
- A rough sense of how long each stage should reasonably take, even without fixed dates
None of this needs to be complicated, but it does need to exist on paper before anyone picks up a tool. A short written scope also gives you something concrete to compare against once the work is actually under way, rather than relying on memory of what was said in a meeting.
Understand who supervises the work
Ask who is responsible for engineering supervision on site, and how often they are actually present. A contractor who cannot answer this clearly, or who treats supervision as an afterthought, is more likely to hand over work that needs correcting later, since small errors compound when nobody is checking them along the way.
It also helps to know who your point of contact is if something needs adjusting mid-project, rather than only hearing from whoever answered the phone when you first called. A clear line of communication matters more once the project is under way than it does during the sales conversation.
Know what happens after handover
Ask what happens once the work is finished and you have moved in or started using the space. A maintenance contract, or at least a clear answer about how issues raised after handover are handled, tells you whether the relationship ends the moment the invoice is paid.
For general contracting or new construction, also ask whether finishing and renovation work is handled by the same team or subcontracted separately, since that affects who you call when something needs attention. A contractor who plans for this stage from the start, rather than treating handover as the end of the relationship, is usually the safer choice.
A few checks, less risk
None of these steps take long, and a contractor with nothing to hide will not mind any of them. Treat the ones that resist a simple question, a document request, or a site visit as your answer, and treat hesitation over any single item as a reason to keep looking rather than a detail to overlook. A little patience at this stage is far cheaper than sorting out a dispute once the project is already under way.
If you want to talk through a project before committing to anyone, get in touch and ask what you need to know.
