How Do I Find a Building Contractor?

When doing home repairs or remodeling, you will want to find a contractor with the experience and expertise to get the job done right.  Anyone whose dealt with a bad contractor will tell you that nothing is worse than paying thousands of dollars for subpar work.  Nobody understand this more than us here at PunchList.

We vet top contractors and remodeling pros in some of the biggest markets in the US so we can connect them with homeowners in need of repairs.  Here is how you can find the best contractors in your area.

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• Start by asking friends and relatives for recommendations
• Talk to people who have completed projects similar to what you’re planning.
• Find out if the contractor has a license and is insured.
• Get several estimates from qualified contractors, but be wary of the lowest bidder.
• Call the references.
• Skip all of this and use PunchList!

Start by asking friends and relatives for recommendations

• Ask friends and relatives for recommendations. If you know of someone who has had work done on their home, ask them if they were satisfied with the job. If they were, ask them to give you the name of their contractor and contact that person to get a bid for your project.
• Get references from previous clients. Good contractors will have references from past clients who can vouch for their workmanship and professionalism.
• Make sure contractors are licensed according to state law. For a contractor’s license number to be valid in one state, it must be issued by an agency recognized by every other state in which he works (a national organization called NABCEP).
• Make sure the contractors carry worker’s compensation for all workers. This can help protect you in the case that a worker is injured on your property.

Talk to people who have completed similar projects you’re planning.

• Talk to people who have completed similar projects you’re planning.
• Ask them about the quality of work, price, the time it took, and communication with their contractor.
• Ask if they would recommend their contractor to others considering hiring someone for a similar project.
• Find out how professional and courteous their building contractor was during their work on their home.
• Find out if your prospective contractor communicated with them regularly throughout the project, as well as provide any updates on progress or delays in the schedule that may occur.
• Ask if there were any problems with cleanliness during construction in terms of trash left behind by workers or debris left at work sites after completion (as this could affect your insurance premiums).

Find out if the contractor has a license and is insured.

The first thing you should do when searching for a contractor is to ask if they have a license and if their insurance covers the work you want them to do. You may need a special permit or license to complete specific tasks on your property, such as roofing. If the contractor doesn’t have any of these permits, they won’t be able to help you with those projects.

The next step is checking that their insurance covers your project (and vice versa). Their general liability policy might not cover your property if it’s something outside the contract terms (or the “completion-of-work” clause).

If these steps are taken care of before hiring someone, chances are high that misunderstandings will be prevented later when one side says something went wrong, but more needs to be done!

Get several estimates from qualified contractors, but be wary of the lowest bidder.

Get several estimates from qualified contractors but be wary of the lowest bidder because it is often more expensive to fix things after construction than it would if there had been better planning at the onset.

Call the references.

Ask the reference how well they think the contractor did. You should also ask them to explain why they feel that way and if there were any problems with the project.

Don’t forget to ask how the contractor handled specific problems with their services or products. Did they get back to them quickly? Did they make sure nothing was damaged during shipping? Did they treat everyone involved with respect?

Skip all of this and use PunchList!

Rather than go through all these painstaking and time-consuming tasks, sign up with PunchList!  With our platform, you can skip the process of vetting contractors and gathering estimates because we do the heavy lifting for you!  Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up for a free PunchList account
2. Upload your work details into our platform and receive an accurate home repair estimate within hours, no meetings with contractors are necessary!
3. Get a free home repair consultation with PunchList to ensure the work detail is accurate.
4. Get connected with a licensed and vetted local handyman that can take care of the work for you! Quality of work is guaranteed and it comes with a 1 year transferrable labor warranty.

There’s simply no better way to handle home repairs!