Questions to Ask Your Contractor

Primarily one of your initial pre-construction responsibilities should be to look for possible building contractors that align with your project objectives and timeline, then submit to them with questions to assess if they are fitting your construction goals.

Asking the right questions is vital to finding the ideal building contractor team for your project. Below are the top 25 questions to ask your potential building contractor in 2023.

1. How many years of building construction experience do you have?
2. Do you specialize in only residential projects, or do you also do commercial construction management?
3. Are you a member of an organization or professional association?
4. Can you provide me with a list of references from former clients?
5. Where do you usually source your materials from?
6. Can we work together on a joint contract?
7. Do you possess a valid license to complete this type of work?
8. Do you provide a guarantee or warranty on your work?
9. Are there particular permits that this project might require?
10. In our joint contract are you going to accept a cancellation clause?
11. Will you be acceptive of a materials allotment in our joint contract?
12. What is your anticipated payment timeline?
13. What insurance covers you and your team?
14. What safety actions do you take to safeguard the property of your clients?
15. What is your plan if someone gets injured at the project site?
16. Are you going to personally oversee the status of the project?
17. Is there going to be a project manager?
18. Is the project manager going to be at the construction site every day?
19. How long is it going to take to clean up the project site?
20. What is your plan when bad weather stops the completion of a project?
21. What is your estimated timeline for this construction project?
22. Do you typically finish projects within a given timeline?
23. How often are you going to update me on the status of the construction project?
24. What is your estimated daily timeline for this project?
25. What is an average day like when working on a construction project?

What Should You Not Tell a Potential Building Contractor?

Throughout the interview, each party needs to ascertain if they’re the right fit for the project. Meaning that the interview is going to likely go from both sides, with the building contractor having a couple of questions for the building project client as well. It’s essential to have a few tips on what topics and phrases you should stay away from throughout the interview to guarantee you provide them with the correct information.

Here are a couple of general guidelines:

• Don’t tell your potential contractor they are the only one bidding on the building project. Providing the contractor with this information ahead of time could lead the contractor thinking they don’t have to submit a competing bid.
• Don’t tell the contractor your schedule is adaptable. Even if you’re not in a rush, a construction project requires a timeline to guarantee your job is their priority. Contractors usually have more than one project at a time, so if you say you’re adaptable, you might become less of a concern.
• Don’t tell your contractor what your budget is ahead of time. All contractors should submit a bid that has a comprehensive expense breakdown.