Most people know the basics of finding a contractor—find a professional that’s licensed and insured. But that’s actually the bare minimum. And honestly, in most states, it’s very easy for anyone to get a general contractor’s license. Unfortunately, just because a contractor is licensed and insured, doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing. There are additional criteria you should be looking for when interviewing prospective contractors.

They Should Provide a Construction Schedule

Any experienced, organized contractor should be able to provide you with at least a rough construction schedule. The schedule usually states major phases of the project by week–demolition, rough-ins, inspections, insulation installation and so on…. Throughout the duration of a project these schedules do tend to shift a bit, but you should always have a baseline.

You need to be able to plan for a major renovation on your end. Before demolition, there’s a lot of preparation that needs to take place within the home. You also need to make sure you make any major design decisions and product purchases well in advance. Otherwise, the contractor is going to do what they want (which you might not like) or you’ll be scrambling to make big (and often expensive) decisions with short notice.

Construction schedules are also important because it’s an easy way to evaluate if your contractor is staying on schedule. To be safe, I usually tell my clients to tack on two extra weeks beyond the provided construction timeline. That way if the work is completed two weeks late it won’t be a problem, and if they finish on time you’ll be presently surprised.

They Don’t Tend to go Rogue

When you don’t hear from a contractor for a while it can be really good or really bad.

Good being that the documentation it’s so clear that they don’t have many questions. Bad would mean that the contractor has decided to go rogue–meaning they’re doing things the way they want, regardless of the design intent and overall end goals of the project. Sometimes it’s because they identify a potential issue or a specific feature that could be a safety hazard. In any case, if a contractor decides to go off-script they should make an effort to communicate why before they do it.

The best contractors review all the documentation that’s shared with them ahead of time and asks clarifying questions to be sure that they understand the end goals of the project. When they foresee a potential issue, they troubleshoot. If they don’t have the skill set to complete something, it’s their responsibility to admit it, find that subcontractor with that specific expertise or and suggest we find an additional professional to collaborate with.

You don’t want to walk into a space and be shocked that what you see is far from what you envisioned. That can become a very uncomfortable conversation, because you and the contractor need to agree on who should pay to fix the problem. Luckily, few of our clients run into this because they have documentation that provides another level of insurance.

They Provide a Payment Schedule

Invoices from contractors are some of the biggest you’ll receive. They’re often tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, depending on the scope of the project. You’ll want to know when those bills are coming so you can be prepared to pay in a timely manner. Otherwise, late payment will delay the project.

In my experience, most contractors send invoices at the end of specific phases (i.e. completion of framing, completion of drywall, completion of rough-ins etc.). However, I’ve seen other payment structures as well.

They Respect All Decision-Makers

For our full-service design clients, we help with contractor walkthroughs. We’re there to review the project with prospective contractors and answer any questions they may have. In our contract, we state that if a client is part of a couple, both parties should be at the walkthroughs because we need to make sure that you feel you can have a healthy, professional relationship with the contractor (that will be in your life for at least a few months).

Many of our clients happen to be heterosexual couples. I can’t tell you how many times a male contractor will come in and only pay attention to the man. Sometimes they will make eye contact with the woman only once when they first introduce themselves. I’ve also seen interactions where they’ll repeatedly interrupt the woman and not the man. I find this fascinating, since the women often calls just as many shots as the man during the renovation process, sometimes more so.

There’s no reason why a contractor should ignore either homeowner and yet I see it all the time. Often, those contractors don’t get selected by the client. When the client does select these contractors, I find that they often regret it.

They Have Good Communication Skills

There are fantastic, talented contractors out there that have no idea how to communicate. This is very hard to deal with, especially for those who have never been through a renovation before. You’ll feel like you’re flying blind throughout the entire construction process.

All the criteria listed above ultimately has to do with communication. Whether that’s communicating the timeline, their skillset, the end goals of the project or possible solutions. If your contractor isn’t good at communicating with you about the progress of the project and managing expectations, your project is going to be a lot more stressful than it needs to be. I know this because there are many panicked clients that I’ve had to talk off the ledge. It’s not uncommon to have a contractor that’s a bad communicator. But you don’t necessarily need to accept it or work with those contractors. You need to work with a contractor that has a communication level that makes you most comfortable.

When I recommend contractors, I recommend them based on the client’s personality. Some clients want to be completely hands off and are okay with a contractor that updates them once a week. Other clients need more reassurance and prefer a short conversation with the contractor almost every day to review even the tiniest of decisions. None of my clients ever want to feel like they’re being kept in the dark.

Other Things to Look for in a Contractor for Your Renovation

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