Mastering the Art of Hiring the Perfect General Contractor: Your Ultimate Guide

If you’re planning on renovating your kitchen, bathroom, or a large part of your home, chances are you’ll need to work with a general contractor. With so many different types out there, we understand that hiring a contractor can get overwhelming. We’ve created this guide to simplify the process, and help you find and hire the right general contractor for your home improvement project.

What is a General Contractor?

Before diving ahead into our guide, let’s make sure we’re on the same page about what exactly a “general contractor” is. A general contractor, or GC, is someone who coordinates and supervises every aspect of a construction project from start to finish. This includes obtaining any necessary permits (building, plumbing, electrical, etc.), purchasing standard construction materials, managing all subcontractors, and ensuring all inspections are scheduled and passed. Whatever types of tradesmen are required for any given project, the general contractor will schedule their work so that the it’s completed in a time-efficient and cost effective manner. For residential renovations, there are two types of general contractors:

Traditional General Contractor

Prepares a bid based on the plans designed by an architect, designer, or homeowner, and follows these plans to complete the work scope
Working with this type of general contractor allows the homeowner to be more involved in the design process (overall look, material & appliance selection, etc.)
This is generally the less expensive of the two, due to being a little more involved for the homeowner (although many people enjoy doing this!)

Design-Build Contractor

Has in-house architectural/design staff, and (as the name suggests) manages the design and construction of the project entirely
This is the more convenient option, but generally requires a larger budget for the homeowner

Step 1) Get Recommendations

The first step we recommend is to ask around! Ask your neighbors, friends, family members, and co-workers who they’ve hired for their recent home renovation projects, and how their experience working with them was. Some important questions we suggest asking include:

How responsive were they? Did they keep you updated throughout the process?
How did they address issues that came up, if any?
Did they get the work done in a timely manner?
Did the workers clean up after themselves daily?
How is the quality of work? Have you noticed any flaws since the work was completed?
Is the contractor trustworthy? Would you use them again?

Knowing someone who has had a positive experience with the contractor you are talking to can make the entire process a lot more comfortable. That being said, it is still very important that you do your own due diligence and make sure that they have the proper skills and expertise to make them a good fit for your particular renovation project.

Step 2) Schedule a Consultation

After gathering some positive referrals (we suggest 2 - 3) and checking out their respective websites/doing some research, give them a call to schedule a time for them to stop by and go through the work you are looking to have done. Tell them who gave you the referral, as well as a brief explanation of your renovation plan and ideas. Upon arrival and throughout the consultation, the contractor should exude knowledge. He or she should be able to answer all of your questions and concerns, point out any problem areas they notice, as well as give suggestions where needed including things you can do that will save you money. You should ask about their licensing and insurance, past work, and their availability, and you should also be able to get a general read of whether or not you can see yourself working with them. One of the key components to a successful renovation project is transparent communication throughout the process, so it is important that you pay attention to how well you communicate with one another right from the get go.

Step 3) Review the Bids

The contractors you meet with should get back to you with their bids within a week or two (could take longer depending on the size of the project). After receiving them, carefully review to make sure all the things you discussed are accounted for. If you notice anything missing or there’s something that’s unclear, reach out to them. A good contractor should be more than willing to clarify your uncertainties, and make sure you are fully informed before committing to anything. There are some red flags we suggest you look out for at this stage, which include:

Not hearing back from the contractor for a few weeks after your meeting
Receiving a very vague proposal that does not clearly outline the work scope
A request for a large deposit—the standard is generally 10%
Receiving a bid that is significantly lower than the others—if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

We would like to note that having a clear and detailed work scope on the bid is extremely necessary. While you may feel you explained your project clearly to the contractor, there are things that can get lost in translation. Similarly, the contractor may have forgotten to include certain work in his bid, and therefore did not account for it in his/her price. We urge you to carefully go through the bid, line-by-line, and make sure that all the work you want done is included and clearly stated.

Step 4) Choose the General Contractor

By this point, you should have gone through the entire process and received at least one bid for your project. It is entirely possible that after meeting with just one contractor, you feel ready to move forward with them. If, however, you feel any sense of doubt, we recommend repeating this process until you feel fully comfortable. Again, we cannot stress enough that the most important factor when choosing a general contractor is how well you communicate with them, especially being that they will be your primary point of contact for the weeks or months that the project takes to complete. And although price is—of course—important too, it’s often worth spending a little more to work with someone that you are confident will do an excellent job.

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, there’s no clear-cut answer on how to hire the best general contractor for your project. With so many of them out there and so many personal preferences (experience, availability, pricing, etc.), what may be the right contractor for you may not necessarily be for someone else. With that being said, there are plenty of companies out there that will do the job to your liking, and you can use these steps to help narrow down and ultimately find the general contractor that will provide the experience and outcome you are looking for.

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