Editorial standards set by Stu Clark, a UK-trained plumber who ran his own plumbing and bathroom renovation business for 10 years before founding Top5HomePros.
Before hiring a general contractor, confirm they are licensed and insured for your state, get a detailed written contract covering scope, timeline and payment schedule, check recent references or reviews, and never pay the full amount upfront. A clear contract protects both sides if something changes partway through the project.
Why a Remodel Goes Wrong Long Before Work Starts
Most remodel disputes trace back to something that was never written down: an assumption about materials, an unclear timeline, or a payment schedule that was never actually agreed. Getting the paperwork right before the first day of work is the single biggest thing you control.
Before You Even Call a Contractor
Have a clear idea of your budget range and must-haves versus nice-to-haves before the first conversation. A contractor cannot give you a meaningful estimate against a vague brief, and you will struggle to compare quotes that were built on different assumptions.
What Should Be in Your Written Contract
- A detailed scope of work, specific enough that "finish the bathroom" is not the entire description.
- Named materials and fixtures, not just "standard" or "as selected," so there is no ambiguity later.
- A realistic timeline with a start date and expected completion window.
- A staged payment schedule tied to project milestones, not a lump sum.
- Who pulls permits and who is responsible for passing inspections.
- A change-order process for anything that comes up mid-project, in writing, before extra work begins.
Before any of that gets signed, ask for two or three references from projects completed in the last year specifically, not just their best-ever job from a decade ago. Recent references tell you how the contractor is running things right now, which is what actually matters for your project.
How Payment Schedules Should Work
A reasonable deposit tied to material costs is normal. What is not normal is paying the full amount upfront, or paying the majority of the project cost before most of the work is actually done. Staged payments against completed milestones protect you if the relationship needs to end early.
Questions to Ask About Permits
Ask directly whether your project needs a permit, and if so, who is responsible for pulling it. A reputable contractor will know the answer immediately rather than guessing, since unpermitted work can cause real problems later, including when you come to sell the home.
Red Flags During the Quoting Process
- A quote that is dramatically lower than every other bid, with no clear explanation.
- Reluctance to put the scope of work in writing.
- Pressure to sign quickly or skip getting other quotes.
- No verifiable local address, license number, or insurance details.
How we actually vet the contractors on our lists
"Reviews are the biggest thing when it comes to disqualifying a business, though it depends on how they respond to the bad ones. Everyone has an off day, and how a company reacts to a bad review tells you a lot about them. If there are too many bad reviews though, something is clearly up. After that, we look at whether their website and Google Business Profile show real photos of jobs they have actually finished, rather than stock images. Stock photos in a contractor's portfolio is one of the biggest red flags there is," says Stu Clark, founder of Top5HomePros.
Before you request quotes, it is worth starting from our Top 5 general contractors list for your town, since every business on it has already been independently checked for a genuine local presence and track record, rather than found through a generic search.