{"id":1322,"date":"2016-09-27T17:25:42","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T22:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/?page_id=1322"},"modified":"2017-05-15T07:07:38","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T12:07:38","slug":"evaluating-general-contractors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/home_articles\/evaluating-general-contractors\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating General Contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Do your Homework before Hiring a General Contractor<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>By Mark J. Donovan<br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!-- google_ad_client = \"pub-3988490936633155\"; \/* Homepage_Home_Improvement_468x15_ATF, created 8\/13\/10 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"6539705898\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 15; \/\/-->\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"KonaBody\">\n<table style=\"width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"50%\">\n<p align=\"center\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- New_300x250_051317 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3988490936633155\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"4202793463\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script>\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"3%\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" width=\"47%\"><strong>Question:<\/strong> Mark, I\u2019m planning to have a home built and am in need of hiring a general contractor. In evaluating general contractors in building a home, I know you state you need to check references but what other qualifications do you look for or other resources do you use to evaluate a general contractor. For example, does the contractor need to be certified in any areas, belong to BBB or professional organizations. Also, do you research them to see if they\u2019ve had any lawsuits filed against them?<\/p>\n<p>What do you suggest? I know references are a good source but contractors only provide the ones that are going to give glowing reviews. Let me know your thoughts.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Answer:<\/strong> E.L., First, I still believe that checking contractor references is the best bet when evaluating general contractors. When the contractors give you references make sure they provide you with about a half dozen or so, and at least a couple of them should be from older projects (e.g. a couple of years ago).<\/p>\n<p>Second, yes check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). You can do this on line and they\u2019ll give you a rating for the company.<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\" width=\"50%\">Third, check with Angie&#8217;s list or Yelp for general contractor reviews. See my YELP Contractor Review Page and type in the contractor\/business name along with the city\/state. If there are reviews on the general contractor you\u2019re considering to hire they&#8217;ll be reported in this list.<\/p>\n<p>Forth, check with your local building inspector. They may say little, but on the other hand they might give you some sign that you may want to hire or not hire the contractor.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, see if the general contractor is registered in the state as a contractor and is a member of a home building or contractor association. If he is a good general contractor he should be active in a home builders association.<\/td>\n<td width=\"3%\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"47%\"><a href=\"http:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/home_addition_bid_sheets\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-381 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Home_Addition_Bid_Sheets_Ad_250x250.jpg\" alt=\"Home Addition Bid Sheets\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Home_Addition_Bid_Sheets_Ad_250x250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Home_Addition_Bid_Sheets_Ad_250x250-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>It is through this type of association that he keeps up with the latest home construction regulations and stays abreast of the latest in home construction technology and materials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"color: #008000; font-size: large;\"><b>For more help on building a home addition<\/b><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">, see HomeAdditionPlus.com&#8217;s<b> <a href=\"http:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/home_addition_bid_sheets\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Home Addition Bid Sheets<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"EN\">. <\/span><\/b>Our\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/home_addition_bid_sheets\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Home Addition Bid Sheets<\/span><\/a> <\/b>provide you with the knowledge and information on how to plan a home building project, and what to look for when hiring contractors. They also include detailed cost breakdown tables and spreadsheets for estimating your own new home construction building costs<\/span>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #008000; font-size: large;\">Free Home Addition Price Quotes with No Obligation!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote on a house addition from one of our prescreened and licensed home addition contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once you receive your home addition price estimate.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.inforequests.com\/pub5x\/\/?allowRefNet=N&amp;layout=H&amp;PublisherSubID=Room_Addition_Bottom&amp;url=http:\/\/g.gaesy.com\/cgi\/r?;n=203;c=622397;s=4383;x=7936;f=201006161516140;u=j;z=TIMESTAMP;&amp;servicescheckbox=ROOM_ADDITIONS&amp;submit=submit\" width=\"660\" height=\"560\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do your Homework before Hiring a General Contractor By Mark J. Donovan Question: Mark, I\u2019m planning to have a home built and am in need of hiring a general contractor. In evaluating general contractors in building a home, I know you state you need to check references but what other qualifications do you look for or other resources do you use to evaluate a general contractor. For example, does the contractor need to be certified in any areas, belong to BBB or professional organizations. Also, do you research them to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":315,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1322","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Evaluating General Contractors - HomeAdditionPlus.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homeadditionplus.com\/dev\/home_articles\/evaluating-general-contractors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evaluating General Contractors - HomeAdditionPlus.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do your Homework before Hiring a General Contractor By Mark J. 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