Planning an addition or a big renovation?
One pro to run the whole job.

If your project involves more than one trade (say, framing plus electrical plus plumbing), structural changes, an addition, or work that requires a set of permits and inspections, a general contractor coordinates it. For a single-trade job — a water heater, a panel upgrade, a reroof — hiring that trade directly is usually cheaper.

Before collecting bids, write a scope: what rooms or areas, what finishes, what stays and what goes, and your target budget range. Contractors bid more accurately against a written scope than against a conversation, and you can compare bids line by line.

For larger projects, expect either a fixed-price bid against a defined scope or a cost-plus arrangement with a stated markup. Both are legitimate; fixed price shifts overrun risk to the contractor, cost-plus gives you transparency but requires trust and documentation.

Watch allowances — placeholder budgets for items you have not picked yet, like tile or fixtures. Low allowances make a bid look cheaper than it is. Ask each bidder to state allowance amounts so you can compare them honestly.

Structural surprises (rot, undersized framing, old wiring or plumbing discovered in opened walls), site access, finish level, and the current cost of materials and labor all move prices. So do code upgrades: opening walls in an older home often triggers requirements to bring nearby systems up to current code.

A contingency of roughly 10 to 15 percent on renovation work is standard practice. A bid with no contingency discussion for a gut renovation is optimistic, not cheap.

The contract should name the scope, the price, the payment schedule tied to milestones, the start and substantial-completion dates, the change-order process, warranty terms, and proof of insurance and licensing. Never rely on a handshake for work of this size.

Tie payments to completed milestones, not calendar dates, and keep the final payment meaningful until punch-list items are done. Many states cap the size of the down payment a contractor can legally request — check your state guide.

Most states license general or residential contractors, often with dollar thresholds, exams, and insurance or bond requirements. Verify the license with your state board — our state guides link the lookup — and verify insurance directly with the carrier, including workers' compensation for any employees on site.

For permitted work, the contractor pulls the permits in their name. An owner-builder permit taken out at the contractor's suggestion shifts code and liability responsibility onto you.

Ask: Who will supervise my job daily, and how many other jobs are running concurrently? Which subcontractors do you use, and are they licensed and insured? How do you handle change orders — in writing, priced before work? What is the payment schedule, and what happens at substantial completion? Can I have three recent references for similar projects?