How to Choose a General Contractor (Without Getting Burned)

Choosing a general contractor is one of the most consequential decisions you will make on a build or renovation. The right one makes your project a good experience. The wrong one makes it one of the worst years of your life. And the frustrating truth is that it is very hard to tell the difference from the outside before you have signed anything.

This guide is written for your benefit, not the industry’s. That means some of what follows will be things contractors would rather you not know. Read it anyway.

What a General Contractor Actually Does

A general contractor (GC) is the person or company responsible for the overall delivery of your project. They manage the schedule, hire and coordinate subcontractors, procure materials, handle permits, oversee quality on site, and act as your primary point of contact from start to finish.

They are not necessarily doing most of the physical work themselves. On a typical new home build, the GC might self-perform some framing and site work, but the rest — concrete, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, finishing — is done by trade contractors they bring in. Your GC’s job is to make sure all of those people show up in the right order, do good work, and get paid. The coordination alone is a full-time job on an active build.

This matters because when you choose a GC, you are not just choosing someone who can swing a hammer. You are choosing a project manager, a contracts administrator, a problem-solver, and the person whose judgment will shape hundreds of decisions on your behalf. The quality of that judgment affects your project far more than any single trade skill.

The Lowest Bid Problem

Here is the honest version of something the industry rarely says out loud.

A low bid does not mean a good deal. In many cases, a suspiciously low bid is the beginning of an expensive project disguised as a cheap one.

Here is how it works. A contractor knows they are competing against two or three other quotes. They also know that most homeowners, when faced with a range of prices, gravitate toward the lowest number. So they submit a price that gets the job. Then, once they are in and the contract is signed, the change orders start.

A change order is a formal amendment to a contract that adjusts the scope or price of the work. Change orders are completely legitimate and a normal part of construction — genuinely unforeseen conditions, design changes, material substitutions, these all warrant them. But a contractor who deliberately underpriced to win the job will find change orders for everything. Unforeseen conditions that experienced contractors would have anticipated. Exclusions buried in the original scope that were worded vaguely enough to exclude half the work. Items priced at cost in the original quote but marked up heavily once the project is underway.

By the time you realize what is happening, you are six weeks in, you have a partially demolished house, and your practical options are limited. Walking away means finding a new contractor willing to take over someone else’s mess. Finishing means continuing to pay. Most people finish. The contractor knows this.

The lowest bid is often the most expensive project. The contractors who know their numbers and price honestly look more expensive on paper. They are not.

Price vs. Value: Understanding the Difference

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get for it.

A contractor who prices $50,000 higher than the competition but delivers on time, within budget, with no surprises and excellent quality is cheaper than the contractor who prices low, blows the schedule by four months, generates $40,000 in change orders, and leaves deficiencies for you to chase. The math on that second scenario is rarely apparent when you are looking at the initial quotes side by side.

The contractors who deliver value tend to share certain characteristics. Their quotes are detailed and specific. They can explain every line item. They have done this type of project before. They are honest about what they do not know. They have a defined process for managing changes. They can provide references who will speak to their experience, not just their craftsmanship.

None of those things show up in the price column. You have to ask for them.

The Scope of Work: Your Best Protection

The single most important document in any contractor relationship is the scope of work — the written description of exactly what is included, what is excluded, and what assumptions the price is based on.

A vague scope of work is not a coincidence. A scope that says “build new home per drawings” protects the contractor, not you. Every grey area in a scope is a future change order waiting to happen. A properly written scope of work is specific, detailed, and leaves as little as possible to interpretation.

When you receive a quote, ask yourself: if I gave this document to three different contractors, would all three build the same thing? If the answer is no, the scope is not good enough.

A contractor who writes a thorough scope is telling you something about how they run their business. They are organized. They have thought through the project. They understand the risks. A contractor who submits a page-and-a-half quote for a $400,000 renovation is telling you something too.

The Best Contractors Talk About What Can Go Wrong

This sounds counterintuitive, but it is one of the most reliable signals of a contractor worth hiring.

Every project has challenges. Conditions that no one saw coming until the excavation started. Materials that are delayed or discontinued. Structural issues hiding behind walls that only reveal themselves when drywall comes down. These things are not exceptions — they are normal. Any experienced contractor has lived through dozens of them.

The question is not whether problems will arise. The question is whether your contractor saw them coming, has a plan for handling them, and tells you about them before they become your problem.

Pay attention in your early conversations. A contractor who talks only about what will go right is telling you what you want to hear. A contractor who says “on a house like this, the thing we need to watch for is the drainage at the foundation — we will not know what we are dealing with until we open it up, so here is how we plan to handle it” is telling you how they actually think. That second contractor is worth more than the first one.

Surprises in construction are not surprises to experienced contractors. They are anticipated variables. The difference between a well-run project and a nightmare project is usually whether the person in charge was ahead of the problems or behind them.

Qualifications to Check Before You Go Further

In BC, general contractors are not individually licensed the way electricians or plumbers are. There is no provincial GC licence to check. What you can and should verify:

• Business registration. The company should be a registered BC business. This is a basic check that confirms they are operating as a legitimate entity, not as a cash-in-hand sole operator with no accountability.
• WorkSafeBC registration. Any contractor working in BC must be registered with WorkSafeBC. You can verify their registration status at worksafebc.com. An unregistered contractor means their workers are not covered under WorkSafeBC’s insurance. If someone gets hurt on your site and the contractor is not registered, the liability exposure can come back to you as the property owner.
• General liability insurance. Ask for a certificate of insurance. A contractor without adequate liability coverage is a contractor whose mistakes become your problem. Minimum $2 million general liability is a reasonable standard for residential work.
• Homeowner Protection Act compliance. For new home construction in BC, residential builders must be licensed through the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) and provide a third-party new home warranty. This is not optional. Ask to see their HPO licence number and confirm it is current before signing anything.
• References from completed projects. Not testimonials on their website. Actual people you can call or visit. Ask for references from projects similar in scope to yours, completed in the last two years.

Questions That Tell You More Than You Expect

The goal of an interview with a potential contractor is not to get polished answers. It is to understand how they think. These questions do that.

“Walk me through a project that did not go as planned. What happened and how did you handle it?”

Every experienced contractor has a story like this. The ones to trust are the ones who answer honestly, take appropriate responsibility, and can articulate what they learned or changed. The ones to be cautious of are the ones who cannot think of anything that ever went wrong, or who spend the whole answer assigning blame to the client, the subcontractors, or the weather.

“What are the biggest risks on a project like mine, and how are you planning for them?”

This question separates contractors who have thought about your project from those who are pitching a generic answer. A new build on a raw lot has different risks than a renovation on a 1970s split-level. A contractor who gives you a specific, thoughtful answer has engaged with your project. One who gives you a vague, reassuring non-answer has not.

“How do you handle change orders?”

Listen for a clear, documented process. Change orders should be written, priced before the work proceeds, and signed by both parties before anything changes. A contractor who says “we just sort it out as we go” is telling you that the accounting will be murky and the conversations will be uncomfortable. Get the process in writing before you start.

“What is and is not included in this price?”

Ask them to walk you through the exclusions in their quote. Every quote has them. A contractor who knows their quote well can answer this clearly and quickly. The ones who hedge, deflect, or say “it is all in there” are the ones where the exclusions will surface as surprises later.

“Who will be on site managing the day-to-day work?”

Some contractors sell the job themselves and then hand it to a site supervisor you have never met. That is not automatically a problem — good site supervisors run good projects. But you should know who it is, meet them if possible, and understand the communication structure. The person who wins your confidence in the sales conversation is not always the person who runs your project.

“Can I speak with your last three clients?”

Not “can you give me references.” Last three clients. It is a small distinction that produces a very different response. A contractor comfortable with that question is confident in their track record. One who needs time to think about which clients to put forward is curating the list. Both tell you something.

Red Flags Worth Taking Seriously

Some of these are obvious. Some are easy to rationalize away in the moment. Treat them as signals, not dealbreakers on their own, but pay attention when you see more than one.

• They need a large deposit before doing anything. A reasonable deposit to secure a start date and order long-lead materials is normal. Asking for 40%, 50%, or more upfront before a shovel has moved is not. It is a cash flow signal you do not want to ignore.
• They are vague about their subcontractors. Who does your concrete? Who does your framing? Who handles your mechanical trades? A contractor who cannot answer these questions, or who gives evasive answers, may be assembling their trade team as they go rather than working with established relationships.
• They push back on putting things in writing. Any contractor who suggests that a detailed contract is unnecessary because “we work on trust” is asking you to carry the risk of a handshake arrangement. Trust is built through good work, not in place of documentation. The contract protects both of you.
• They cannot explain their pricing. Ask about any line item. The answer should be specific and confident. If a contractor cannot explain how they arrived at a number, they either guessed or they do not want to tell you.
• They talk badly about other contractors. Experienced, confident contractors do not need to win business by undermining competitors. When a contractor spends time in an early meeting telling you why every other GC in the valley is incompetent, ask yourself what they say about their clients when those conversations do not go well.
• No physical presence or permanent address. In today’s world a phone number and an email is enough to call yourself a contractor. A company with a shop, an office, an established address, and a verifiable history has more to lose from poor work than someone operating from a personal cell number.
• They have not pulled permits before. Or they suggest that permits are not necessary for work that clearly requires them. This is not just a legal issue for you as the property owner. It tells you how they feel about accountability and oversight in general.

The Reference Call That Actually Tells You Something

Most reference calls go like this: you call, someone says nice things, you feel reassured, you hang up. That is not a useful reference call.

Ask these questions instead:

• Did the project finish on time? If not, how late was it and why?
• Did the final cost come in close to the original quote? If not, what drove the difference?
• Were there change orders? How were they handled?
• Were there things you wish you had known before you started?
• Was the site kept clean and organized during construction?
• How did they communicate with you when there was a problem?
• Would you hire them again without hesitation?

That last question is the one that matters most. Most people will tell you the polite version of a story. But “would you hire them again without hesitation” requires an honest yes or no. A pause before that answer tells you more than the words that follow it.

Comparing Multiple Quotes Fairly

Getting multiple quotes is sensible. Comparing them requires some care, because quotes are not always comparing the same things.

Before you line up numbers side by side, make sure each contractor quoted the same scope. If you gave everyone the same drawings and specifications, the quotes should be based on the same work. If you gave them a description and each contractor interpreted it differently, you are not comparing apples to apples and the price differences may mean very little.

When one quote is significantly lower than the others, find out why before assuming it is a better deal. Ask the low bidder to walk you through their exclusions. Ask what assumptions they made. Ask how they got to that number. The answer will either reassure you or explain the gap.

A $30,000 difference between quotes on a $500,000 project is six percent. If the higher-priced contractor has a stronger track record, a more detailed scope, better references, and a cleaner process, six percent is a reasonable premium to pay for the confidence that comes with it. If the lower-priced contractor can explain the difference and their track record is equally strong, the lower price may genuinely be better value. Do the work to find out rather than defaulting to the number.

What a Good Contractor Relationship Actually Looks Like

The best project relationships are built on a simple foundation: clear expectations on both sides, honest communication when things get complicated, and enough mutual respect to have the difficult conversations before they become disputes.

Your contractor should be able to tell you bad news. If a subcontractor is behind, if a material is delayed, if something unexpected came up behind the walls — you should hear about it from your contractor before you notice it yourself. A contractor who hides problems to avoid difficult conversations is a contractor whose problems eventually become your surprises.

You, as a client, have a role too. Decisions made late, design changes mid-construction, and slow responses to questions that need answers all have real costs. The best contractors are organized professionals who can manage a project well. They work best with clients who respect the process, make decisions when asked, and communicate clearly when something changes.

The relationship works when both parties are invested in the same outcome: a project completed well, at the agreed price, without unnecessary drama. That outcome is achievable. Choosing the right contractor from the start is the most important step toward it.