How to Vet a Contractor in California: Seven Checks Worth Doing

After a disaster, the number of people offering to rebuild your house goes up sharply. Some of them are excellent. Some of them are not contractors at all.

These are the checks worth doing on anyone before you sign, including us. None takes long, and together they filter out most of what goes wrong on residential projects. Ours is CSLB #839135, and there is more about the firm on our about page.

1. Verify the licence yourself

California’s Contractors State License Board maintains a public lookup at cslb.ca.gov. Search the licence number and confirm four things:

• The licence is active, not expired or suspended
• The classification matches your work: a general building contractor holds a “B” classification; specialty trades hold “C” classifications
• The business name on the licence matches the name on your contract
• The bond and workers’ compensation status shown are current

That last point deserves emphasis. A contractor with employees must carry workers’ compensation. If they do not and someone is injured on your property, you may find yourself considerably more exposed than you expected.

Do the lookup yourself rather than accepting a screenshot or a number printed on a card. It takes under a minute.

2. Ask for the insurance certificate directly from the insurer

Two separate things matter here, and they are frequently confused.

General liability covers damage caused by the contractor’s work. Workers’ compensation covers injury to their workers. You want evidence of both.

The meaningful version of this check is asking the contractor to have their broker send the certificate to you directly, and asking to be named as a certificate holder. A PDF forwarded by the contractor tells you what the policy said whenever that PDF was generated. A certificate from the broker tells you what is in force now.

3. Read the estimate for what it doesn’t say

A one-page estimate with a single number is not an estimate. It is a hope.

A real scope of work identifies what is included, what is specifically excluded, what allowances have been set for items not yet chosen, and what happens when something unknown is discovered. On a rebuild it should reference the drawings and the specifications by revision.

Allowances are where budgets quietly break. If the estimate carries an allowance for flooring, tile or cabinetry, ask what product that allowance actually buys. An allowance set below what you would realistically choose makes the total look competitive and guarantees a change order later.

When comparing bids, compare scopes before comparing numbers. A lower bid is often a smaller scope, and the difference reappears during construction, when you have less negotiating leverage than you do now.

4. Know what California law requires in the contract

For home improvement work, California requires a written contract with specific contents, including:

• The contractor’s name, address and licence number
• A description of the work and the materials to be used
• The total contract price
• An approximate start date and completion date
• A schedule of payments tied to work performed
• Notice of your three-day right to cancel (longer for some senior homeowners and in certain disaster contexts)
• Information about the Contractors State License Board

There are also limits on down payments on home improvement contracts, generally the lesser of ten percent of the contract price or one thousand dollars, whichever is less. A contractor asking for a large payment up front on residential work is asking you to accept a term the state specifically restricts.

Progress payments should follow completed work, not the calendar. If the payment schedule runs ahead of the build, you are financing the project and carrying the risk.

5. Ask about mechanics liens before they matter

In California, subcontractors and material suppliers who are not paid can place a mechanics lien on your property, even if you have already paid your general contractor in full.

Protecting yourself is routine:

• Ask for conditional and unconditional lien releases from subcontractors and suppliers with each progress payment
• Expect to receive preliminary notices from subs and suppliers early in the project; these are normal and not a warning sign
• On larger projects, consider joint checks to major suppliers

A contractor who handles lien releases as a matter of course is telling you something useful about how they run their business.

6. Look at work of the same type, not just work that looks nice

A beautiful kitchen portfolio tells you very little about whether a firm can execute a ground-up rebuild, manage a plan check, or coordinate an insurance scope.

Ask for references on projects of your type and size, ideally in your jurisdiction, since permitting differs meaningfully across Los Angeles County. This is also why we publish every project we have with its type, city and stage attached, rather than a gallery of the prettiest rooms. And ask those references narrower questions than “were you happy”:

• How did they handle the first unexpected problem?
• Were change orders explained before the work, or presented after?
• How often was someone senior actually on site?
• Did the schedule they gave you at the start resemble what happened?
• Would you use them again on something larger?

The last question tends to produce the most honest answer.

7. Notice how they answer inconvenient questions

This is the least measurable check and often the most predictive.

Ask something with an uncomfortable answer. What could go wrong here? What might this cost more than you have quoted? What is the part of this job you are least sure about?

A contractor who says nothing, it’s straightforward is either not experienced enough to know the risks or not willing to tell you about them. Every project has unknowns. What you want is someone who names them in advance, explains how they will be handled, and has already put a contingency in the budget for them.

You are choosing who to spend the next year of your life talking to about your house. Whether they tell you inconvenient things early is the single best predictor of how the difficult moments will go.

Warning signs worth taking seriously

• Unsolicited door-to-door approaches after a disaster
• Pressure to decide immediately, or a price that expires today
• A request for a large cash payment up front
• No written contract, or a contract with no licence number
• A licence number that does not match the business name on the paperwork
• Reluctance to provide insurance certificates through the broker
• A bid dramatically below every other bid you have received

That final one is worth sitting with. A bid far below the others usually means the scope is smaller, the allowances are unrealistic, or the contractor has made a mistake they will need to recover during construction. None of those outcomes is good for you.

FAQ

How do I check if a contractor is licensed in California?

Use the Contractors State License Board’s public lookup at cslb.ca.gov. Search the licence number and confirm that the licence is active, the classification matches your work, the business name matches your contract, and the bond and workers’ compensation status are current. Do the search yourself rather than relying on a card or screenshot.

How much can a contractor ask for as a down payment in California?

On home improvement contracts, California limits the down payment to the lesser of ten percent of the contract price or one thousand dollars. A request for a substantially larger payment before work begins is asking you to waive a protection state law specifically provides.

What is a mechanics lien and how do I protect myself?

A mechanics lien is a claim that an unpaid subcontractor or material supplier can place against your property, potentially even if you have paid your general contractor in full. The standard protection is to require conditional and unconditional lien releases from subcontractors and suppliers alongside each progress payment, and to expect preliminary notices from them early in the project.

What should a construction estimate include?

A defined scope of work, clear inclusions and exclusions, named allowances for items not yet selected, reference to the drawings and specifications by revision, a payment schedule tied to completed work, and how unforeseen conditions will be handled. A single lump-sum figure with no scope behind it cannot be meaningfully compared to anything.

Do I need to check workers’ compensation insurance?

Yes, if the contractor has employees. Without it, an injury on your property can expose you to liability you did not anticipate. Ask for the certificate to come to you directly from the insurance broker rather than from the contractor, so you are seeing current coverage rather than a historical document.

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Vivere Construction is licensed in California as CSLB #839135, and has been building and renovating across Northern and Southern California since 2002. We are happy to be checked against every item on this list. Start a conversation.