How to Choose a San Antonio General Contractor: Questions and Documents to Check

Knowing how to choose a general contractor in San Antonio comes down to a handful of checks that take only a few minutes each: a registration lookup, a license search and a careful read of what an estimate leaves out. Run them in order, ask the questions below and collect the documents before you sign with anyone.

How to choose a general contractor, step by step

1. Write down your project. List the rooms, what isn't working, your must-haves, budget range and timing so every contractor prices the same job.
2. Build a short list. The FTC suggests getting recommendations from people you know and trust, then searching each company's name online with words like "scam," "review" or "complaint."
3. Match each credential to the work and look it up yourself, using the table below.
4. Check the City's Contractor Sanctions Report before you invite anyone out.
5. Interview each contractor with the same set of questions.
6. Compare written estimates that price the same scope.
7. Collect the documents and read the full contract before you sign.
8. Agree on a payment schedule that follows completed work.

Before your remodel site visit: a homeowner scope worksheet

Before the first contractor walks through your home, fill in a short worksheet: your goals, must-haves, known problems, household needs and the selections you still need to settle. The remodel site visit scope worksheet gives you a fill-in format you can hand to every contractor you meet.

Match the credential to the work

There isn't one license that covers a whole remodel. What you check depends on the type of work, and each check has an official lookup.

The registration split comes from the Development Services Department's contractor registration page: structural alterations, remodeling, additions and foundation repairs call for the Residential Building Contractor registration, and non-structural remodeling falls under Home Improvement. Both registrations require a background check and liability insurance. DSD's Find a Contractor page explains that Contractor Connect sorts registered contractors into Registered, Registered Plus and Premier levels, and that the City publishes a Contractor Sanctions Report.

For the trades, TDLR says anyone who performs non-exempt electrical work in Texas must be licensed and work through a licensed electrical contractor, and that contractors who install, repair or maintain air conditioning, refrigeration or heating systems must hold a TDLR license. Plumbing licenses are issued by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. All three offer public license searches; TDLR's license search lets you look up active licenses by name, business name, license number or city.

What City registration requires

DSD's registration page sets these minimums for residential contractors registering with the City of San Antonio:

Both registrations call for a certificate of liability insurance listing the City of San Antonio as certificate holder. When a contractor sends you an insurance certificate, compare its limits and dates against this table.

Registered, Registered Plus or Premier

According to DSD, Contractor Connect sorts building and home improvement contractors into three levels:

• Registered: an application and fee, a Code of Ethics acknowledgement, general liability insurance and an approved FBI background check.
• Registered Plus: everything above, plus current permit fees, no building-related infractions or complaints, and at least two DSD building-related code trainings in the past year.
• Premier: everything in Registered Plus, plus at least five years of DSD registration and a Residential ICC certification or another approved certification.

DSD notes that contractors must keep up their category requirements and that the Building Official can change a category, so check the level when you're ready to hire.

Commercial projects and homes outside city limits

DSD states that there are no license or registration requirements for commercial general contractors. If you're hiring for a commercial build-out or repair, lean harder on trade licenses, insurance certificates, references from similar projects and the written scope. Contractor Connect covers City of San Antonio registration, so if your home is in a neighboring city such as Boerne, TX, ask that city's building department what it requires and who should pull the permit.

General contractor or a single trade?

A general contractor plans the whole job, schedules the trades, coordinates permits and inspections and gives you one point of contact. If your job is a single trade, such as replacing a water heater, a licensed plumber may be all you need. When the work touches several trades plus walls and finishes, as most home remodeling projects in San Antonio do, a general contractor keeps the pieces in order. More on the role: what a general contractor does in San Antonio.

Questions to ask a contractor before you hire

1. Which company will perform each part of the work, including electrical, plumbing and HVAC, and what are their license numbers?
2. Which permits does this job need, and who will apply for each one? DSD says it expects contractors to pull all applicable permits and close out inspections in a timely fashion.
3. What exactly does your estimate exclude?
4. How are unforeseen conditions and changes priced and approved, and will I see that in writing before the work happens?
5. How does the payment schedule track completed work?
6. Who is my day-to-day contact, and how often will I get updates?
7. Can I speak with a recent client whose project was similar to mine?
8. What is the schedule, and what could delay it? Mention any hard deadlines before you sign.
9. Who supervises the site day to day, and who will be in my home when I'm not there?
10. What warranty do you offer on your workmanship, and will you put it in writing?
11. How will you protect the rest of the house, and how are cleanup and debris handled?
12. Will you provide lien releases from subcontractors and suppliers as I make payments?

When you call references, ask what went wrong and how the contractor handled it. That answer tells you more than whether they were happy.

Documents to collect before you sign

• Registration and license numbers for the contractor and each trade, checked against the official lookups.
• Proof of liability insurance, ideally sent directly from the insurance agent, with dates you have checked.
• A written, itemized estimate with allowances and exclusions.
• A written contract. The Federal Trade Commission's home improvement guidance says it should include the contractor's contact details and license number, estimated start and completion dates, every promise made about the work, and a written statement of your right to cancel within three business days when you sign at home or somewhere other than the seller's permanent place of business. The FTC also says to make sure every blank space is filled in.
• A sample change order, so you know what one looks like before you need it.
• Lien releases from subcontractors and suppliers as payments are made, if you agreed to them.

Payment terms that protect you

The FTC advises against paying the full amount up front, notes that some states limit how much a contractor can ask for as a down payment, and says never to make the final payment until the work is done and you're satisfied with it. Tie each payment to work you can see, such as a passed inspection or a finished phase, and keep a record of every payment. A demand for cash only is on the FTC's list of warning signs below.

Compare estimates on the same scope

Bids only compare fairly when every contractor priced the same work. Give each one the same description of goals, known conditions and selections; our site visit worksheet helps you write that once and reuse it. The FTC suggests collecting more than one written estimate and not choosing the lowest automatically. If one bid is far below the rest, line up the scope, allowances and exclusions before you decide. For a line-by-line way to weigh allowances, exclusions and communication, use the steps for comparing remodeling companies and bids in San Antonio.

Red flags

The FTC's list of warning signs includes:

• Showing up uninvited and claiming to be working in the area or to have leftover materials.
• Pressure to decide on the spot.
• Asking for full payment up front or cash only.
• Asking you to get the building permits.
• Steering you to a lender they know.

Add one more: claims of affiliations or credentials the contractor can't document.

Where veteran ownership fits

Veteran-owned describes who owns the company. It isn't a license, a registration or a substitute for the checks above. Weigh it alongside registration, trade licensing, written scope, references and how the contractor handles permits and payments. If you'd like to work with a veteran-owned contractor in San Antonio, run the same checks. On public contracts, eligibility for veteran set-asides turns on SBA VetCert and other veteran certifications, not ownership alone.

For how the whole project unfolds once you've hired someone, see the San Antonio remodeling guide, and for permit details, the building permit guide.

Your next step

214 Veteran Solutions is a veteran-owned general contractor in San Antonio that plans and manages projects and coordinates licensed trade contractors for electrical, plumbing and HVAC work. You can read about us, call (210) 796-3695, request an estimate or book an estimate consultation and bring these questions with you.