Questions to Ask a Contractor Before Hiring (and the Red Flags)

• Are you licensed for this work? In Texas that matters for electrical, A/C, and plumbing work. Get the license number and look it up yourself.
• Can you send a certificate of insurance? Before the job, not at the door.
• Who will actually be at my house? Your crew, a subcontractor, or both? Who's in charge on site?
• Can I get the estimate in writing, itemized? You want detail about exactly what will be done, and for bigger jobs, the grade of materials.
• What's the payment schedule? Partial payments tied to finished stages are normal. Paying everything up front isn't.
• How do you handle changes? Changes should be written down and priced before the extra work starts.
• If the job needs a permit, who pulls it?
• When will you start, and when will you finish? Both dates belong in the contract.
• Can I talk to two or three recent customers?
• What's your warranty on labor?
• What's your business address? The Texas Attorney General suggests choosing a contractor with an established physical address.

Doing work on your homestead that costs more than $5,000? The Texas Attorney General says the contractor is required to deposit your payments in a construction account at a financial institution. Ask for written verification (Texas Attorney General).

• Which rooms and which bathroom will the crew need, and for how many days?
• What hours will they work, and who locks up?
• Who orders materials, and what happens if something arrives wrong or late?
• How will they protect floors and keep dust out of the rest of the house?
• What does the schedule depend on: inspections, deliveries, other trades?

• Pressure to sign today. A legitimate contractor will leave the contract with you so you can read it.
• Blanks in the contract. Don't sign anything with blanks. They get filled in later.
• Full payment up front, especially from someone who knocked on your door. The Attorney General calls this out as a door-to-door scam pattern.
• A bid far below everyone else's. Ask what's missing: tasks, materials, or experienced labor.
• No written contract, or promises that aren't in it.
• No license number for electrical, A/C, or plumbing work, or an ad with no license information.
• No proof of insurance, or defensiveness about being asked.
• A lien contract on your home with no notary present, or a promise to notarize it later.

Source for most of this list: the Texas Attorney General's guide to avoiding home improvement scams.

• Someone different from the person or company you booked shows up.
• No ID, or reluctance to show it.
• The scope grows the minute they're inside, with an urgent upsell and no written change.
• A request to be paid differently than you agreed.

These are hard to catch from an office or a classroom. Your Bell Rep verifies the service provider's ID and credentials at the door and holds them to exactly what you were promised, then sends you photo updates and a visit summary. See what a Bell Rep does.

Your shift can't move. Your Bell Rep can. Bell is launching in New Braunfels and Carrollton, with Dallas next. If you're deciding whether to just leave them a code, read is it OK to leave a contractor alone in your house.