Remodeling is a chance to give your home a refresh, but which is the right remodeling contractor in NJ or PA for you, and how do you know where to begin?
Choosing Your Project Delivery Model in NJ & PA
This is the key choice in how your project will develop. Each option offers a very different experience in terms of management of the remodel, and how much you need to be involved in the process.
Design-Bid-Build
Here you employ an architect or designer to create the plans and drawings for the project, working with them to develop your idea into a buildable design. After that, you put the plans out to tender with multiple contractors who quote for the work based on those plans.
Here you have two stakeholders to deal with, the architect and contractor, and may have to mediate between the two in case of issues during construction.
Design-Build
You hire a single company who handle everything, the design, plan creation and construction work.
This gives you one point of contact, and crucially, they are responsible for the design and the build, eliminating that cause of conflict.
General Contractor Only
You have the design, plans, and material choices, and hire a contractor to carry out the work.
You are the project manager and will need to arrange permits and other essentials, and ensure materials arrive on site in time.
Building a Qualified Shortlist of Local Contractors
Before obtaining quotes, you need to create a list of local contractors that you can have confidence in to complete the work to the standards required.
You can begin by asking friends and neighbors about their experiences with any work they have had done. Once you have a list, there are a few things you need to do to get your qualified shortlist, and that starts with the legal stuff.
Verifying State Licenses, Registration & Legal Standing
All contractors carrying out residential remodeling must have a Home Improvement Contractors Registration (HIC). You can check each contractor on your list through New Jersey License Verification or, in Pennsylvania, the Attorney General HIC Search.
If there are contractors that you can’t verify, take them off your list.
Match Experience to Your Specific Project
Check each contractor to see what their previous works have been. There is usually a completed projects type page on each website. Remodeling is unique to each home, so you are not looking for an exact match, but general scope. If all they have done is repainted house sidings, you probably don’t want to hire that firm to add a second story to your home.
Look for similar projects of similar size, and any without that experience are removed from your shortlist.
Read Reviews and Check References the Right Way
Reviews are not to find every last detail. Do enough work, and there will be one or two bad reviews. Instead, you are looking for trends. Are the reviews in general positive? Do they all give similar experiences with the company?
For references, ask for at least three local references from clients who have had projects of a similar scale completed.
Critical Questions to Ask During the In-Home Interview
The home interview is a good chance to get a feel for the company, are they open and confident, or unwilling to answer questions? Always ask these questions during the interview:
- What is your specific state license number?
- What kind of insurance do you have?
- Will you acquire the permits, and who handles inspections?
- Is this a fixed-price contract or a time-and-materials estimate?
- How do you handle change orders?
- What is your deposit and payment schedule?
- How much does home remodel costs?
The first two cover essentials that every contractor should have when working on your home. The rest tell you how the project will work, and give you a good idea of the type of contractor they are. A great contractor will handle all the permits and inspections for you. They will provide a fixed-price contract and use a contingency fee to mitigate change order costs.
But there is no right and wrong answer for those operational questions; they just tell you what to expect.
Compare Bids Without Defaulting to the Lowest Price
The lowest price is not always the best quote. In fact, it rarely is. Look beyond the price to see what you are getting for your money. Will they take care of the legal side of things? What happens if something needs changing? You can find a lot of extra costs hidden in these details, and while they may not be in the quote, you will end up paying for them in the end.
Look at everything on offer, and importantly, what is not included, and find the best value, which is not always the lowest price.
Reviewing the Contract (NJ & PA Consumer Protection Mandates)
The contract should lay out the legal credentials of the contractor, details of the insurance they carry, and the mandated 3-day right to cancel that is mandatory in both states. This is something every contract must begin with to be valid, so it should be the first things checked.
After this, the contract should outline the scope of works and materials for the project, permit responsibility and site prep. Go through this carefully to ensure that brand names for materials chosen are included, and check the written details on responsibility for debris disposal, work hours, and things like dumpster placement.
The final section is financial. Here it should outline deposits, milestone payments, start and completion dates, as well as the change order process. This should follow the payment plan you have agreed to, and other details should reflect your expectations too.
Go over the document with your project manager and raise any questions or issues before signing anything.
Warranties and What Happens After the Job Ends
Manufacturer warranties should be passed on to you as owners, along with any workmanship warranties offered by your contractor. Have a clear process for any warranty issues or remedial works so that if they are necessary, the entire situation can be resolved quickly and easily.
Red Flags That Should End the Conversation
While many questions will get a variety of answers that you can either agree with or not, some things tell you to walk away, right now.
Licensing and Registration
If they can’t provide a HIC number or tell a tale about their registration not appearing yet, walk away. We have state registration for a reason; never use anyone who does not appear on the list.
Permits
Another legal requirement. If you ask about permits, and they tell you not to bother, that should be the end of the conversation.
Survey
Not something they say, but what they do. If they are looking at the job to prepare a quote, and take no notes, or make no measurements, it’s a good idea to drop them from your list. Its not a quote, it’s a guess, and you’ll end up paying if they guess wrong.
Financials
If they want cash only, or ask for more than 20% up front, it’s probably time to look for someone else.
Timeframe:
Another important but highly neglected thing to consider is project duration. It should explicitly mentioned that how many days the remodeling should take to complete. If they don’t bother about it then leave the contract.
Making the Final Decision
Your final choice should be based on everything combined. Who offered the best value (price v included work), who had the answers you liked best, who seemed most informed when looking at the project.
Then look at start and completion dates, proposed schedules, and the oversight they offer. You want the best value, but also the best service. Think about customer reviews and reputations too; you want the best results. All of this combined leads you to a decision, and that is your contractor for the project.
Conclusion
The right contractor can be the difference between a successful project and an expensive problem. But more than that, it can make the experience good or bad for you and your family too, so choosing carefully is important.
There are some legal essentials, you must use a contractor registered with the state, they must have the right insurance cover, and should have a track record of success with projects similar to yours.
Beyond that, find the contractor who pays attention, who prices in the extras, the hidden issues, and is open about schedules, time to completion and anything else you need. At PHS Construction, we understand how difficult this process is, which is why we never play games.
Call us today, and when we visit to quote, we’ll tell you the truth. The costs, the time, the extent of work, what is possible, what is not. Trust is the most important thing, and that is what we build, from that first meeting onwards.
