How to choose a remodeling contractor in Houston: licenses, contracts, and red flags

This surprises most homeowners. In Texas, electricians and plumbers are state-licensed and regulated, but there is no state license for a residential general contractor. Anyone can print a card and call themselves a remodeler.

That puts the verification burden on you. The good news: a handful of specific checks filter out almost everyone who should not be in your house.

First, ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly from the agent — general liability plus workers' compensation. If a worker is injured on your property and there is no workers' comp, your homeowner's policy becomes the target.

Second, confirm the electrical and plumbing work will be performed by TDLR-licensed electricians and TSBPE-licensed plumbers, and ask for the license numbers.

Third, verify they pull permits in your specific jurisdiction — City of Houston, West U, Bellaire, Sugar Land, Katy, Montgomery County — and ask which of your neighbors' projects they have permitted recently.

Fourth, call references from projects completed two to three years ago, not last month. Anyone looks good at handover; you want to know what happened when something failed in year two.

Fifth, ask to see a real project schedule and a real change-order form from a past job.

A fixed contract price, or a clearly defined cost-plus structure with a stated fee and open-book accounting. A detailed scope of work naming products and specifications, not just 'install tile.' A payment schedule tied to completed milestones, never a large up-front deposit. A written change-order process requiring your signature before work proceeds.

Also: a start date and substantial completion date, a warranty period in writing (one year on workmanship is standard; we go beyond it), lien waivers from subcontractors with each payment, and a clear cleanup and site-protection clause.

A bid dramatically below the others. That gap does not disappear — it reappears as change orders in month three, or as a crew that walks when the money runs out.

A large deposit demanded before any work or design begins. Cash discounts, no written contract, or a refusal to pull permits 'because it slows things down.' Allowances used everywhere instead of real selections. A single-page proposal for a $200,000 project. No named project manager. Refusal to provide the insurance certificate from the agent.

With separate designers and builders, budget conflicts surface after you have paid for drawings — the design comes in over budget and either the drawings get redone or the scope gets cut. With design-build, architecture, interior design, and construction sit under one contract and one accountability, and pricing is checked continuously against the design as it develops.

It is not automatically better for every project, but for renovations with structural changes and tight budgets, it removes the most expensive failure mode in the industry.

Put every bid on the same scope. Ask each contractor to price identical products, identical allowances, and identical inclusions for permits, engineering, dumpsters, and cleanup. Most 'price differences' in Houston bids are actually scope differences — one included the electrical panel upgrade and the other did not.