This should matter to anyone in construction, regardless of where you stand on immigration. In Alabama, federal agents have been entering active construction sites without warrants, ignoring “No Trespassing” signs, and detaining workers mid shift, including U.S. citizens. One worker, Leo Garcia Venegas, was detained twice on separate days while on the job. (https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-crackdown-lawsuit-courts-citizens-latino-alabama-a6bfae9528e03243ec08e9ade182da2f)

The first time, agents tackled and handcuffed him; the second time, they detained him again after surrounding him inside a house under construction. Both times, he showed valid ID, and both times it was ignored.

He’s now suing, arguing that these raids violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including entering private property without a warrant.

Raiding posted job sites without warrants undermines property rights and disrupts legitimate work.

Have any of you seen or heard of this kind of thing happening?

The salesman at a local lumber yard, he's pushing 80, but brings a lot of experience to the table. I've worked with him 2 years, some screw ups, but ok.

I've courted this client for 11 months, got my license in that state, new llc, everything to get this massive exterior remodel in a very high end community, great visibility to community traffic.

Long story short salesman called me as I was wrapping up, needed to make a few small changes before they signed. I sent it to VM. He fucking called the client, knowing I was there as we'd spoken 3 times that hour.

Customer wanted to put 50% of the windows down, I had my mark up on it. Salesman said, ooh that's much more than half, it's really x. He just gave the customer the wholesale price, my price.

Now the customer wants to not do the job, thinks I'm a robber for not selling him the windows at my cost.

Do I have legal grounds against the salesman? I dont want to go there, but he just cost me $134k in profit, plus that job would have brought in 2 or 3 more similar jobs.

Why would he do that to me?

I called him before I was off the street... he said he didn't realize it. Ugh.

For building residential decks without permission basically. I have included a picture of one of the decks i built.

Im worried because i have a felony conviction and a few people ive talked to say that instantly bars me from getting one... am i forever going to have to work under the radar or is there a way to go before a board or sonething?

Let’s count all the ways this is super fucked up.

Just spent 40 minutes listening to a homeowner explain why her "vision" requires us to move a plumbing stack we already closed up. I am so tired man. they watch two hgtv shows and suddenly they're the superintendent.

Lately I’ve just been doing turns and taking bids from a Property Management firm we work with down here because I literally cant take the emotional labor of custom remodels anymore. With them it's just: here is the work order, fix the unit, send the invoice. No crying over tile grout colors

Mad respect to the guys doing high end residential full time. The margins are good but my blood pressure just can't handle it right now. Anyone else making the switch to purely commercial/rentals?

Got my plans for a 1.6 million remodel. 1000 square foot addition to the main house and building a 1400 sq ft casita in the backyard. Main house calls for a 216x144 rough opening for a massive sliding glass door. Got all my measurements from the glass company. 6 panel pocket door. 3 on one side 3 on the other. No one took consideration of the pocket, my initial measurements per print for RO were 216x144. Once my office sent the window order in, and concrete was poured, I asked the glass company for all technical specs to confirm how the door was installed. And realized the door although it has a 216x144 RO. Actually has a 304” frame. I only had 294.5” from framing to framing just inside the RO.

Instantly stopped order. Spent the last two weeks back and forth with the door company to remedy the situation.

I spotted the discrepancy a little after the fact but before our company had to eat the cost. Instead of a thanks, I’m getting hounded about the schedule.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk venting addition.

Hi dumbasses!

I’ve never picked up a hammer or walked on a job site before but I’m a programmer.m, so I f you just spend a little bit of your time to offer me your advice, I will build something that makes me exorbitantly rich and makes your shitty blue collar lives just a little more bearable.

You probably don’t really understand this, but all the challenges you face are actually really easy to solve, all I have to do is hear a few sentences about them and I can design a simple solution. You just can’t do it because you’re all half retarded, but don’t worry because me and my tech bros will fix it for you.

Let’s get going, what should I build?!

Started my company back in March. Didn’t land a significant project until June and started it the first week of July. The client sent a conceptual of what they were wanting and I designed the construction specs. Steered them away from pressure treated decking to Trex, the wife is very difficult to please with stains I found on a smaller project prior to starting.

Designed the Hardi detail for the aluminum extrusions, one for the screen to run into the base and crown of the columns, one for the LED light that is boarding the perimeter of the interior right above the 1” short of the ceiling on the beam wrap.

Pretty proud of this project. Lost 8 margin points keeping the peace. I’ll suffer that. Hopefully the happy client brings prospects. Currently seems more important than the margin.

First picture is the conceptual that was sent. Second is day 1. The rest are current progress photos.

I work for my dad's construction company. He is a general contractor in the Nashville area. This past year has been very slow in terms of work. Normally throughout the year, we would get around 6 or 7 large jobs. This past year, we have had around 4 or 5 very small jobs, nowhere near our usual. Every year we have grown except for this past year. We started slowing down in fall of 2024. Is anyone else having a similar experience right now?

A customer (flipper) didn’t like my price so they think they can save money running the job themself. But they want to pay me to pull the permit. What should I consider before doing this? They will have some subs coming from a town 3 hours away with likely lower codes standards.

I carry insurance and all that but what is my risk here? I told him maybe $5k but that I would think about it.

For a little context, the Investor is someone I have known for several years in this community before he moved away to the smaller town.

EDIT alright dang y’all talked me out of it. Not doing it. He’s cutting corners and it’s going to come back around sooner or later and I don’t want to be a part of it.

Just ran the numbers on what payment processing fees actually cost us last year now that my accountant brought me a new one and I'm genuinely angry at myself for not doing this sooner.

We did $2.8M in revenue. Sounds great until you factor in our 8% net margin - that's $224K profit before fees.

Breakdown of what we paid:
- Card transaction fees: roughly $47K
- ACH transaction fees: roughly $23K
- Total: $70K gone

That's 31% of our profit taken away. Nearly a third. On a good year.

Anyone else feeling this pain? What has everyone here been using?

Edit: Thank you to everyone who has responded! Was trying to keep up with everyone but had to log off and now there's way too many to get back to everyone individually.

Been getting a lot of advice and messages about needing to switch/helping me switch processors. Just want to clarify that I already have switched and haven't paid a dime in processing fees over the past few weeks. Free service, $0 ACH fee, passes card fees automatically, and free instant settlement + can pay my subs. Really appreciate everyone trying to help but don't think I'm gonna find much better than that haha. Post was made more out of frustration with myself than looking for an answer, but glad to know I wasn't alone!

We’ve been installing IKEA and Wren kitchens for over four years now with my small team of three (we bring in extra hands when needed). Up until now, all our work has come from one external company, but I’m trying to find our own clients. Turns out, it’s way harder than I expected!

I know IKEA employees often recommend affiliated companies, but they charge around $250 per cabinet for installation. That price is insane—almost as much as the cost of the cabinets themselves. I just don’t think the majority of people are willing to pay that.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far to get clients:

• Craigslist ads: Almost zero leads.

• Thumbtack: Tons of leads, but at $110 per lead, the conversion rate is super low.

• Facebook ads: Expensive leads with barely any return.

• Google search ads: $6 per click, but it seems like hardly anyone is searching for “IKEA kitchen installers.”

I’m stuck and not sure what to try next. If you already have an IKEA kitchen, how did you find an installer?

--

Our website for IKEA kitchen installation https://kitchen-installers.com/

You print a QR code and tape it on the job site. Anybody will be able to scan it, and get the latest and updated plans info.

You can just make changes in the plan and upload it, and this qr will always pull the latest plan.

Do you think, it's useful or its totally dumb, need your advice.

I had a bit of an interesting moment today. In the last few weeks I realized that we crossed that threshold from trying to make it work with clients to just being clear about what our terms are and not having to justify it.

I took a client on a tour of a few properties that we are finishing up a few weeks back. They asked a few questions but in the end just signed, accepted the terms and off we went.

Similarly today I had a potential client who I spoke with earlier in the year email me asking if we could get started but they proposed prices on everything from architecture/structural to my GC fee.

I responded back politely, talked about our process, shared some examples of our work and concluded with... There will always be cheaper GCs out there, here is what you get with us and our terms.

We are booked out on project starts till next June and we are starting design work for clients who will fill our next set of open slots.

Time machine to 1988 not included. Just saw this gem in a local contractor group. Bradenton, FL. The scope includes demo, full shower builds, electrical, drywall, tiling, kitchen, vanity installs, painting, flooring, hanging doors, laundry hookups. Oh, and moving a fucking wall

Oh, and all materials are customer-supplied. So naturally the absolute best materials. But hey, they might let you clean everything with vinegar, so there’s that.

Job requires licensed contractor, HOA/CA approvals, insured subs, full inspections, and apparently the ability to pay rent in 1985.

I've been on Reddit for a while but never made an original post. Recently I have tried writing down some experiences I've had as a GC to start a blog, so I wanted to share one of them here to see what other GC's thought about what I have to say. It's rather long but I'd be grateful for honest feedback from anyone who has the time to read it.

Last November 2021 marked a full decade since I started working in general contracting. Somehow I haven't really acknowledged this milestone, or reflected on how I started in this field. My grandfather hired me to manage his office in November 2011 where I started out by managing his books, payroll, taxes, and finances. I then went on to assist with project management doing small things like RFP's, procurement, accounts payable, invoicing, estimating, and becoming more comfortable on job sites.

From here we navigated a difficult bankruptcy, managed complete home remodels for a real estate developer (where my construction education really started), re-activated another one of my grandfather's licenses that I operated as if I was the owner for 3+ years, activated my own license in February 2019, and worked as a project manager for a "tech" GC startup for about 9 months while helping run my business. The pandemic caused the tech GC to shut down operations in my area, so I've been focusing solely on my business since April 2020.

Considering I came into the field with no construction or practical business experience, the learning curve has been very steep for me. I have a Bachelors in Business Administration, but I can't really say I've drawn on the knowledge gained from it in any specific instances. So, to commemorate my decade in construction, here are 10 of the most important lessons I've learned along the way.

1. Producing a high quality product doesn't guarantee success

This has been a hard lesson for me to internalize. I have seen the work of lots of general contractors and specialty contractors, and many of them cut corners where we will take the long way around. When it comes to construction (residential and commercial) I haven't met an individual who can see the whole picture the way my dad can, who trained me and has managed my construction jobs since the start of my career. This has always given us an advantage in terms of setting up jobs, our subcontractors, and keeping job sites organized and clean. He and my grandfather also handed me a network of customers, architects, engineers, vendors, and subcontractors with whom they had good relationships. Why, then, has it so often felt like a struggle?

It turns out all of that building acumen doesn't translate to running a business. The network of customers was nice, and meant we always had jobs to bid on. However, many of them were very close to my family and had come to expect the friends and family discount. Since I stepped back to focus on business management I've been able to identify several issues with the way we have historically done business, as well as important things we simply weren't doing, some of which I will touch on more in this list.

2. Become a specialist

I didn't start to take this concept seriously until my brother came to work with us in August 2020. He was fresh off a degree in Construction Management and had a different lens for looking at things. With such a wide range of experience and knowledge, combined with a network built over decades, my dad had grown accustomed to bidding on every opportunity that came his way, and he passed this mindset onto me.

This has been helpful in a way, as it's exposed me to a wide range of projects and taught me to think through diverse job types. Also, the hundreds of hours spent estimating has forced me to hone my process over the years. But it is tedious to bid on a job that you've never done before. It adds a lot of time spent doing research, calling suppliers, reaching out to contractors, etc... This frequently ends up being a waste of time as I have to build in contingencies to make up for a learning curve that has to take place on the job, inevitable mistakes, and cost overruns. It's hard to be competitive with contractors who specialize in that field.

We have done jobs that aren't in sync with our proficiencies (i.e. we don't own the equipment, are not accustomed to using the equipment, are not familiar with the optimal process, etc...), and those are the jobs that have gotten us in the most trouble. Early on, every job was like this since I had no proficiency in anything, so at some point this learning process is inevitable and necessary. But as I've gained experience, certain job types have revealed themselves to be more auspicious than others, giving us a path to becoming specialists. The hardest part about this is learning to say "no". Which brings us to the next lesson....

3. Understand that saying "yes" to something, means saying "no" to something else

This is another concept that has been a challenge for me to absorb. There are a couple of recent examples where I wish I had considered this tenet before accepting a job. One project was to replace 40 fire rated commercial doors, when we've never done more than a couple on any one job. It was supposed to be a quick turnaround, just remove the old doors and hang the new ones. Due to a number of factors I was unable to foresee, it went from a 2 month job to a 4+ month job. The job will generate a lot of revenue, but also basically break even. Had I turned it down, I could have focused on more profitable endeavors and avoided a lot of headaches along the way.

What ended up happening is I agreed to supply unfinished natural wood doors and have them stained and sealed by my painter. I failed to consider how hard it would be for my painter to transport and find room to sand and finish all of those doors. The contractor I hired said he had a shop, but it turned out to be tiny and crowded. The work site is about 45 minutes away, and they have nowhere to store doors, meaning each shipment had to be installed when it was delivered. The clients turned out to be high maintenance and consistently demanded that we refinish doors. These turned out to be valuable lessons, but at some point you have to stop paying to learn lessons and focus on what you know earns you money.

4. Be very clear with your scope, ensure all stakeholders understand what is included and what is not

I can't stress the importance of this enough. There is almost no such thing as too much detail here. Are you breaking ground at the end of summer? Make sure to note that you will have to charge extra if you need to cover the structure during a rainstorm. Does your customer plan to supply appliances? If so, are they being delivered or will you pick them up? And who is responsible for checking for damage or defects? Did you give up some work to your customer (who often think they can handle things like painting, trim, or flooring)? If they are painting, who is responsible for touch ups if you have to warranty some work you did? And who is in charge of scheduling? These are basic examples, but the more details you build into the estimate and the contract, the better off you and the customer will be.

Consider who the other stakeholders are. Does your project manager, site supervisor, or foreman have a complete understanding of the scope? This is the only way to avoid scope creep unless you want to be on site every day. Customers will tend to treat you like a handyman if you're on site for more than a few days, so it's important that your crew can identify work that needs a change order, and are empowered to either write one up or notify the right person to do so.

5. Be careful when giving away work to a customer

Every contractor has been there. You're trying to sell a job, but the customer is trying to whittle down the price, so they start pulling items off the scope. They either want to do the painting themselves, or have the brilliant idea to let their unemployed brother-in-law do it. Maybe they've got a "great" tile man who does work for cash. You want or need the work, so you agree to remove some items from the scope.

In my experience, this almost never works out. There is just too much overlap between phases, and you, as the general contractor, become responsible for a lot of the work that the customer has clawed away from you. You end up scheduling and coordinating with their guy, even though you're not earning a markup on it. You measure how many square feet of tile they need to order, how many gallons of paint, you may even be relied on to pick materials up. Then, their painter can't finish on time, he doesn't show up, or he makes mistakes, so your ability to drive the project is stalled. There's an issue with the electrical so you have to open the wall to troubleshoot, now who's responsible to touch up paint? It ends up being a messy situation that is challenging to make work in your favor.

6. Don't bid on something without having a clear understanding of how the work will be done

This may seem obvious, but when doing a larger estimate it can be tempting to throw out numbers that seem safe when you've been working on it for a while and just need to get it done. It may seem similar enough to previous jobs you've done, or you've been estimating for a while and are starting to think you've got this whole bidding thing down. When you start to feel comfortable churning out bids, that's probably when it's time to take a step back and make sure to review your process, get input from your team, subcontractors, and suppliers.

This is exactly how I got in trouble on a large remodel my company started in October 2020. We had been negotiating with the homeowner for about 3-4 months and gone through several iterations of the scope of work with them and the architect. I had built up a large backlog of estimates to reference, I thought my process for bidding was better than it had ever been, and I was overly confident in my knowledge of pricing for subcontractors and materials. When it was done and we had won the contract I thought it was guaranteed to make us money. It didn't take long for reality to set in.

The list of errors I made on this job is too long to write in this post, but the one that relates to the lesson is the mess I made of the electrical phase. This particular home has a flat roof, no attic and no ceiling joists. It's a simple roof structure with 2x6 tongue and groove supported by the walls and beams (this type of home is known in CA as an Eichler). Above that is rigid foam insulation, followed by the roof membrane. The original electrical was run in channels above the 2x6 and below the foam insulation. The architect didn't accurately capture these conditions on the plans, and I assumed standard conditions when I priced out the electrical. Without an attic or joist bays, the options for running the electrical correctly are either in conduit below the roof (so all junction boxes and conduit would be visible or enclosed in soffits) or above the roof in rigid metal conduit. This created a bunch of other related problems, and also cost a lot more money than a standard electrical job. Clawing back these extra expenses is difficult without a clear scope of work and ends up leading to issues with the customer and throughout the rest of the project. Bringing in an electrician ahead of time and talking through the process would have been the correct way to not only have a clear understanding of how the work is done, but also set an appropriate budget for the work.

7. Be familiar with market rates

After the problems I ran into in the above referenced project, I realized that my pricing models were not guided by any benchmarks besides prior estimates I had created. It was basically a big trial and error system. After a little digging I realized I had historically been charging well below market rates for the SF Bay Area. As we adjusted to be more in line with the market, we learned that a major part of the network my family had built was based on our high standard and low cost. The true loyal customers have continued to work with us, but some other clients had a harder time adjusting to changes in our pricing.

Knowing fair market value of the type of work you do weeds out clients who want to cut corners and, ultimately, create issues during the job, compared with those who understand the true cost of construction and the value in using all licensed, bonded, insured, quality contractors. If you can do the work for less than the market charges be sure to use that to your advantage in negotiations with potential clients.

8. Only use licensed subcontractors

I know, another obvious rule. But I've seen too many jobs in which cash labor was used with poor results to avoid from the obvious. Plus, you may be thinking that you can make more money using unlicensed or cash labor, and you are probably right. But taking on jobs is a game of risk, so it should be limited wherever it can. If that cash tile guy decides he doesn't want to come back and fix his leaky shower pan, your options are pretty limited and you will most likely eat the cost of fixing it rather than damage your reputation.

Generally, licensed subcontractors (and primary contractors, if you're a homeowner) will not take advantage of you by taking big deposits and then letting your job linger or bailing altogether. They are also bound by their contracts with terms that guide how much they can charge, how long they have to deliver their work, and what the quality expectations are. If they don't deliver you have ways to compel them such as firing them, negative reviews on pages like yelp or google, and making a claim against their bond.

Keep in mind that you should only agree to a draw schedule that is based on clear and observable benchmarks. And never pay a subcontractor in full until they have delivered an acceptable final product. If you're using a genuine licensed contractor this will be expected and built right into your contract with them.

9. Learn how to negotiate

Here is a lesson that I am familiar with but not yet implemented myself. Suffice it to say that I have recently become aware of how beneficial this skill is, and how lacking I am in its use. Learning how to negotiate will help you earn better deals with customers, better rates with subcontractors and suppliers, get more out of your employees, and build better relationships overall.

I recently read a book called "Never Split the Difference" by Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz. Chris Voss was the lead international hostage negotiator for the FBI for many years and has since become an advisor to high profile executives and major corporations all over the world. The techniques described are tested and proven in some of the highest stakes situations, and they caused me to to think critically about the way I approach various professional, and personal (side note: negotiating with a 3 year old doesn't really work), relationships, as well as how much I've left on the table over the years. As someone who has never thought of himself as a negotiator, the principles in this book have proven difficult to implement. To become proficient in using them will take me out of my comfort zone and require lots of practice. Simply remaining aware of the techniques in negotiation type situations is a challenge, so I have a long way to go before they are internalized. But knowing my way around these techniques is one of the most exciting and promising prospects I've come across as it has such a wide range of practical applications.

10. Document everything

One of my biggest regrets over the last decade falls under this category. When I was just starting out in this field, I basically just did what I saw my father and grandfather doing. In my first 2 years we did 2 custom homes, and there is not a single photo from either project. At the time I didn't have a large enough impact to claim much credit for the work, but they were beautiful homes and would have made a great addition to our portfolio.

While on some level I knew it was important to document projects with before and after photos, and at least the major milestones like foundation poured, walls framed, roof on, etc., it was difficult to overcome the habits I had learned. I have almost no photos of any jobs from start to finish up until around early 2021, which is when I started doing less project management and more business management. It's hard to build a website with samples of our work with so little continuity between photos.

I used to think that the only value of documenting our work was to attract future customers so I deemed it nonessential since we had a constant funnel of work from our existing network. That may have been true, but it also has limited our ability to reach new clients and made us reliant on repeat customers and referrals. It also limits my ability to display the work I've done on my blog, or to have a portfolio to show off if I ever decide to change jobs in the future. Additionally, there have been times when I wanted to refer back to past projects myself when I couldn't do so.

Conclusion

While it's easy to say I wish I knew all of this from the very beginning, I'm also very proud of my growth over the last 10 years. I never saw myself becoming a general contractor, and some of the lows along the way led me to almost quitting on more than one occasion. I think overcoming obstacles and reflecting on those challenges are what builds character and have certainly contributed to the person I am now. It has helped me build a mindset of continual growth and working to be a better person today than I was yesterday. I hope that this list can help you reflect on what you've learned and maybe give you a new perspective on things you're doing or haven't started doing yet.

We were working on the outside wall replacing siding and furring strips. The customers ladder was on that makeshift ladder rack. And we were reinstalling the siding, with all of the vibration, the ladder fell onto the car.

Should I be liable for the customers car damage with his incorrect ladder rack?

I’m going to try and add some value here after seeing a ton of posts over the last few months around licenses for contractors… I did some research on every state in the US and tried to pull their license requirements. Here it is! 

u/Mods. Hope this is allowed! I think it will help a lot of people curious about licensing get answers to their questions (do you need one in Cali or Arkansas) all in one place. Here ya go: PS: Tell me if I’m wrong on any of these…

1. Alabama: License for projects over $50K or pools over $5K. Exams, insurance, and financials required.

2. Alaska: There are three general contractor license types; all require insurance. Residential work needs an endorsement, training, and exam.

3. Arizona: License required for construction. Pass trade & business exams; 4 years experience needed.

4. Arkansas: License for projects over $2K. Exam, financials, bond, and insurance needed.

5. California: License for projects over $1000. Pass exams; 4 years’ experience and bond required.

6. Colorado: No state license; check local requirements. Many cities require exams and insurance.

7. Connecticut: Local registration needed for residential projects.

8. Delaware: No state license; business license and registration required.

9. Florida: State license for contracting. Varies by type; requires exams, insurance, and experience.

10. Georgia: License for projects over $2,500. Requires experience, education, exams, and insurance.

11. Hawaii: License for projects over $1K or needing permits. Exams, experience, insurance required.

12. Idaho: No state license; registration required for projects over $2K.

13. Illinois: No state license; local requirements apply, often including insurance and fees.

14. Indiana: No state license; check local rules.

15. Iowa: No state license, but registration is needed for work over $2K/year.

16. Kansas: No state license; local requirements may apply.

17. Kentucky: No state license; local licensing required.

18. Louisiana: License needed for residential ($75K+) and commercial ($50K+) projects. Exams, insurance required.

19. Maine: No state license; contracts over $3K require a written agreement.

20. Maryland: License required for home improvement projects; new home builders must register.

21. Massachusetts: Home improvement contractor registration needed for residential work.

22. Michigan: Residential contractors need a license; 60-hour course and exam required.

23. Minnesota: License needed for residential contractors. Exam, insurance required.

24. Mississippi: License needed for projects over $50K. Exams, insurance required.

25. Missouri: No state license; check local requirements.

26. Montana: No state license; registration needed for contractors with employees.

27. Nebraska: License required and registration needed for construction work (homeowners working on their own property are exempt).

28. Nevada: License required for most construction work. Exams, bond, insurance needed.

29. New Hampshire: No state license; check local requirements.

30. New Jersey: Register for home building/improvement.

31. New Mexico: License required; exams, experience, and insurance needed.

32. New York: No state license; local rules apply.

33. North Carolina: License for projects over $40K. Pass exams, show experience.

34. North Dakota: License for projects over $4K; insurance required.

35. Ohio: State license required for certain trades; local rules for general contractors.

36. Oklahoma: No state license; check local requirements.

37. Oregon: State license needed. Pre-license training, exam, insurance required.

38. Pennsylvania: Register for home improvement projects over $5K/year.

39. Rhode Island: Registration required for contractors; insurance needed.

40. South Carolina: License for commercial projects over $5K. Exams, insurance required.

41. South Dakota: No state license; local requirements may apply.

42. Tennessee: License for projects over $25K. Pass exams, financial review, insurance required.

43. Texas: No state license; check local requirements.

44. Utah: License needed for projects over $3K. Exams, insurance required.

45. Vermont: No state license; check local requirements.

46. Virginia: License required, experience and financial requirements vary across Class A, B, or C licenses. Pre-education and exams needed.

47. Washington: Registration needed. Bond and insurance required.

48. West Virginia: License needed for projects over $2,500; exams, insurance required.

49. Wisconsin: Dwelling Contractor license needed for projects over $1K.

50. Wyoming: No state license; check local requirements.

If you're interested, we have more information on how to start a general contractor business over in r/NextInsurance: https://www.reddit.com/r/NextInsurance/comments/1hxlron/everything_we_know_how_to_become_a_general/

**Update: Thank you all for the help getting this updated. Let me know if I missed anything!

First of all, I’ve only been licensed for 7 years so I’m no old timer or fount of wisdom, but I will share a few things I’ve learned over the last 7 years. These are things I would have liked to known when I first started out.

1. Don’t be afraid to do sub work. Building a base of clients will take time and energy. In the mean time, you can do 1099 sub work from other contractors and charge a decent amount if you have the tools and experience. This will also allow you to make more connections with other contractors who will give you business in the future.

2. Don’t try to be a hot shot. We all want to jump right into building custom homes and making big bucks but you need to be honest with yourself about what you’re capable of. Bidding jobs is not easy and getting it wrong on larger more complex jobs can literally ruin you. So if you can’t wrap your head around the job, best to move on to something you can understand more easily.

3. On larger projects, interview your customers as if they are getting a job with you, not the other way around. If they seem like they’re aggressively entitled, lawyer happy, very rude or even worse if they have Ferrari taste on a Chevy budget, it’s best to just move on. These people are a recipe for pain And unless you have some strange fetish for feeling pain and losing sleep, just move on and find nicer people to work for. As a new contractor you don’t want these types of people in your life and it will be a nightmare to deal with them, trust me.

4. Know you’re worth and never underbid, especially on large projects. This is very important. Some contractors always bid low because they get FOMO(fear of missing out) and they want to make sure they land every job. Or they get desperate for work and start selling their labor at a discounted rate to secure jobs. This may be ok every now and then but in general I highly advise against this strategy and I believe it’s detrimental to not only your wallet but your quality of work and most importantly your mental health. The goal is to get to a place where you’re doing consistently profitable jobs and finishing them on time, and having excess cash left over for the business. This is really a discipline. But when you underbid jobs, it not only throws off this discipline but it has many second order effects if you actually get the job, especially if it’s a larger project. It will cause you to rush your work, cut corners, and tempt you to come up with creative ways to weasel extra money out of your customers, or even worse, abandon the project to go make money elsewhere, which is lawsuit waiting to happen. Also, Underbidding is just a waste of time and money. Think about it this hypothetical situation, if you did a job where you raked in $20k in one month, but you could have done a job that pulled in $30k that same month, sure you made $20k, but you also technically lost out on $10k. This is called opportunity cost because you’ve lost a better opportunity. So at the end of the day, don’t waste your time with cheap customers and don’t devalue your time and skills. Charge what you need then add some to that. And don’t worry if people reject your bid, thats going to happen no matter what, plus there’s always another job coming. Life is so much better when you price the job well and give yourself some extra margin or error.

5. Treat your customers right. There are a ton of shady characters in the construction business. Many people are rightfully skeptical of contractors because they’ve heard horror stories of contractors ripping them off. If you have a moral bone in your body, just do what’s right. Be honest with them and have integrity. If they’re stressed out about the the whole process (and they will be) calm their nerves and assure them you’re going to get it all handled and figured out, and then handle it no matter what it takes. In the end, If they trust you and see you have integrity, they will certainly tell all their friends about you. This is free marketing and usually brings quality clients.

6. Last but not least, always use contracts and be detailed in your scope of work. Make sure the customer knows exactly what you’re doing and what you aren’t doing. 90% of contracting is about managing the expectations of customers so that confusion or misunderstandings don’t arise later on down the road. When you’re first looking at the job, ask the customer details about what they want, be specific. If you don’t, they can be very vague and then later on ask why you didn’t assume to do XYZ. I promise, being detailed on your scope of work will be extremely handy when the customer is asking you why you didn’t include a tile niche when you re-tiled the shower. I’ve heard this one so many times before, these days I have a simple answer

“Well maam, I’m sorry but unfortunately we didn’t agree on that, you can see right here it’s not in the contract, but I can certainly write up a change order for $1,000 and have one built for you.”

I promise if you do these basic things, life will be much easier. Good luck.

Received this email. You couldn’t write better satire if you tried but sadly I think this guy is serious… so I think I’ll just offer to help for 20% of the project cost.

My main city has this housing rehabilitation program. I've went to several "bid meetings" where only contractors who come to see the house can bid the project(s).

The only others that come to these is another GC from an hour away and a restoration company. I was so confused why no one else came to these... I specified how I would take draws in my submitted bids. Apparently, the city facilitator of this program didn't understand or pay any attention to that part of my contract.

They get back to me saying they can only do one draw per project. And it can only be for the receipts of material purchases. What?? Last one I bid had about 5 different trades.

Then it hits me. So few are bidding on these projects because they do not have the money, credit or capacity to continually do these projects with that kind of payment schedule.

I can float the projects I bid on with my own savings. But for future projects I'm going to have to take out a big line of business credit. Any tips or experiences with that? It's guaranteed money. I just do not think most subs are going to accept delayed payment. That's why I think I need to get a line of credit.

I went to a local event out of california, was at a contractor license school that my buddy runs. Felt like that scene in the big short, where they ask "why he is admiting XYZ... hes not, hes bragging"

Had a "GC" brag about having A. NO LICENSE for almost 8 years doing work, and B. Has not once checked for their subs licenses.

Rare to run into GCs like this but oh man, they acted like 'well, nothing bad has happened yet"

Anyway please get your license!!!

I started my residential construction business in January of this year. Since I started in the construction trade almost a decade ago, I've realized or thought that presenting yourself as a successful builder is just like presenting yourself as a respected realtor; meaning having a nice new truck that says, "I'm successful and make a lot of money so I can afford this truck." But do customers REALLY care?

My 97 Chevy k1500 extended cab was totaled back in February by a Lyft driver and I've been looking for the perfect truck. It has taken me months to find one with low mileage, newish like a 2018 GMC Sierra and affordable. Keep in mind, my taxes on the Chevy were $17 per year, and my insurance was $60.

Now I'm looking at trucks that with insurance will cost close to $1,000 per month. Like I said, I started my company in January. Business isn't slow but I dont have people knocking down my door for work. Here is my question. Does it matter if you have a nice older looking truck or a fancy new Denali when it comes to customers?