Contractors & Construction in Brickell, Miami

Six things, in this order: what license class do you hold and does it cover this work; can your agent send me an insurance certificate; who pulls the permit; can I see a written scope with exclusions; how will lien releases be handled; and what is the payment schedule. Then ask for the addresses of two recent jobs in Miami-Dade and actually call those owners. Most problems in residential construction are not caused by bad workmanship — they are caused by an unclear scope, an unrealistic schedule, and money paid too far ahead of work completed.

Check with the issuing authority rather than the contractor. Florida licenses construction contractors through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and Miami-Dade County maintains its own contractor licensing. Search by business name and by license number, confirm the license is active and in a classification that covers your project, and — this is the check people skip — confirm that the licensed entity is the same legal entity named on your contract and invoices. Work sold by one company and licensed under another's number is a recurring problem, and it is the version that leaves you unprotected.

A licensed contractor has met the state's or county's qualification requirements, can legally pull permits, and is subject to a regulatory complaint process. An unlicensed one cannot pull permits, which means either the work is unpermitted or you are asked to pull it yourself as an owner-builder and absorb the liability. Unlicensed contracting is also a matter Florida takes seriously as an enforcement issue. Practically: unpermitted work surfaces at resale and appraisal, may complicate an insurance claim, and leaves you with no regulator to complain to. The saving is rarely worth the exposure.

It is a routine document under Florida's construction lien law. Subcontractors and suppliers who do not have a direct contract with you send it to preserve their right to lien your property if they are not paid. Receiving one is normal and is not an accusation. What matters is what you do about it: collect a release of lien from every party who sent you a notice as you make each payment, and get a final release before the last payment. This is the mechanism that prevents the situation where you pay your contractor in full and a supplier still liens your home.

Three, on an identical written scope. The reason to write the scope first is that three contractors left to their own devices will quote three different projects, and the numbers become uncomparable. Put in writing what you want done, what materials or allowances you expect, and what is excluded, then hand the same document to each. When the quotes come back, the differences will be about approach and price rather than about who guessed your intentions best — and any contractor who improves your scope in the process has told you something useful about their experience.

Long enough that it belongs on your schedule as its own line item. Review times vary widely by municipality, by project type, and by how complete the submitted drawings are, and correction cycles are common. Nobody can honestly quote you a fixed number in advance. What you can do is ask your contractor for their recent real-world experience with your municipality on similar projects, ask who is responsible for responding to corrections, and confirm that the contract does not start the construction clock until the permit is actually issued.