How to Hire a Verified Contractor: A Homeowner's Checklist

Hiring the right contractor is arguably a bigger decision than picking your materials — a good one will manage timelines, subcontractors, and quality control on your behalf, while a bad one can turn even a well-planned project into a stressful, over-budget mess.

Start by verifying the basics: does the contractor have a valid license number for the type of work they're offering? Can they show you photographs or, better still, addresses of at least two or three completed projects you can actually visit? A contractor confident in their work will rarely hesitate to share references.

Ask about their typical crew size and whether they subcontract specialised work like electrical or plumbing, and if so, to whom. This matters because accountability tends to blur once a project has three or four layers of subcontracting.

On payment terms: a common, healthy structure is staged payments tied to milestones (foundation complete, structure complete, roof complete, finishing complete) rather than a large upfront payment. Be cautious of any contractor who insists on more than 20-25% before any visible work has started.

Get a written estimate broken down by category (materials, labour, contractor margin) rather than a single number — this protects both sides if material prices move during a long project, and makes it much easier to track whether you're on budget as work progresses.

Finally, check reviews from real past clients, not just the contractor's own portfolio. On Griffy, every contractor profile shows a rating and review history from verified past bookings, which is exactly the kind of independent signal you want before committing to a multi-lakh, multi-month project.