Questions to Ask When Building a Home
Questions for homeowners interviewing builders and general contractors, covering contract type, allowances and exclusions, the schedule and change orders, insurance and lien waivers, the draw schedule, warranty, and references worth calling.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many homes like ours did you finish last year, and how many are you running right now?
Why ask it
The ratio tells you whether your build gets an experienced crew or a stretched one. A builder juggling many sites will usually admit it when asked for numbers rather than for reassurance.
Is this contract fixed price, cost plus, or fixed price with allowances?
Why ask it
This one answer decides who absorbs material price increases. Under cost plus you carry that risk; under allowances you carry it on every item that was priced low to win the job.
What allowances are in this price, and what do they actually buy?
Why ask it
Take the flooring, cabinet, tile, and fixture allowances to a local supplier and see what they cover at today's prices. Thin allowances are the standard way a bid is made to look competitive.
What is not included in this bid that we will still have to pay for?
Why ask it
Site work, driveway, utility connections, landscaping, window coverings, and appliances are the usual exclusions. A builder who volunteers the list is far easier to compare than one who waits for you to notice.
What is the schedule, and which of those dates are contractual?
Why ask it
Ask which milestones carry consequences and which are aspirations. A schedule with no remedy for late completion is a forecast, and it will be treated as one.
How are change orders priced and approved?
Why ask it
Get the markup percentage and whether work pauses pending signature. Verbal changes are where budgets grow quietly and where most builder disputes actually begin.
Who is my day-to-day contact, and how often will I hear from them?
Why ask it
Ask for a name, a phone number, and a set cadence. A short written update every week is normal on a well-run site and almost unheard of on a badly run one.
Which trades are your own employees, and which are subcontracted?
Why ask it
Long-standing subs show up when scheduled and stand behind their work. Ask how long the framer, electrician, and plumber have worked with them, because turnover among trades shows up in the finish.
Can I see certificates of insurance for you and your subcontractors?
Why ask it
Ask for general liability and workers' compensation sent directly by the carrier, not a photocopy. Without workers' compensation, an injury on your site can become your liability.
How do you handle lien waivers and payments to subs?
Why ask it
An unpaid sub can file a lien against your house even after you have paid the builder in full. Ask for signed waivers with every draw, and treat this as non-negotiable.
What is the draw schedule, and what triggers each payment?
Why ask it
Payments tied to completed stages protect you; payments tied to the calendar do not. The rule of thumb is to never be far ahead of the work in money paid out.
What warranty do you provide, and who answers the phone in month fourteen?
Why ask it
Ask how the builder's own workmanship coverage splits from manufacturer warranties, and who services each. A builder with a dedicated warranty process will describe it without being pushed.
How do you handle the punch list after we move in?
Why ask it
Ask for the process and the typical time to close items out. This last phase is where builders' reputations are actually made, and where the least-motivated work happens.
Can I see a house you finished three or four years ago and talk to the owners?
Why ask it
Recent buyers are still in the honeymoon. Owners a few years in know how the grading, trim, and roof have held up and whether warranty calls got returned.
Can I visit an active site without arranging it in advance?
Why ask it
Site tidiness, safety, and whether lumber is protected from rain tell you more about the crew than any finished showhome. Hesitation about an unscheduled visit is itself an answer.
What inspections happen beyond the municipal ones?
Why ask it
Ask about third-party energy testing, a blower door result, and who checks framing and rough-ins before they are covered. Code inspections are a floor, not a quality check.
What envelope and mechanical choices do you recommend for this climate, and what do they add?
Why ask it
Insulation, air sealing, and window specification are cheap now and effectively impossible later. Ask for the cost of each option separately rather than as a named package.
How do you handle weather delays, material shortages, and price escalation?
Why ask it
Ask for the clause rather than the reassurance. An escalation clause shifts risk to you, so find out what triggers it, whether it is capped, and whether you can approve substitutions.
What happens if we disagree about quality or scope?
Why ask it
Look for mediation ahead of arbitration or litigation, and read whether the contract limits your remedies or your right to withhold payment. Ask how their last dispute ended.
What do your clients most often wish they had decided earlier?
Why ask it
The answer maps the real decision deadlines, usually electrical placement and cabinet layout, which cost nothing on paper and a great deal once the walls are closed.
Choosing and managing a builder
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Vetting before you sign
Compare bids line by line, not by bottom line
Put the bids side by side and match each line: allowances, site work, exclusions, contingency. A cheaper bid is usually cheaper because something has been left out or priced low, and finding out which is the whole exercise.
Verify licensing and history yourself
Check the license with the state board, look for judgments and liens under both the company and the owner's name, and search for previous business names. Builders who have wound up a company and restarted are common enough to be worth checking.
Call references the builder did not give you
Ask a supplier and a subcontractor whether the builder pays on time. Nothing predicts your schedule better than whether the trades want to work for this person.
Have a construction attorney read the contract
One review before signing costs a fraction of a single change order dispute. Pay particular attention to payment triggers, remedies for delay, and warranty language.
Keeping control during the build
- Approve change orders in writing before work proceeds, with price and schedule impact stated on each
- Photograph every wall before insulation and drywall, so you know where wiring and plumbing sit
- Walk the site at the same time each week and keep a dated log of what you observed
- Ask for signed lien waivers from each sub with every draw, and check them against the invoice
- Keep a decision list with deadlines: fixtures, tile, cabinets, paint, and who has to choose what by when
- Hold back the final payment until the punch list is closed, not until the day you move in
Where builds go wrong
Paying ahead of the work
Large deposits and calendar-based draws leave you exposed if the builder stops. Tie payments to inspected stages and keep the paid amount behind the completed value.
Allowance creep
Selections above allowance get billed at cost plus markup, and there are dozens of selections. Price your real choices during bidding so the allowances reflect what you will actually pick.
No written scope for the site work
Grading, drainage, driveways, and tree removal are often vague in a contract and expensive in reality. Get quantities and finished grades specified rather than described.
Deciding late
A framed house waiting on a cabinet decision costs money every day. The selections calendar deserves the same attention as the construction schedule.