A general contractor, or GC, is the company you sign with when a job needs more than one trade. They hire the plumber, the electrician and the tile setter, put them in order, and deal with the town. When something goes wrong, you call one person.
The GC’s actual job
Rich’s Construction, which works in Huntington, Smithtown and Commack, describes the role as managing the schedule, coordinating subcontractors, pulling permits, sourcing materials and handling inspections. Ray Coleman Home Improvement in Wantagh stresses keeping the trades in the right order, so the electrician is not waiting on drywall that is waiting on a plumber.
Ray Coleman also warns that some GCs sell the job and then hand it to a project manager or foreman. That can work fine, as long as you know before you sign who will be in your house each day and who picks up the phone when something turns up inside a wall.
One trade or a general contractor
If the job is one trade, such as refinishing the floors or painting cabinets, you can hire that trade directly. Once two or three trades have to follow each other through the same room, Ray Coleman recommends a GC, and names kitchens and bathrooms as the usual examples. Additions, dormers and whole-house work fall in the same group.
County licenses and trade licenses
There is no state GC license in New York, so a general contractor on Long Island needs the county home improvement license for wherever your house sits. Nassau’s version requires proof of liability, property damage and workers’ comp insurance before it is issued. Rich’s Construction says Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island add a town license on top of Suffolk’s.
The GC’s license does not cover the trades. Plumbers and electricians carry their own licenses, which Nassau leaves to its towns and villages. On a GC job, ask for the GC’s county number and for the plumber’s and electrician’s local licenses too. The license guide shows where to look each one up.
Subcontractors and unpaid bills
The risk with a GC is a sub who does not get paid. Nassau County’s consumer checklist asks for a lien release clause in the contract, protecting you from claims by unpaid subcontractors and suppliers. It also says not to sign a completion certificate or make the final payment until the work is done right and you are told all subcontractors have been paid.
The Attorney General’s office says money paid before the job is substantially complete has to go into an escrow account at a New York bank within five business days, or the contractor can post a bond instead. Ask which one they use.
Questions before you hire a GC
- Who runs the job day to day, and will that person be on site?
- Which work does your own crew do, and which goes to subcontractors?
- Who pulls the permits and books the inspections? Rich’s Construction calls a contractor who asks the homeowner to pull permits a red flag.
- Can I have an itemized estimate with materials, labor and timeline broken out?
- Will you give me lien releases from the subs before the final payment?
- Is your insurance certificate current? Rich’s says not to accept a verbal yes.