Building & trades
Construction: what buyers verify before they hire.
Construction involves the largest deposits and the longest exposure of any consumer category. Financial stability, bonding, and permit history matter more than reviews.
Why trust is harder in construction
A construction customer hands over substantial money before receiving substantial work, and the relationship lasts months. The core risk is not poor workmanship — it is the contractor becoming insolvent or disappearing mid-project with the deposit spent.
That is why this category weights financial and legal evidence over sentiment. Bonding capacity, lien history, permit records, and years of continuous operation predict outcomes better than a five-star average built from small jobs.
The signals that carry the most weight
General contractor license and class
License number, class, and the dollar limit the class permits, matched to the size of jobs advertised.
Surety bonding capacity
Bonded status and capacity, which is an independent underwriter's assessment of the company's finances.
Permit history
A record of pulled permits with the local building department demonstrates real, inspected volume.
Years in continuous operation
Entity registration age with the secretary of state, not just a claim on the About page.
Lien and litigation record
Absence of mechanics liens filed against the company's projects, and of judgments in public records.
Written contract and draw schedule
A published payment schedule tied to milestones rather than large upfront deposits.
Red flags that cost points
- Deposit demand above roughly a third of the contract value
- License class below the value of jobs being advertised
- Mechanics liens filed by subcontractors on prior projects
- Business entity registered within the last year with no principal history
- No written contract, or a contract with no milestone draw schedule
Where construction buyers actually check
- state contractor licensing board
- secretary of state entity registry
- county recorder for liens
- local building department permit records
- Better Business Bureau
Vettify pulls from these public sources when it scores a construction company. If a signal cannot be verified, it is reported as unverified rather than estimated.
Answers
The questions people are actually searching.
How much deposit should a construction contractor ask for?
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A reasonable deposit covers mobilization and initial materials — commonly 10 to 30 percent, and some states cap it by statute. Requests above a third of contract value, or demands for the majority upfront, are the single strongest predictor of a project going wrong, because they shift the financing of the job onto the customer. Payments after the deposit should be tied to completed milestones, not to dates on a calendar.
How do I check a construction company's history?
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Four public records tell you most of what you need. The state licensing board shows license status, class, and disciplinary actions. The secretary of state shows when the entity was registered and whether it has been dissolved and re-formed under new names. The county recorder shows mechanics liens filed against their projects, which usually means subcontractors were not paid. The local building department shows permit volume, which confirms they actually build at the scale they advertise.
What is a good trust score for a construction company?
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Construction scores span more widely than other categories, typically 45 to 80, because the evidence is public and either present or conspicuously absent. High scores require a license class matched to advertised project size, bonding, multi-year entity registration, a clean lien record, and a published contract structure. A new entity with no permit history scores low regardless of the principal's personal experience — which is why experienced builders should reference their prior entity history explicitly.
Why does bonding matter more than reviews in construction?
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Because a surety underwriter examines financial statements before extending bonding capacity, and reviewers do not. Bonding is effectively a third party with money at risk stating that this company can complete the work it takes on. A glowing review average tells you customers were happy with finished projects; it tells you nothing about whether the company can absorb a cost overrun on yours.
How can a construction company improve its trust score?
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Publish your license number and class. Get bonded and state your capacity. Reference your entity registration history, including predecessor entities, so your real tenure is visible. Publish your standard draw schedule so customers see that payments track milestones. And keep your permit record clean and current — it is one of the few signals that cannot be manufactured.
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