The questions you should be asking, the red flags you should be watching for, and why the lowest bid is usually the most expensive.
If I had a dollar for every time a client came to me after their GC relationship went south, I could retire. Twice.
Selecting a general contractor is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make in your entire buildout process. Get it right, and your project will be successful. Get it wrong, and you're dealing with delays, cost overruns, quality issues, and the kind of stress that keeps you up at three in the morning.
After managing contractor relationships across hundreds of projects a year for almost two decades, here's what I've learned about finding the right one.
A contractor who built a gorgeous office tower is not necessarily the right contractor for your 2,500-square-foot restaurant. Commercial construction is specialized, and the contractor who excels at one type of project may struggle with another.
When you're evaluating GCs, the first question isn't 'Are you good?' It's 'Have you done exactly this kind of project before?' Ask for references from projects similar to yours — same size, same use type, same market. A restaurant buildout requires expertise in kitchen ventilation, grease management, health code compliance, and fire suppression that a retail contractor may never have touched.
Additionally, when selecting a GC, it's important to assess the quality of the bid. Did they add clarifications and exclusions? Did they submit RFI’s during bidding? GC’s that are very careful in the bidding process tend to use the same level of care and completeness while building.
Finally, it is extremely important to understand if a GC is working in a market where they know the ins and outs. Do they understand the local permitting requirements? Is the GC PM going to be close enough to the project to give it the attention it needs, or will the site supervisor be left alone on an island to do the best they can? A GC that can knock it out of the park in Des Moines, IA may not be equipped to handle a project in downtown Chicago.
Relevance trumps reputation every single time.
After two decades, I've boiled contractor evaluation down to five questions that tell you almost everything you need to know.
One: How many projects like mine have you completed in the last 24 months? You want recent, relevant experience. Not something they did eight years ago.
Two: Can I speak directly with three clients from those projects? Not references they hand-pick — you want to hear from people who went through the full process. Ask for those references about communication, change orders, and whether the project finished on time and on budget.
Three: How do you handle change orders? This is where most contractor relationships break down. You want a clear process — A phone call explaining the issue, followed by a written not-to-exceed estimate and a clearly documented written approval to proceed from the construction manager before commencing the work.
Four: What does your communication process look like? Weekly updates? A project management platform? Phone calls? Make sure their communication style matches what you need. Silence from a GC is never a good sign.
Five: What's your current workload? A contractor who's juggling too many projects will deprioritize yours. You want to be important to them, not an afterthought.
Vague or incomplete bids. If the bid doesn't break down costs by trade and line item, you have no way to evaluate what you're paying for — or identify where costs are being hidden. You will also have a hard time evaluating the validity of change orders without a detailed bid.
Resistance to providing references. Any contractor worth hiring is proud of their work and happy to connect you with past clients.
No written change order process. Verbal agreements on scope changes are a recipe for disputes.
Pressure to sign quickly. 'This price is only good for 48 hours' is a sales tactic, not a construction practice.
And my personal favorite red flag: the contractor who tells you everything will be fine and nothing will go wrong. In 20 years, I've never seen a project where nothing unexpected happened. A good contractor acknowledges risks and explains how they'll manage them.
We almost never recommend selecting a contractor without a competitive bid process. Typically, we solicit bids from three to five qualified contractors, using the same scope of work and drawings, and evaluate them side by side. I would like to note that the only exception to this rule may be when you bring in a GC that you have a long-standing relationship with early in the process to assist with value engineering. Sometimes, that can be a win-win for everyone, especially if you are still working out some of the elements in the design process.
This isn't just about finding the lowest price. It's about understanding the market rate for your project, identifying contractors who truly understand your scope, and creating accountability. When contractors know they're competing, their bids are sharper, their timelines are more realistic, and their attention to detail improves.
We manage this process for our clients every day. It's one of the highest-value things a construction PM can do.
Your general contractor will be your most important construction partner. Choose them like you'd choose a business partner — with due diligence, clear expectations, and a healthy respect for the stakes involved.
If you're about to start the contractor selection process and want help structuring a competitive bid, evaluating proposals, or just knowing what questions to ask — that's literally what we do.