I’m going to tell you something most contractors won’t. Hiring a general contractor is one of the riskiest financial decisions a homeowner makes, and most people do almost zero due diligence. They get three bids, pick the middle one, and hope for the best.
Hope is not a strategy.
To choose a good general contractor in Washington state, verify their L&I registration at lni.wa.gov, confirm active general liability and workers’ compensation insurance, check their contractor bond, read recent reviews, ask for current local references, get a detailed written contract, and never pay more than 10-15% upfront. If any of those steps feel like too much work, you’re not ready to hire.
I’ve been a GC in Federal Way for years. I’ve seen the aftermath of bad hires — homeowners stuck with half-finished kitchens, paying twice to fix someone else’s mess, or tangled in lien disputes because their contractor didn’t pay the sub. Every one of those situations was preventable.
Step 1: Verify Their Washington L&I Registration
This is non-negotiable. Not optional. Not “nice to have.” Mandatory.
Washington state requires every contractor doing work over $600 (labor + materials) to be registered with the Department of Labor & Industries. No exceptions.
Go to lni.wa.gov and use the contractor verification tool. Search by business name or UBI number. You’re looking for:
- Active status. Not expired, not suspended, not revoked.
- Correct specialty. There are different registration types — general contractor, specialty contractor (electrical, plumbing, etc.). Make sure their registration covers the work you’re hiring them for.
- Current bond. More on this below.
- Active insurance. L&I tracks whether the contractor has workers’ comp coverage.
The lookup takes sixty seconds. If a contractor isn’t in the system, they are operating illegally. Full stop. Walk away.
I know guys who do great work but “haven’t gotten around to” renewing their registration. I don’t care how good their tile work is. If they’re unregistered, you have zero legal protection when things go sideways. And things go sideways more often than anyone wants to admit.
Step 2: Confirm Insurance — Both Kinds
There are two types of insurance your contractor must have:
General Liability (GL) Insurance
This covers damage to your property caused by the contractor’s work. Contractor’s demo crew puts a sledgehammer through your main water line? GL pays for the water damage. A ladder falls and cracks your hardwood floor? GL.
Ask for a certificate of insurance (COI). Any legitimate contractor can have their insurance agent send you one within 24 hours. If they hesitate, stall, or say “I’m self-insured” — they don’t have it.
Minimum GL coverage should be $1,000,000 per occurrence. Most reputable GCs in the Seattle/Tacoma metro carry $1M-$2M.
Workers’ Compensation
Washington state requires workers’ comp for almost all contractors with employees. This protects you if a worker gets injured on your property. Without it, you could be liable.
Here’s the nightmare scenario I’ve seen play out: Unlicensed contractor brings a day laborer to your job. Laborer falls off a ladder and breaks his back. No workers’ comp. The injured worker’s attorney comes after your homeowner’s insurance. This actually happens.
Check workers’ comp status on the same L&I lookup page. Active coverage should show a current account.
One-person contractors: If a contractor works solo with no employees, they may not be required to carry workers’ comp in Washington. But they should still have GL insurance. And if they bring anyone else onto your job — even a helper for one day — they need coverage for that person.
Step 3: Check Their Contractor Bond
Washington requires registered contractors to carry a surety bond. The minimum is $12,000 for a general contractor.
The bond exists so that if a contractor takes your money and disappears, or does work so defective it needs to be completely redone, you have a recovery path. You can file a claim against the bond through L&I.
$12,000 isn’t a lot. But it’s something. And the fact that a bonding company was willing to underwrite them means someone did at least a basic financial background check.
The bond status shows up in the L&I contractor lookup. If it’s lapsed, that’s a problem.
Step 4: Read Reviews — But Read Them Right
Everyone checks Google reviews. That’s fine. But here’s how to actually read them:
Ignore the star rating. Read the actual words. Look for specific details about the project type, timeline, communication, and how problems were handled.
Look for negative reviews and the contractor’s response. Every contractor gets a bad review eventually. What matters is how they respond. Professional, accountable, solution-oriented? Good sign. Defensive, dismissive, blaming the client? Run.
Check multiple platforms. Google, Yelp, BBB, Nextdoor, Houzz. Some contractors have great Google reviews but terrible BBB complaints. Cast a wide net.
Ask about recent reviews. A contractor with fifty 5-star reviews from 2021 and nothing since? That tells you something changed.
Be skeptical of perfection. A contractor with 200 reviews and a perfect 5.0? Some of those might be incentivized or fake. A 4.6-4.8 with a mix of detailed reviews feels more real.
Step 5: Ask for Current Local References
Not references from three years ago. Not references from a different state. Current. Local.
Ask for the names and numbers of three clients whose projects were completed in the past six months. Then actually call them. Most people skip this step.
Questions to ask references:
- Did the project come in on budget? If not, why?
- Did it finish on time? If not, how was the delay communicated?
- How was communication during the project? Could you reach the contractor when you needed to?
- Were there any surprises? How were they handled?
- Would you hire them again?
That last question is the only one that really matters. Everything else is context.
Step 6: Get a Detailed Written Contract
Washington state law requires a written contract for any residential project over $1,000. But “written contract” can mean a lot of things. A one-page quote with “kitchen remodel – $50,000” is technically written. It’s also useless if there’s a dispute.
Your contract should include:
- Detailed scope of work. Not “remodel bathroom.” Instead: “Demo existing tub surround, install new Kerdi waterproofing system, install porcelain tile (client-selected, provided by contractor), install new 60″ alcove tub (American Standard model #XXXX)…” You get the idea. Specific.
- Total price and payment schedule. Broken into milestones — deposit, rough-in complete, finish work complete, final payment.
- Start date and estimated completion date.
- Change order process. How are changes handled? In writing, with a price adjustment signed by both parties before the work is done.
- Permit responsibility. The contract should state who pulls permits. It should be the contractor.
- Warranty. Washington doesn’t mandate a specific warranty period for residential construction, but reputable contractors offer at least a 1-year workmanship warranty. I offer two years.
- Dispute resolution. Mediation, arbitration, or litigation? Know before you sign.
Read the contract. The whole thing. I know it’s not exciting. Read it anyway.
Step 7: Understand How Deposits Work in Washington
This is where a lot of homeowners get burned.
Washington state doesn’t have a law capping contractor deposits the way California does (where it’s capped at 10% or $1,000, whichever is less). But industry standard in the Pacific Northwest is 10-15% of the project total as a deposit, with the rest paid in milestone-based draws.
Red flags on payment structure:
- Asking for 50% or more upfront. No. Established contractors have trade accounts and credit lines. They don’t need half your money before they’ve lifted a finger.
- Cash only. Tax evasion aside, you have no paper trail if something goes wrong.
- No payment schedule tied to milestones. If the contract says “50% at start, 50% at completion,” there’s no mechanism to hold them accountable during the project.
A reasonable payment structure looks like this:
- 10-15% deposit at contract signing
- 25-30% at rough-in complete (plumbing, electrical, framing inspected and passed)
- 25-30% at finish materials installed (cabinets, tile, fixtures)
- Remaining balance at final completion and walkthrough
Never make the final payment until you’ve done a thorough walkthrough and the contractor has addressed any punch list items.
Step 8: Know Washington’s Lien Laws
This is the one nobody talks about until it’s too late.
In Washington, subcontractors and material suppliers have the legal right to place a lien on your property if they aren’t paid by the general contractor — even if you already paid the GC in full.
Read that again.
You pay your GC $60,000 for a kitchen remodel. Your GC doesn’t pay the cabinet supplier $15,000. The cabinet supplier files a lien on your house. You now owe $15,000 on top of the $60,000 you already paid. This is real. It happens.
How to protect yourself:
- Ask your GC for lien releases. At each payment milestone, request signed lien waivers from all subcontractors and material suppliers who worked on that phase.
- Pay attention to pre-lien notices. In Washington, subcontractors and suppliers must send a “Notice to Owner” to preserve their lien rights on residential projects. If you receive one of these, don’t panic — it’s a standard legal notice. But it tells you someone on your job wants to make sure they get paid.
- Use joint checks. For large subcontractor payments, you can issue a check made out to both the GC and the sub. This ensures the sub actually gets paid.
The best protection? Hire a GC with a reputation for paying their subs on time. Ask references specifically about this.
Red Flags — Walk Away If You See These
I’ll make this simple.
- No L&I registration. Gone.
- No insurance certificate provided within 48 hours of request. Gone.
- No written contract or a vague one-page quote. Gone.
- Asking for more than 20% upfront. Gone.
- “We don’t need permits for this.” Almost always wrong, and you’re the one who gets fined.
- Can’t provide references from the past year. Why not?
- Drastically lower bid than everyone else. They’re either cutting corners, planning to hit you with change orders, or won’t finish the job.
- Pressure to sign today. “This price is only good for 24 hours.” A legitimate contractor’s pricing doesn’t evaporate overnight.
- No physical business address. A PO box and a cell phone isn’t a business.
- They don’t ask you questions. A good contractor asks detailed questions about your goals, budget, timeline, and lifestyle before they quote. If they’re just measuring and quoting without a conversation, they’re not planning your project — they’re guessing at it.
The Bottom Line
Choosing a contractor is a trust exercise backed by paperwork. The paperwork part — licenses, insurance, bonds, contracts, lien waivers — exists because trust alone isn’t enough.
Do the homework. Make the calls. Read the contract. Check the L&I database. It takes a few hours. A bad contractor hire can cost you tens of thousands of dollars and months of your life.
If you’re looking for a general contractor in Federal Way or South King County, we’d welcome the chance to earn your business. Request a free estimate and we’ll set up a time to walk through your project. We’ll also happily provide our L&I registration number, insurance certificates, and references upfront — because that’s how it should work.
For specific project pricing, check out our bathroom remodel cost guide and kitchen remodel cost breakdown.
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