Rules
Part of Old-house restoration budget categories ranked by volatility
Restoration Contractor Questions to Ask Before Signing
Restoration contractor questions to ask before signing: how they are paid, quote exclusions, lead-safe certification, specifications and closeout terms.
What to take away
- Ask how the person is paid before asking what the work costs. Fee structure shapes advice.
- Exclusions matter more than inclusions. Read what the quote says it does not cover.
- Get the change-order rate agreed in writing before work starts, not when a wall is already open.
- A published, tiered fee schedule is what transparency looks like. Ask for the equivalent.
Restoration contractor questions should start with how the person is paid, not just what the work costs. A contractor pricing their own work, an estimator paid a percentage, and a consultant on a flat fee all have different incentives, and none of them are hidden if you ask.
Questions about how they are paid
- Are you quoting a fixed price, cost plus a fee, or time and materials?
- If cost plus, what is the fee percentage and what does it apply to?
- Do you mark up subcontractors and materials, and at what rate?
- Are you paid anything by suppliers or manufacturers?
- What is billable if the project does not proceed?
- What is your state license number, and which insurance and bond will you show me in writing before work starts?
None of these arrangements is wrong. Each one just points the incentive somewhere different, and knowing which direction is half of reading the advice.
Contract Payment Structures
Fixed Price
- Fee basis
- Lump sum
- Markups
- None
- Supplier pay
- No
- Risk if no go
- Contractor
Cost Plus Fee
- Fee basis
- Percentage
- Markups
- On subs/materials
- Supplier pay
- Maybe
- Risk if no go
- Shared
Time & Materials
- Fee basis
- Hourly rate
- Markups
- On materials
- Supplier pay
- No
- Risk if no go
- Owner
Questions about the quote itself
| Ask | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| What is excluded? | A written list, not a shrug |
| Which items are allowances? | Named, with the assumed quantity and rate |
| What happens if hidden conditions appear? | A stated hourly or unit rate, agreed in advance |
| How long is the price held? | A date, and what triggers a repricing |
| What is the payment schedule tied to? | Completed milestones, with a retainage |
Published fee schedules exist in the public sector and are worth seeing once. They show that pricing can be written down and predicted.
Quote Questions Checklist
- What is excluded?
- Which items are allowances?
- What if hidden conditions appear?
- How long is the price held?
- What is payment tied to?
The National Park Service (NPS) publishes tiered review fee schedules tied to project cost for the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program, including how a fee is recalculated when the estimate changes. The fee is charged to process Parts 2 and 3 of a Historic Preservation Certification Application, and NPS cannot review the application until the fee is paid. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) reviews project applications and recommends certification to NPS. These public schedules show how fees can be stated clearly; ask for the same clarity in a private quote.
Questions about the specification behind the price
A number without a specification cannot be compared with another number. Ask what document defines the work and what standard judges the finished job. Institutional owners write this down at length. For a project seeking federal historic tax incentives, ask whether the work meets the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.
In a house built before 1978, ask one more question before any paint is disturbed: is the firm certified under the EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule? Under that rule, firms that disturb lead-based paint in homes built before 1978 must be EPA- or state-certified and must use certified renovators who follow specific work practices. A quote that skips lead-safe containment is cheaper only on paper.
The General Services Administration (GSA) publishes its Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service for its own portfolio. That far exceeds a house's needs, but shows the principle: the standard exists before the price.
For a house, a two-page written specification per trade is usually enough, and it pays for itself the first time a disagreement arises. Write it in plain sentences: what is being done, to what, with which material, prepared how, and what the finished result should look like.
If you cannot describe the acceptance test, neither can the contractor, and that is the gap where arguments start. On finishes the acceptance test is usually a sample, and a panel tried on the actual substrate is what makes it something both sides can look at.
Who on the team decides a feature is beyond repair, and what evidence will they show? Repair-versus-replace moves the most money in an old-house project. The person making that call should not have income tied to the answer.
Windows force this call most often and most expensively: a single sample repair turns the argument into evidence.
Questions about closing out
Ask how the punch list is generated, who signs off, what retainage is held, and warranty length. Ask what documentation you receive at the end. These terms cost nothing to agree at the start and are close to unenforceable if raised at the end.
For where the money typically goes in a restoration, see our restoration budget breakdown. Use the quote, scope and closeout questions above to test an estimate against what the work actually includes.
