Questions to Ask a Contractor Before Hiring (DC)

The interview is where a contractor stops being a name on an estimate and becomes someone you can evaluate. The right questions do two things at once: they surface the facts you need — license, bond, insurance, schedule, payment — and they reveal how the contractor responds. In Washington, DC, a professional answers questions about credentials and contracts directly and without irritation. Hesitation, deflection, or pressure to skip the questions is, in itself, one of the most useful signals you will get.

This is a consumer-advocate checklist. For each question, we explain what you are really trying to learn and what a good answer sounds like, so you can tell a professional from a problem before any money changes hands. Use it alongside the master how to hire a contractor in DC guide.

Licensing questions

These come first because they decide whether you are protected at all.

”What is your exact legal business name and DC license number?”

This is the most important question in the entire interview. You are not just confirming they have a license — you are getting the information you need to verify it yourself.

A professional gives you the exact legal name on the license and the license number without hesitation. Then you look it up on the official portal at mybusiness.dc.gov, confirm the HIC endorsement, and check that the status is Active with a future expiration date. Our license verification walkthrough shows exactly how. If a contractor will not give you a license number, or gives only a trade name, treat that as a serious warning.

”Is your license for DC specifically?”

DC’s compact geography means many contractors work across the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Being licensed in Maryland or Virginia does not authorize home improvement work in DC. Ask specifically about their DC Basic Business License and HIC endorsement, and verify it on the DC portal.

Bond and insurance questions

”Can you show me current certificates for your bond and liability insurance?”

DC requires a licensed home improvement contractor to post a $25,000 surety bond and carry liability insurance with a minimum of $50,000 in bodily-injury coverage per person. Ask for current certificates, confirm they are not lapsed, and ideally confirm the bond independently with the surety. We explain what these numbers actually mean — and the common misconception that the bond is “insurance for you” — in the DC contractor bonding and insurance guide.

”Are you and your crew covered if someone is injured on the job?”

You want to confirm that liability and any applicable worker coverage protect you from being on the hook if an injury or property damage happens during the work. This is exactly what DC’s insurance requirement exists to address.

Subcontractor questions

”Who will actually be doing the work?”

The person quoting the job is not always the person doing it. Ask whether the contractor uses subcontractors, who they are, and whether each is licensed and insured for their trade. On larger projects you may deal with a general contractor coordinating licensed trade subs — that is normal, but you still want to know that everyone touching your home is properly credentialed.

”Will subcontractors and suppliers be paid before I make final payment?”

This question protects you from a specific DC risk: a mechanic’s lien. If a contractor takes your money but does not pay their subs or suppliers, those parties can sometimes place a lien against your property. A clear answer — and contract language about lien waivers — reduces that risk. Learn more in our protection coverage of the District’s homeowner protections.

Permit questions

”Does my project need a permit, and who pulls it?”

A permit (from DOB) authorizes the project; a license (from DLCP) authorizes the contractor. They are different agencies and different things, a structure that dates to the October 1, 2022 split of the old DCRA. For permit-required work, a licensed contractor should pull the right DOB permits — and the contract should say who is responsible.

Project and timeline questions

”What is the schedule, and what could delay it?”

Ask for a realistic start date and completion window, and ask what typically causes delays — material lead times, inspections, weather. A contractor who promises an implausibly fast timeline or refuses to commit to any window is hard to hold accountable. You want a date in the contract, not a verbal “soon."

"How do you handle changes once work begins?”

The right answer is that any change is documented and priced in writing, and approved by you before it happens. Surprise charges at the end of a job almost always trace back to changes that were never put in writing. The FTC’s hiring-a-contractor guidance makes the same point: get changes in writing.

”Can you provide recent DC references for similar work?”

Ask for recent customers in the District doing work like yours. When you call them, ask whether the job finished on time and on budget, whether changes were handled fairly, and whether they would hire the contractor again. Also check the contractor on the BBB for complaint history.

Contract and payment questions

”Will everything be in a written contract?”

DC requires licensed home improvement contractors to use written contracts, so the answer should be an unhesitating yes. Confirm the contract will spell out scope, total price, payment schedule, materials, change-order terms, permit responsibility, warranty, and cleanup. Never sign a contract with blank spaces to be “filled in later."

"What is the deposit and payment schedule?”

You are listening for a modest deposit and the balance tied to completed milestones — not a demand for most or all of the money up front, especially in cash.

”What is your warranty, and how do I invoke it?”

Ask what is guaranteed, for how long, and what you do if a problem appears after the work is done. A clear, written warranty is a sign of a contractor who stands behind the work. A vague “we’ll take care of you” is not the same thing.

”How will you communicate during the project, and who is my point of contact?”

A surprising share of contractor disputes are really communication breakdowns. Ask who your single point of contact will be, how often you will get updates, and how you should raise concerns mid-job. A contractor who has a clear answer here — one named person, regular check-ins, problems handled in writing — is far easier to work with than one who shrugs. This question also surfaces whether the person selling you the job will be anywhere near the work once it starts.

Project-specific questions worth adding

The questions above apply to almost any DC home improvement job. Depending on what you are hiring for, a few targeted additions pay off:

• For trade work (electrical, plumbing, HVAC): ask whether the trade is performed by someone holding the appropriate trade credential, since this work affects life-safety systems and triggers DOB inspections. See the trade cost and hiring guides for what each trade involves.
• For larger renovations: ask how the contractor sequences trades, handles inspections between phases, and protects the parts of your home that are not being worked on.
• For older DC homes: ask about experience with the District’s older housing stock — knob-and-tube wiring, plaster, historic-district rules — because unfamiliarity here is a common source of overruns.

Questions you should not have to ask — because the answer should be volunteered

A useful inversion: notice what a contractor offers without being asked. The best DC contractors volunteer their license number, hand you a certificate of insurance, propose a milestone payment schedule, and put change-order terms in the contract before you raise any of it. When you have to pry each of these loose, that friction is itself information. A homeowner who never has to fight for basic transparency is usually dealing with a professional; one who fights for every answer is being warned.

The meta-question: how did they react?

Step back from the individual answers and assess the pattern. The strongest signal from this entire interview is not any single fact — it is whether the contractor welcomed the questions or resented them.

A reputable DC contractor expects an informed homeowner and is reassured, not offended, by good questions. The ones who get defensive or evasive are precisely the ones these questions are designed to catch.

After the interview

The questions are step one of a larger process. Once a contractor’s answers check out and you have verified the license, bond, and insurance yourself, move on to comparing detailed written bids and reading the contract line by line — both covered in how to hire a contractor in DC. If something has already gone wrong with a contractor, the scams and protection section explains how to file a complaint with DLCP and the OAG and how to pursue recovery.

Asking the right questions costs nothing and takes one conversation. It is the cheapest, fastest filter you have — and in the District, where the protections that matter most all depend on hiring a properly licensed contractor, it is also one of the most consequential.