How to Choose a Contractor in Massachusetts (HIC Rules)

Check the registration before anything else

Massachusetts requires most residential contractors to hold a Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration. It is a public record: you can look up a registration number and confirm it is current and matches the business name on the quote. It takes two minutes and it is the single highest-value check you can make.

Waterfront Construction, Inc is a Registered Massachusetts Home Improvement Contractor, HIC #196540. Any contractor should give you their number without hesitation — reluctance is the answer.

The protection you can lose without knowing

Massachusetts operates a Guaranty Fund that can compensate homeowners for losses caused by a registered contractor. But the protection is conditional. Two things commonly forfeit it: hiring an unregistered contractor, and pulling the building permit yourself instead of having the contractor pull it.

That second one matters, because a contractor asking the homeowner to pull the permit is not saving you a fee — they are moving the liability onto you. A registered contractor files in their own name.

Insurance: ask for the certificate, not the reassurance

• General liability, which covers damage to your property.
• Workers' compensation, which matters enormously — if an uninsured worker is hurt on your property, the exposure can land on your homeowner's policy.
• Ask for the certificate to be sent directly by the insurer or agent, showing current dates. A photograph of a certificate proves nothing about whether the policy is still in force.

What the contract should contain

• The contractor's registration number and full legal business name.
• A specific scope: what is being done, in what materials, to what standard.
• Total price and a payment schedule tied to progress rather than to dates.
• Start and substantial-completion dates.
• A written change-order process — what happens when something is found behind a wall, and who authorises the extra cost.
• Warranty terms in writing, with a stated period.
• Who pulls the permits (it should be the contractor).

Reading three quotes properly

The lowest number is the least informative one on the page. A quote comes in low for one of three reasons: the scope is smaller, the materials are cheaper, or something has been left out that will reappear as a change order. Your job is to work out which.

• Line the quotes up by scope, not by total. If one has no allowance for what tear-off might uncover, that is not a saving.
• Compare the allowances — tile, fixtures, cabinets. Vague allowances are where a cheap bid becomes an expensive job.
• Ask each contractor what they expect to find that is not on the quote. The honest answer is never 'nothing'.
• Ask for references on work of the same type and age, and actually call one.

Ask a contractor what could go wrong on your job. The one who answers specifically has done it before; the one who says nothing will has not.

Warning signs worth walking away from

• Large deposit demanded up front, or pressure to pay in cash.
• No written contract, or a one-page quote presented as one.
• Suggesting you pull the permit, or that the job does not need one when it clearly does.
• No registration number, or a number that does not match the business name.
• A price that expires today. Real schedules do not work that way.