Start with proof of work, not marketing
Ads, sponsored placements, and review counts all reward whoever spends the most on marketing. None of them tell you whether a contractor can do your job well. A more reliable signal is hiding in public records.
When work is done legally, the local building department issues a permit. That permit names the contractor, the type of work, the project value, and the date. It is a public record of a real job. Read enough of them for one contractor and you get an honest picture of what they do all day, which is exactly what you want to know before hiring.
What to actually look at
Once you can see a contractor's permit history, four things tell you most of what matters:
- Trade fit: do they pull permits for your kind of work, or is your job a one-off for them?
- Volume: a handful of permits in your trade is more reassuring than a single old one.
- Recency: a job last month means they are active and staffed right now.
- Location: work in your town or county means they know your inspectors and local code.
Get quotes, but compare the right contractors
Quotes still matter, but they are far more useful once you have already narrowed to contractors with a real track record in your trade. Three quotes from three proven roofers is a real comparison. Three quotes from whoever showed up in search ads is mostly noise.
Be plain about scope when you ask. A quote is only comparable to another quote if both cover the same work, the same materials, and the same cleanup. If two numbers are far apart, the difference is usually in what is included, not in who is cheaper.
Red flags worth slowing down for
A few signals are worth pausing on, even if everything else looks good:
- Pressure to decide today or to pay a large deposit up front.
- No permit history you can find for the kind of work they are quoting.
- Reluctance to pull a permit at all, or a suggestion that you pull it yourself.
- A price far below every other bid, which usually means corners somewhere.
Permit records are evidence of past work, not a guarantee of the next job. Use them to build a shortlist, then still check licensing, insurance, and references before you sign.