12 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a General Contractor in Florida

Florida has more licensed contractors than most states and more unlicensed ones working in the gaps. After a major hurricane season, after a hot real estate market, after any period of high demand — the qualification gap between real contractors and people with a truck and a business card widens fast.

These are the 12 questions that separate the GCs who will protect you from the ones who will cost you more than you saved by picking the low bid.

1. What's Your License Number and Can I Look It Up Right Now?

In Florida, a general contractor must hold either a Certified General Contractor (CGC) or a Registered General Contractor (RGC) license. A CGC is state-issued and allows work statewide. An RGC is county-registered and limited to specific jurisdictions.

Verify at: myfloridalicense.com. Look up by license number or name. Confirm:

• Active status (not expired or suspended)
• License type (CGC1 or RGC)
• Qualifier name matches the person you're talking to

JK Prestige: CGC1535682 — look it up.

Any GC who hesitates to give you this number is telling you something.

2. Who Will Actually Be Running My Project?

"Our team will take care of you" is not an answer. The real question is: who is the principal? Who signs the contract and answers the phone?

Corporate GCs often have a salesperson who signs the deal and a project manager you've never met who runs the job. If the PM turns over — a common reality in large firms — you're starting over with someone new mid-project.

JK Prestige is principal-led. The person who signs your contract is the person who walks your site and answers your calls.

3. Do You Self-Perform or Subcontract the Critical Trades?

Most GCs broker everything. Framing, drywall, roofing, concrete — they hire whoever picks up the phone that week. Quality control through a chain of strangers is hard to maintain.

Ask specifically: "Do your own crews do the framing? The drywall? The roofing?"

JK Prestige self-performs framing, drywall, concrete, and roofing. Not brokered. Our own crews.

4. Can You Provide a Written Scope and Fixed Price Before I Sign?

An estimate is not a contract. A bid sheet is not a scope. Ask for:

• A written scope of work that describes every task at the trade level
• A fixed price that won't change unless the scope changes
• A specific list of what is and is not included

If a GC will only give you a ballpark number verbally, you are not protected when the number changes.

JK Prestige provides fixed-price contracts with written scope. 48-hour estimate turnaround from a site visit and design documents.

5. What Is Your Discovery Clause?

In Florida renovation work — especially in homes built before 1990 — surprises happen. You open a wall and find water damage. The foundation isn't what anyone thought. The electrical is worse than the home inspection showed.

A discovery clause in the contract defines:

• What constitutes a discoverable condition (not in original scope, not visible at walkthrough)
• How it's documented (written change order, not verbal)
• How it's priced (T&M markup or pre-agreed unit pricing)
• That work stops until the owner approves the change

If a GC's contract doesn't have a discovery clause, you have no written framework for what happens when the unexpected costs arrive. And they will.

6. Are You Fully Insured — And Will You Show Me the Certificate?

Florida requires GCs to carry general liability insurance. Require a current certificate showing:

• At least $1,000,000 per occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate general liability
• Workers' compensation (required for most Florida construction employers)
• Your name listed as additional insured on the GL policy

Don't accept verbal assurances. Ask for the certificate before signing. Verify the carrier by calling the number on the certificate — certificates can be fabricated.

7. Who Pulls the Permits?

In Florida, the licensed contractor of record is required to pull all permits. If a GC asks you to pull permits yourself, or suggests you can save money by skipping them, that's a serious warning sign.

Unpermitted work creates problems:

• Financing and resale complications
• Homeowner's insurance coverage disputes
• Potential requirement to demolish and reconstruct at your expense

JK Prestige pulls all permits. It's part of the contract scope.

8. What Does Your Warranty Cover?

Florida law requires a one-year workmanship warranty from a licensed contractor. Ask what the GC's warranty covers specifically:

• What trades are covered
• What the claim process looks like
• Whether the GC or individual subs handle warranty calls

Manufacturer warranties on materials (windows, roofing, appliances) are separate from the workmanship warranty and are owned by the manufacturer, not the GC.

JK Prestige provides a year-one warranty on all self-performed work.

9. How Do You Handle Change Orders?

Change orders are inevitable on most renovation projects. What's not inevitable is being surprised by them at the end.

Ask:

• "What triggers a change order?"
• "Are change orders documented in writing before the work proceeds?"
• "What's your markup on change order work?"

A GC who handles change orders with verbal approvals and tracks costs in their head is setting up a dispute.

10. What Is Your Current Project Load?

A GC with 18 active projects and two project managers is not available to yours in a meaningful way. Ask how many active projects they're running and what your project's start timeline looks like relative to their current load.

The honest answer to this question is usually more revealing than the GC intends it to be.

11. What Have You Built in the Last 18 Months That's Similar to My Project?

"We've done a lot of renovations" is not a reference. Ask for:

• Specific projects of similar type and size
• GC or owner contact names and phone numbers
• Photos of completed work

For historic home renovations: ask specifically about pre-WWII homes and historic district permits. For hospital/medical construction: ask about ICRA compliance history. For commercial: ask about change-of-occupancy permits and fire marshal review experience.

12. What Happens If There's a Problem?

Ask how disputes are resolved under the contract. Florida has specific statutes governing contractor disputes. Look for:

• A clear process for documented disputes (written notice, response timeline)
• Mediation before litigation clauses
• No mandatory arbitration clauses that waive your litigation rights without your understanding

If the GC can't answer this clearly or becomes defensive, that's information.

Putting It Together

No GC will give you perfect answers to all 12. What you're looking for:

• License: verified and active
• Insurance: current certificate with you as additional insured
• Scope: written, fixed-price
• Discovery: documented clause in the contract
• Self-perform: for the critical trades
• References: phone numbers, same project type

JK Prestige answers all 12 without hesitation. If you're comparing GC bids for a Jacksonville project, use this list.