A low quote is the easiest thing to compare between contractors, and the least useful. Two contractors can quote the same number for very different scopes of work, and the gap only becomes visible once construction has already started and changing course is expensive. These five questions surface that gap before you sign anything.
First: "Can I see two projects you have completed in the last two years, and can I speak to those clients directly?" A contractor confident in their work will give you an address and a phone number without hesitation. A firm or solo professional's portfolio on their profile page is a starting point, but a direct reference conversation tells you what the photos cannot — how they handled delays, cost overruns, or disagreements.
Second: "What exactly is included in this quote, stage by stage?" Ask for a written breakdown — grey structure, semi-finished, and finishing — with quantities, not just a lump-sum figure. If a contractor cannot itemize where the money goes, you have no way to know later whether a change you are asked to pay extra for was genuinely outside the original scope.
Third: "What is your payment schedule, and what triggers each payment?" Payments should be tied to verifiable milestones (roof cast, plaster complete, fixtures installed) that you or a hired supervisor can independently confirm — not to calendar dates. A schedule tied only to dates gives you no leverage if the actual work is behind.
Fourth: "Who is actually supervising the site day to day?" On larger firms especially, the person who impressed you in the sales meeting is often not the person managing daily execution. Ask specifically who your site supervisor will be and how often the contractor themselves visits.
Fifth: "What happens if there is a dispute over quality or scope?" A contractor who has a clear answer — a written contract with a defined process, a retention amount held until final walkthrough — is telling you they have handled this before. One who waves the question away is telling you something too.
None of these questions are about price, and that is deliberate. Price is the one variable you can always renegotiate later; trust and clarity of scope are the two you cannot recover once construction is underway.