09/01/2026
Vet your builder before you sign.
Six checks that separate the builders worth trusting from the ones who aren't:
1️⃣ Confirm they're licensed on BC Housing's registry, then check the enforcement registry. A clean licence isn't the whole story. Two minutes there tells you whether past clients got hurt.
2️⃣ Ask to walk one of their active job sites, not a staged showpiece. A real build in progress shows you the quality of the framing, the tidiness of the site, and how they actually run a crew far better than a polished photo ever will.
3️⃣ Call their references and ask the one question that matters most: would you build with them again? It captures everything the polite answers skip over.
4️⃣ Ask how they float material costs between draws, and how many builds they're running at once. A builder stretched thin is one bad month from stalling your job mid-build.
5️⃣ Read every line of the contract. Make sure any price-escalation clause is capped and needs your written sign-off, your deposit reads as an advance on the price and not a non-refundable fee, and payments are tied to milestones like rough-in inspection instead of calendar dates. Read it like nobody was protecting you, because nobody was.
6️⃣ Ask who actually swings the hammer, and whether any of the crew is on staff versus everything subbed out. The builder coordinates; the subs build. Some in-house crew signals continuity and accountability. Whoever's free that week is a different risk.
The right builder welcomes all of it. The real question underneath every check is whether you can trust this person with the biggest purchase of your life, and a builder who gets defensive just answered it for you.
We turned these into a checklist you can bring to every builder meeting, already written down and organized.
Comment CHECKLIST and we'll send you our Pre-Build Checklist: 25 questions across 5 sections so you walk into every builder meeting knowing exactly what to ask and able to tell the real builders from the risky ones.
