Resource · Hiring a Contractor

The Questions That Separate a Solid Contractor Bid From a Vague One

License verification, payment schedules, lien releases, and change-order clauses — what to ask, and what to listen for in the answer.

RBy Shay Zilber, CEO · Rhino Builders · CSLB #580756 · Lafayette, CA

Ask These Questions Before You Sign Any Bay Area Construction Contract

Most Bay Area homeowners collect two or three bids for an ADU or home addition — then hit a wall. One bid includes permit fees; another treats them as an allowance. One is lump-sum; another is broken out by phase. Without a consistent set of questions asked of every contractor, you’re not comparing bids — you’re comparing assumptions.

A lower number on a bid doesn’t mean a lower-cost project. It often means a bid that hasn’t priced the things that will get added later. The questions below create a consistent framework: ask every contractor the same set, record what they say, and look for specificity. Vague answers to these particular questions are themselves information.

The One Variable Contra Costa Homeowners Can't Skip

Lafayette properties route through Contra Costa County’s building department — not a city-level office — so permit timelines, plan-check cycles, and documentation requirements have their own rhythms. A contractor who hasn’t filed there recently may not know what the county currently requires on a first-round submission. That single fact shapes several of the answers you’re listening for below.

What Happens When These Questions Go Unasked

A homeowner contacts us after signing with another contractor on a 650-square-foot detached ADU in Walnut Creek. The number looked right, the contractor seemed experienced, no red flags. Six weeks in, a change order arrives: the permit fee was listed as a “$3,500 allowance,” but the county’s actual impact-fee calculation for an ADU over 500 sq ft came in at more than twice that. The contractor’s position was that the allowance covered their estimate; the homeowner’s was that nobody warned them the real number could differ.

Both of them were right. And that's exactly the problem.

Shay Zilber · CEO, Rhino Builders

When we looked at how the original bid was structured, the permit line was a single number — no breakdown between building permit fees, utility connection fees, and school-district impact fees, which are assessed separately and can add thousands on an ADU between 500 and 750 sq ft. SB 13 waives impact fees for ADUs under 750 sq ft, but only in specific categories, and utility hook-up fees aren’t waived. Many bids bundle all of this into one number or leave it as an allowance.

The question that surfaces it: “Can you break out the permit fees by agency — building department, school district, water district?” A contractor who has filed these permits in this county recently can answer that specifically.

What a Clear Answer Looks Like — Question by Question

Every question below has a right answer. Knowing the standard makes it easier to recognize when a contractor meets it:

1Can I Verify Your CSLB License Right Now?Hands you the number

Yes — and without hesitation. The cslb.ca.gov lookup takes under two minutes and shows license class, expiration, bond status, and any disciplinary actions. Rhino holds CSLB 580756, active since 1989. Listen for hesitation, an "I'll email it to you," or an explanation of why verification isn't necessary — those are flags worth noting.

2Does Your Bid Include Pulling the Permits?We pull all permits

Whether the contractor is explicitly responsible for pulling all required permits determines who carries permit liability if work fails inspection. A homeowner who pulls their own permits is legally acting as their own contractor for that work, changing their liability exposure and who coordinates inspections. The answer you want: "We pull all required permits under our license." Full stop.

3Is the Payment Schedule Tied to Milestones?≤10% or $1,000 deposit

California caps the initial deposit at 10% of contract price or $1,000, whichever is less — a request for 30–40% upfront is a violation. Beyond the deposit, each payment should trigger on a verifiable checkpoint: framing completion, rough-inspection sign-off, drywall, final inspection. A payment due "when work begins on phase two" is not verifiable.

4How Does Your Change-Order Process Work?Written approval first

The process should require written approval and agreed pricing before any additional work begins — not after, not "we'll sort it out at the end." Ask to see the change-order clause before you sign. If it lets the contractor proceed and bill you later, ask for it to be rewritten: every change order should be a signed document with a line-item cost before the work happens.

5GL & Workers' Comp — Certificates Direct From Your Insurer?Insurer emails you

General liability and workers' comp are required for any contractor with employees. The key phrase is directly from your insurer — a certificate takes ten minutes for an insurer to send. Don't accept a copy from the contractor's files, and check the date: it shows whether coverage is current.

6Will Subcontractors Send a Preliminary Lien Notice?Lien releases each milestone

Subs and suppliers must send a preliminary lien notice within 20 days of starting work or delivering materials — it establishes their right to file a mechanics lien if the GC doesn't pay them. You can pay your GC in full and still have a lien filed by an unpaid sub. Ask: "Will you provide conditional and unconditional lien releases at each payment milestone?"

Our Standards for a Proposal You Can Compare Against Any Bid

When we submit a bid for a Lafayette ADU or home addition, it’s structured for a direct line-by-line comparison:

Permit fees itemized by agency — building department, school district, utility district & fire-zone compliance listed separately
Design coordination scope — what's in our contract vs. a separate architect engagement
Site preparation — grading, soils-report coordination & drainage engineering where the lot requires it
Construction phases — each listed with its scope, not bundled into a single line
Contingency — stated as a percentage and explained, not buried or omitted
Change-order clause — visible, written, requiring signed approval before out-of-scope work begins

Every item that could generate a change order later is scoped and priced upfront. If another contractor’s proposal can’t answer the same questions at the same level of detail, that’s useful information before you sign.

What Shapes the Outcome When You're Comparing Bids

The Permit-Fee Line Is the Most Misunderstood Number in Any ADU Bid

SB 13 changed the math on small ADUs, but utility connection fees aren’t covered by that waiver, and school-district fees can apply above 500 sq ft in some districts. A single “permit allowance” number isn’t comparable to one that breaks fees out by agency.

The Change-Order Clause Determines Who Carries Risk When Conditions Change

Every project encounters something that wasn’t visible before work started — that’s construction. Whether the discovery becomes a documented change order or an unenforceable verbal commitment is set by the clause in the original contract. Read it before you sign.

Insurance Currency Is Confirmed by the Certificate Date

A contractor whose general-liability policy lapsed three months ago is uninsured for work done on your property today. The certificate date isn’t a formality — it’s a current confirmation of active coverage.

Specificity in the Permit Answer Reflects Real Jurisdictional Experience

A contractor with current Contra Costa County filing history answers the permit-fee question specifically, and knows the current review timeline, the documentation the county requires on a first-round ADU submission, and which impact-fee categories apply to your parcel. Specific, detailed answers are evidence of real experience in this jurisdiction.

Where We Build Across Lafayette & the Bay Area

Rhino Builders serves homeowners across the Bay Area from our Lafayette office at 3685 Mount Diablo Blvd, with active project presence in Lafayette, Orinda, Oakland, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Moraga, and surrounding Contra Costa County. We pull permits directly through Contra Costa County’s building department, and have since 1989.

LafayetteOrindaOaklandPleasant HillWalnut CreekMoragaContra Costa CountySan Francisco Bay Area

Start With a Contractor Who Can Answer Every Question on This List

We carry current general liability and workers’ comp, pull all permits under our license, provide lien releases at payment milestones, and require written change-order approval. Tell us your project type and location, and we’ll start with an itemized proposal you can compare line by line.