Questions to ask a Salem remodeling contractor before you sign
Quick Answer (TLDR): what to ask a Salem remodeling contractor
Ask for the exact CCB number on the contract and verify it yourself on the Oregon Construction Contractors Board site, because a license can read active while the bond has expired or complaints are open. Then ask what the price actually includes: allowances for cabinetry, counters, tile, and fixtures, who pulls the permit, who the project manager is, and how change orders get priced. Oregon requires a written contract on residential work over $2,000 and a lien notice on jobs over that threshold, so anything handshake-based is a problem before you start. If you want to see how we answer these, start with our Salem remodeling contractor page.
Verify the license before anything else
Oregon requires every construction contractor to be licensed through the Construction Contractors Board, and to display that CCB number on estimates, contracts, invoices, and advertising. Ours is CCB# 182498. If a number is not on the paperwork you have been handed, that is your first answer.
Do not stop at the number existing. Look it up on the CCB site and check four things: that the status reads Active rather than Expired, Inactive, or Lapsed; that the surety bond is current; that liability insurance has not lapsed; and whether there is complaint history.
The reason to check all four separately is that they fail independently. A contractor can hold an active license while carrying an expired bond or lapsed insurance. The license status alone does not tell you that.
If the company has employees, workers’ compensation coverage is required too, and that is verified separately from the CCB record. On a remodel where people are working in your house for weeks, this is not a technicality.
Ask what the number actually includes
The most common source of remodel disputes is not dishonesty. It is two people who thought “kitchen remodel” meant the same thing.
What are the allowances? An allowance is a placeholder dollar figure for something not yet selected: cabinetry, counters, tile, plumbing fixtures, lighting, appliances. Ask for each one in writing. A bid with a $6,000 cabinetry allowance and one with a $22,000 allowance are not competing bids, they are different projects.
Is this an estimate or a fixed price? Those are different commitments. An estimate is a guess that moves. A fixed-price proposal built after design and selections is a number you can plan around.
What is explicitly excluded? Ask directly. Common exclusions that surprise people include structural engineering, permit fees, temporary housing, appliance installation, and painting.
How is the contingency handled? If there is one, ask who controls it and what happens to what is left. If there is not one on an older Salem home, ask why.
Ask about permits and who handles them
Salem requires permits for work that opens walls, moves plumbing or electrical, or changes the footprint, submitted through the city’s online permit portal. Plan review commonly runs one to six weeks.
Ask plainly: are you pulling the permit, or am I? A contractor who suggests skipping the permit on permit-required work is telling you they are willing to expose you to a stop-work order, a failed sale later, and an insurance problem if something goes wrong. Permits are pulled in the contractor’s name for a reason, and that reason is accountability.
One Salem detail worth asking about: most of the city is in Marion County, but West Salem across the river is in Polk County. A contractor who works both sides regularly will know which applies to you without hesitating.
Ask who is actually doing the work
Who is my project manager, and are they on site? The person who sells you the job is frequently not the person running it. Get the name and get their role in writing.
Which trades are in-house and which are subcontracted? Neither is inherently better, but it changes scheduling. A subcontractor juggling four jobs sets their own calendar, which is where “the tile guy will be here Tuesday” turns into two weeks.
How many projects will you be running at once during mine? A direct question that gets direct answers, and it tells you what kind of attention to expect.
Who do I call when something is wrong? One name, one number. If the answer is vague, the answer during a problem will also be vague.
Ask about schedule and change orders
What is the start date and the substantial completion date, in the contract? Not a verbal range. Written dates.
What are the lead times on cabinetry and specialty materials? These frequently drive the schedule more than labor does, and a contractor who has not checked is guessing at your timeline.
How are change orders priced and approved? The answer should be: in writing, with a price, signed before work proceeds. If change orders get done verbally and reconciled at the end, you will not like the end.
What happens if you find something behind the wall? On Salem’s older housing stock this is likely rather than hypothetical. Galvanized pipe, knob-and-tube wiring in pre-1940 homes, and pre-1978 lead paint requiring EPA RRP certified handling all turn up regularly. A good answer describes a process. A bad answer says it probably will not happen.
Ask about payment, liens, and paperwork
Oregon requires a written contract for residential work over $2,000, and contractors must give homeowners the Information Notice to Owner About Construction Liens before starting residential projects over that amount.
That lien notice matters more than it looks. If your contractor does not pay a subcontractor or supplier, that party can place a lien on your home even though you paid the contractor in full. Ask for a list of everyone who serves you a Notice of Right to Lien, and get lien waivers from each before final payment. This is the single most common way homeowners end up paying twice.
What is the deposit and payment schedule? Progress payments tied to milestones are normal. A large payment up front with nothing tied to progress is not.
What is the warranty, and what does it actually cover? Get the duration, what is included, and how to make a claim, in writing.
Red flags specific to this market
No CCB number on the estimate. Oregon law requires it. Its absence is not an oversight.
A price given in twenty minutes. A real number on a real remodel requires design and selections. A fast number is a guess that will move, usually upward.
Pressure to sign today. Not because urgency is inherently dishonest, but because a legitimate remodeler in Salem has a backlog and does not need your signature this afternoon. Discount-if-you-sign-now is a sales tactic, not a pricing structure.
Cash-only or large up-front payment. This usually means either no real financial footing or an intent to avoid a paper trail. Either is your problem later.
No mention of lead paint on a pre-1978 home. Given Salem’s median build year of 1980 and the roughly nine percent of homes predating 1940, this comes up constantly. Silence on it means they have not evaluated your house.
Vagueness about who is on site. If nobody will name the project manager, there may not be one.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check an Oregon contractor’s license?
Search the CCB number on the Oregon Construction Contractors Board website. Confirm the status reads Active, check that the surety bond and liability insurance are current, and review complaint history. Verify workers’ compensation separately if the company has employees, since that is not part of the CCB status line.
How many bids should I get for a Salem remodel?
Three is a reasonable number for comparable scopes. The important part is making sure they are pricing the same project: same allowances, same structural assumptions, same inclusions. Three bids on three different interpretations tells you nothing useful.
Is the lowest bid ever the right choice?
Sometimes, but check why it is lowest before assuming it is a bargain. Usually the gap is lower allowances, excluded scope, or a missing contingency, all of which surface later as change orders. A low bid that becomes the highest final cost is the most common version of this story.
What should be in the written contract?
Scope, allowances by category, fixed price or clearly defined pricing method, payment schedule tied to milestones, start and completion dates, change order procedure, warranty terms, the CCB number, and the lien notice. Oregon requires the written contract above $2,000, but the level of detail is up to you to insist on.
Can I be liable if my contractor does not pay a subcontractor?
Yes. Suppliers and subcontractors can file a construction lien against your property even if you paid your contractor in full. That is why the Notice of Right to Lien matters, and why collecting lien waivers before final payment protects you.
The questions we expect you to ask us
Anyone worth hiring will answer all of the above without getting defensive. For the record: CCB# 182498, licensed and bonded in Oregon, NARI member, Statesman Journal Mid-Willamette Gold Medal winner, building in Salem since 2008. Design and construction under one roof, selections made at The Tile Gallery, one project manager from consultation through final walkthrough, and a detailed fixed-price proposal before demolition starts.
Call (503) 409-1975 or request a consultation and ask us every question on this page.
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