How to hire a builder in Central Florida without guessing

Most bad building stories start the same way. Someone liked a logo, liked a price, and never checked who was allowed to pull the permit. Central Florida has plenty of good trades. It also has plenty of people who will take a deposit and introduce you to the building department later, when it is expensive.

Start with the license

If you are paying someone to build a house or to alter the structure, Florida expects a state contractor license. Garner Custom Homes carries Certified Building Contractor license CBC #1267876. Look any contractor up on MyFloridaLicense before money moves — including us. A truck wrap is not a license, and a helpful uncle is not a qualifier.

Ask who is actually on the job

Ask who pulls the permit, who you call when a window is the wrong size, and whether that person will be at the pre-construction meeting and the final walk. Some outfits sell the job and then vanish into a call center. Aaron runs this company. If that is the relationship you want, say so on the first call. If you want a production builder with a model-home center, we are not it, and we will tell you.

A price is a scope

A low number with thin allowances is not a bargain. Ask what is included for cabinets, flooring, lighting, and sitework. Ask what happens if the utility run is longer than the plan assumed, or if the slab finds something the survey did not. Written allowances and a change-order habit will save you more than a dramatic bid.

Counties do not share a clock

• Selections belong before the permit, not during framing.
• Lake, Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Polk, and Sumter review plans on different schedules.
• Inspections are gates. Framing does not start because someone is impatient.
• A move-in date promised before the lot, the drawings, and the county are known is a sales line.

Bring the address, a rough budget, and what has to be true when you move in. We would rather tell you the number does not fit the house than discover it at trim.