How to Vet a Michigan Residential Builder: The License, Insurance and Reference Checks to Make Before You Sign

Most people interviewing builders in Berrien County are comparing three things: price, timeline, and whether they liked the person across the table. Those matter. But they're all things a builder tells you. The checks below are things you can verify yourself, and they take about an hour total.

An hour is a reasonable investment before handing someone the largest check of your life. Here's exactly what to look up, what to ask for, and what a good answer sounds like.

1. Verify the Michigan Residential Builder license — yourself

Michigan requires a Residential Builder license for anyone contracting to build or substantially remodel a home. It's issued through LARA, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and you can look it up online in a couple of minutes.

Ask for the license number and the name it's held under. Then verify three things:

• Status is active, not expired or lapsed.
• The name matches the company on your contract. A license held by an individual who isn't formally tied to the business signing your agreement is a problem worth understanding before you go further.
• Disciplinary history. The lookup shows complaints and actions. One old resolved item isn't disqualifying. A pattern is.

A business registration, a chamber membership, or a trade association logo is not a builder license. They're easy to obtain and none of them mean the state has verified anything about competency.

2. Ask for a certificate of insurance with your name on it

Don't accept a photocopy. Ask the builder to have their agent issue a certificate of insurance listing you as the certificate holder. That's not a formality — when you're named, the agent notifies you if a policy lapses mid-project. That's the entire value of it.

You're looking for two coverages:

General liability — covers property damage and injury arising from the builder's operations. Check the limits, and check that the policy period covers your whole build, not just this month.

Workers' compensation — this is the one that can reach you directly. If a worker is hurt on your property and coverage isn't in place, you can be drawn into the claim as the property owner. Ask the builder two questions: do you carry it, and do you collect and track certificates from every subcontractor on the job?

How they answer that second question tells you a lot. "We collect COIs from every sub before they're allowed on site, and we don't release payment without a current one" is a process. A shrug is an exposure you're absorbing.

3. Call references — but call the right ones

Every builder has three happy customers. That's not useful. Two adjustments make reference calls actually informative:

Ask for a client from 2–4 years ago, not last month. A brand-new home looks great. You want to know what happened when a warranty issue came up in year two, and whether the builder answered the phone.

Ask for a project that had a problem. Every build has one — a supply delay, a subcontractor issue, a discovery in the ground. A builder who says nothing has ever gone wrong is either new or not being straight with you. What you want to hear is a specific story about something that went sideways and how it was handled and paid for.

When you get someone on the phone, ask questions with factual answers:

• Did the final cost land close to the contract, and what caused the difference?
• How were change orders priced and approved — before or after the work?
• Did they hit the schedule, and how were you told when they didn't?
• Who was your point of contact, and did that person change?
• How did they handle punch list and warranty items after you moved in?
• Would you hire them again?

4. Talk to the trades and the suppliers

This is the check almost nobody makes, and it's one of the most revealing.

Ask the builder who their framer, electrician, plumber, and lumber supplier are, and how long they've worked together. Then call one or two.

You're not asking whether the builder is nice. You're asking whether they pay on time. Subcontractors and suppliers who get paid promptly show up promptly, send their best crews, and take the callbacks. Subs who chase money reschedule you for the customer who pays. A builder with long-standing trade relationships in Southwest Michigan has them for a reason, and a builder who cycles through subs every year has that for a reason too.

5. Read the contract for the four things that cause disputes

Whatever else the contract says, make sure these four are explicit:

1. Scope and specifications, with allowances stated. Allowances for flooring, cabinetry, fixtures, and appliances should be dollar figures you can sanity-check against real products. An allowance set unrealistically low is how a bid looks competitive and a final cost doesn't.
2. The change order process. Written, priced, and signed before the work happens. Verbal changes priced afterward are the number one source of custom home disputes.
3. The draw schedule, tied to completed milestones. Payments should follow work performed, not the calendar.
4. Lien waivers with each draw. Michigan's construction lien act allows unpaid subs and suppliers to lien your property even if you paid the builder in full. Waivers from each sub and supplier as draws are released are your protection. Ask how they'll be provided.

Also confirm who pulls the permits. The answer should be the builder, in the builder's name. If anyone suggests you pull them as the homeowner, that shifts legal responsibility onto you, and it's a signal worth taking seriously.

6. Ask who you'll actually be talking to

On a 10-to-14-month custom home, the relationship matters as much as the paperwork. Ask plainly: who is my point of contact, will that person change during the project, and how often will I hear from them?

Some builders run through project managers, and the person who sold you the home isn't the person you'll deal with in month seven. Others keep the owner involved start to finish. Neither is automatically wrong — but you should know which one you're signing up for before you sign, not after.

What we'd tell you to check on us

At Pantelleria Construction, Mike Pantelleria is the person you talk to — at the first walkthrough, during the build, and when you call two years later about a warranty item. We're a licensed and insured Michigan Residential Builder working across Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, Stevensville, Bridgman, New Buffalo, Three Oaks, Sawyer, and Niles, and we've worked with most of our trades for years.

Run every check on this list. Ask us for the license number, the certificate of insurance, and references from three years ago rather than last month. Call our subs. Any builder worth hiring expects it — and how a builder reacts to being asked is its own answer.

Thinking about a custom home or a major remodel in Southwest Michigan? Get in touch and let's talk about your lot, your plans, and an honest budget before ground breaks.