How to Vet a Denver Remodeling Contractor: 12 Questions

How to choose a contractor in Denver comes down to five checks before you sign anything: confirm the business holds a valid City and County of Denver contractor license, verify current general liability and workers’ compensation insurance, get a written contract with a detailed scope, avoid any payment schedule that front-loads most of the money, and check references at real addresses. Everything below expands each of those checks into a specific question you can ask on the phone or at your first walk-through, plus where to verify the answer.

Start With Denver’s Licensing Requirement

Colorado does not issue a single statewide general contractor license, so requirements vary by city. The City and County of Denver is not one of the jurisdictions that skips this step. Denver’s Community Planning and Development department requires a contractor to hold a Denver Building Contractor license before pulling permits for remodeling, addition, or structural work inside city limits, and before that license is issued the applicant (or a qualifying employee) must hold a Denver Supervisor Certificate, according to Denver’s official Contractor Licensing page. Denver does not accept a license issued by a neighboring city as a substitute, so a contractor who is licensed in Aurora or Lakewood still needs a separate Denver license to legally pull permits on a Denver address. Ask for the license number and confirm it is active before your project moves past the estimate stage.

1. Is the Business Currently Licensed to Work in This City?

Licensing is jurisdiction-specific across the Front Range, not just in Denver. Lakewood, Aurora, Boulder, and most other municipalities in the metro area run their own contractor licensing or registration programs separate from Denver’s. If your project sits outside Denver proper, ask which city the contractor is licensed in and confirm it matches your address, since a license good in one city does not automatically transfer to the next one over.

2. Does the Contractor Carry General Liability and Workers’ Comp Insurance?

Denver’s own license application requires proof of general liability insurance, with the City and County of Denver named as additional insured, plus a Colorado workers’ compensation certificate before a license is issued, per the same denvergov.org licensing pages. That requirement exists for a reason: general liability covers damage to your home if something goes wrong mid-project, and workers’ comp covers a worker injured on your property so you are not the one holding that liability. Ask for a current certificate of insurance directly from the contractor, not just a verbal assurance, and check the expiration date.

3. Does the Contractor Actually Pull Permits, or Work Around Them?

A contractor who suggests skipping a permit to save time or money is a warning sign, not a convenience. Unpermitted structural, electrical, plumbing, or egress work can complicate a home sale, void insurance claims, and force a homeowner to open up finished walls later for inspection. Ask how many permits the contractor pulled in your county in the last year and whether they handle the permit application themselves or expect you to.

4. Subcontractors or an In-House Crew?

Most remodeling companies use a mix of in-house staff and specialty subcontractors for trades like electrical or HVAC, and that is normal. What matters is whether the subs are long-term partners the contractor vets and supervises, or one-off hires found for your job specifically. Ask who will actually be on-site day to day, whether those crews are Apollo Construction employees or subcontracted trade partners, and who is responsible for correcting a mistake a subcontractor makes.

5. Is There a Detailed Written Contract and Scope of Work?

A verbal agreement or a one-page estimate is not a contract. A usable remodeling contract spells out the scope room by room, the materials and allowances, the payment schedule tied to project milestones, the timeline, and the change-order process for anything added mid-project. If a contract’s language is vague on any of those points, ask the contractor to write it in before you sign, not after work starts. We cover how to read that document line by line in a separate guide to contractor contracts; for now, treat a thin or generic contract as a reason to keep looking.

6. Can You Check References at Real Project Addresses?

Ask for two or three references from projects similar in scope to yours, ideally completed in the last year, and get the general neighborhood or address, not just a name and phone number. A contractor confident in their work will also point you to a portfolio of completed jobs. You can browse examples of completed Apollo Construction projects to see the kind of finished work and detail level to expect before comparing that standard against other bids.

7. What Does the Payment Schedule Look Like?

Colorado does not cap the deposit a contractor can ask for the way some states do, which makes this one entirely on you to negotiate. A payment schedule tied to completed milestones (materials ordered, demo complete, rough-in inspected, finish work done) protects both sides. A large upfront deposit, especially one that covers most of the contract price before any work begins, is the single most common red flag homeowners report after a remodel goes wrong. If a contractor asks for more than a modest deposit before materials are ordered, ask why.

8. What Are Lien Waivers, and Will You Get Them?

Colorado’s mechanic’s lien law allows unpaid subcontractors or suppliers to place a lien against your property even if you paid the general contractor in full, if that contractor never paid them. A lien waiver is a signed statement from the contractor or subcontractor confirming they have been paid and will not file a lien for that portion of the work. Under C.R.S. 38-22-119, an agreement to waive lien rights is binding on the parties to that contract and must state that debts related to the covered work have been or will be paid. Ask your contractor for a waiver at each payment milestone, particularly the final payment, so you have a paper trail showing subcontractors and suppliers were paid.

9. How Long Has the Business Operated Under This Name?

A contractor that has operated under the same business name and license for several years has a track record you can actually check. A business that recently changed names, or that a former customer can’t find under its current name when searching for reviews, is harder to vet honestly. Ask directly how long the company has held its current name and license.

10. Who Is Your Point of Contact During the Project?

Remodeling work goes sideways fastest when nobody can reach a decision-maker. Ask who your day-to-day contact will be, whether that person visits the site regularly, and how change orders or unexpected issues (like the hidden problems that turn up once demo starts) get communicated and approved. A free walk-through before you sign is a reasonable place to ask this directly and see how the company handles a homeowner’s questions in person.

11. What Happens If You’re Not Satisfied With the Finished Work?

Ask what the workmanship warranty covers, how long it runs, and what the process looks like if something needs correcting after the crew leaves. A contractor who can answer this clearly, in writing, is more trustworthy than one who waves off the question.

12. Where Can You Verify Complaints Before You Sign?

Check a contractor’s standing before committing, not after a dispute starts. The Colorado Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division accepts complaints against contractors and home improvement businesses and publishes a complaint process at coag.gov/file-complaint, including a phone hotline for Colorado consumers. Search by the exact business name on the contract, not a similar-sounding name, before you sign.

Where Apollo Construction Fits Into This Checklist

You can run this same checklist against any contractor bidding on your project, including Apollo Construction. We work across the Denver metro and Front Range service areas, and we’d rather answer these twelve questions up front than have you find the answers out the hard way mid-project. If you’re comparing bids for a kitchen, bathroom, basement, or larger addition, a look at our typical renovation timeline is a useful companion to this checklist for understanding how a well-run project should actually move.

Ready to compare a real bid against this checklist? Schedule a free walk-through and estimate and bring these twelve questions with you. We’ll answer every one of them on-site, in writing, before you decide.