Committees: who to line up for a pre-sale job, in order
The people a seller or new owner assembles before the work starts, from the person who finds the problems to the person who finishes the rooms. This page answers one question: which roles to line up, and in what order.
Who this page is for, and what it covers
This page is for a seller or a new owner who has a house to get ready for a sale, or who has just taken one on and is working through its repairs. We have set the order from the person who finds the problems to the person who finishes the rooms, so that a reader can see what each role depends on. Each role should be asked for its license or certificate, and for the answer in writing before any work starts. A verbal answer is a starting point, not a check.
Read the sort first, then call anyone
Before calling a role, read the sort on the local programs page. Its three groups tell each role what is being asked for, which is fix, refresh or leave. A role that arrives without that list prices the work it was told about, and that may not be the same work. The leave group stays on the list, marked as the next owner's to decide, so the calls stay on the work that will actually be done.
The order to line them up in
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The inspector
The first list comes from the person who finds the problems. An inspection report, or a buyer's own walkthrough, names what the house has and what the next owner is likely to ask about. Work from that written list rather than from memory of the rooms. Ask the inspector to separate what the house needs from what a buyer may simply want.
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The town's building office
Ask the town which permits the planned work needs before anyone starts. Ask also what footing depth the town requires for any deck, because that number decides how the deck is built. The answer changes what each trade can quote, so it should come before any quote is requested. Keep the town's answer in writing with the quotes.
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The licensed trades
Where a kitchen or bath reaches the wiring or the plumbing, ask each trade which license it holds. Ask also whether the town requires a licensed hand for that particular work, since the answer depends on the job. The answer comes from the trade, and the check is the reader's to make. Record each license number next to the quote it belongs to.
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The painter, last
The painter finishes the rooms, which is why the order puts it last. On a house built before 1978, federal law requires anyone paid to disturb paint to be EPA lead-safe certified. That requirement reaches every firm, including a one-person business, so firm size is no reason to skip it. Ask for the certificate before any scraping or sanding starts, and ask who will be on site.
What New Hampshire leaves to the reader to check
New Hampshire has no state licensing board for home contractors, so a painter, remodeler or deck builder cannot be looked up on a state list. A news report from 2016 said that attempts to create such a board had failed in the legislature. That report is several years old, so a reader should confirm the position before relying on it. The reader therefore has to check each trade by other means, and the two columns below set out the checks that matter most. Neither check replaces a written quote.
Ask every role for a written quote that names the scope, the materials and the payment schedule. Two quotes set side by side are only comparable when they describe the same work. A quote that leaves the scope vague is not one a reader can hold a trade to. Keep the quote with the signed contract when one is made.
Keep the quote, the signed contract and the receipts, because those are the papers any later complaint would rest on. Keep them after the final payment clears, since a peeling coat or a failed seal may not show until the next season. A reader who has a dispute should write down the dates and the amounts first. The papers are easier to follow when they are kept in one folder from the start.