How to Hire a Contractor in St. George, Utah

St. George has a lot of contractors. Most are legitimate. Some are not. Before you hand over a deposit, there are four things worth verifying — and they all take less than 10 minutes.

1. Verify the license (Utah DOPL)

Utah requires most home improvement contractors to hold a state license issued by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL). This includes painting contractors, roofers, general contractors, and specialty tradespeople.

How to check

Go to the Utah DOPL license lookup: secure.utah.gov/llv/llv. Search by business name or individual name. A valid license should show as active with a current expiration date.

An unlicensed contractor cannot legally pull permits, which means work done without permits may create issues when you sell the property. If a contractor can't produce a license number or gets evasive about it, that's a stop-right-there moment.

2. Confirm insurance

Any contractor working on your property should carry general liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage. Ask for a certificate of insurance before work begins — a legitimate contractor will have this ready.

Why it matters

If an uninsured worker is injured on your property, you may be liable. If an uninsured contractor damages your home, collecting is your problem. A certificate of insurance takes 5 minutes to request and 5 minutes to verify by calling the insurer.

3. Read the reviews — carefully

Review count alone is not proof. What matters is review history over time, consistency of feedback, and whether the business has maintained a rating across several years and across multiple platforms.

Questions to ask when reading reviews:

Do reviews span multiple years, or did they all arrive in a short window?
Are reviews across multiple platforms (Google, BBB, HomeAdvisor) or just one?
Do reviewers mention specific project types, or are reviews vague?
How does the contractor respond to negative reviews?

4. Ask for proof of local work

A contractor who has operated in St. George for years will have documented local projects. Real project photos, references from local customers, and a visible local presence are meaningful proof.

What to ask for

Ask for photos of 2-3 completed projects in your neighborhood or community type. If your home has an HOA, ask whether the contractor is familiar with the approval process for that specific community.

Red flags

No physical address — only a P.O. box or no address at all
Pressure to start immediately or "today only" pricing
"Cash only" with no written contract
Cannot provide a license number or becomes evasive when asked
Brand-new business with no reviews and no verifiable history
Claims "20 years experience" but the business was registered recently
Large deposit required before any work begins (reasonable is 10-20%, not 50%+)
Door-to-door unsolicited offers after storm season (common roofing scam pattern)

Verifying claims independently

Many contractor websites make claims that are easy to verify and some that are not. "Licensed and insured" is verifiable in two minutes. "20 years in business" requires checking the state business registration date. "160 five-star reviews" is verifiable on Google right now.

Use this framework against the contractor's Utah license lookup, state business registration, live review profile, and itemized written bid before you compare anyone on price alone.

If the project affects stucco, paint, roof coatings, or summer cooling load, pair the screening process with the broader desert home maintenance guide →

Getting multiple bids

For any project over $1,000, get at least three written bids. Written means itemized — not a verbal "around $2,500." A written bid describes the scope, materials, timeline, and payment schedule.

The lowest bid is not always the right choice. A bid that is dramatically lower than others usually means something is being left out, lower-quality materials are being substituted, or the contractor is planning to renegotiate mid-project.