# How to Vet a Commercial Contractor: 4 Numbers That Matter **URL:** https://utsbuildpros.com/blog/how-to-vet-a-commercial-contractor-before-you-sign **Summary:** Bonding capacity, EMR, insurance limits and third-party prequalification are all verifiable before price. What to ask for and what the answers mean. **Overview:** Four third-party-verified numbers reveal a commercial contractor's real capacity before price is discussed. Bonding capacity, single-project and aggregate, is a surety's underwritten opinion of the balance sheet. EMR compares actual workers' compensation claims against expected claims for the industry, where 1.0 is average and below 1.0 is better than expected. Insurance limits matter more than the certificate. Third-party prequalification through ISNetworld or Avetta is a standing audit rather than a badge. Texas does not license general contractors at state level, so the right question is municipal registration in the project's jurisdiction and who holds the trade licenses. --- Construction Planning 8 min read 2026-09-08 # How to Vet a Commercial Contractor Before You Sign: The Numbers That Actually Matter Hunter Tomlin Project Manager [htomlin@utsbuildpros.com](mailto:htomlin@utsbuildpros.com) | [361-392-0517](tel:3613920517) Share In This Article - Bonding Capacity - EMR, the Experience Modification Rate - Insurance Limits, Not Just a Certificate - Third-Party Prequalification - The Licensing Question Is Messier - What a Reference Call Should Ask I sit on the other side of this. I am the one assembling the packet when a client asks us to prove we are who we say we are, and I have watched enough of those requests to notice something: most buyers ask for the wrong things, in the wrong order, and get reassured by documents that prove very little. The good news is that a contractor s real capacity is unusually easy to verify. Four numbers do most of the work, and every one of them comes from a third party rather than from the contractor s own marketing. ## 1. Bonding Capacity, Single and Aggregate A surety company has underwritten the contractor s finances and decided how much risk it will guarantee. That is a stranger with money at stake giving you their honest opinion of the company s balance sheet, and it is far more informative than any claim on a website. Ask for two figures: single-project capacity and aggregate capacity. Single tells you the largest job they can bond. Aggregate tells you how much total work they can carry at once, which is the number that matters if you are placing several projects or if you care whether your job competes for their capacity with somebody else s. A contractor who cannot answer, or who answers vaguely, is telling you something. So is a contractor whose single-project capacity is close to your project value, because that means your job consumes their entire cushion. ## 2. EMR, the Experience Modification Rate EMR is a workers compensation figure that compares a company s actual claims history against the expected claims for its industry and payroll. 1.0 is exactly average. Below 1.0 means fewer or less costly claims than expected. Above 1.0 means more. It is the single most honest safety metric available, because it is calculated by the insurance rating bureau from claims data, not self-reported. A contractor cannot talk their EMR down. Ask for the number and the year. Ask whether it has moved in the last three years and why. A rising EMR with a candid explanation is more reassuring than a flat number with no context. ## 3. Insurance Limits, Not Just a Certificate Almost every contractor can produce a certificate of insurance. The certificate proves coverage exists; it does not tell you whether the limits are adequate for your project. Look at general liability per occurrence and aggregate, whether umbrella or excess coverage is available and at what limit, and whether the policy covers the work you are actually buying. Then confirm that your entity can be named as additional insured, and how fast a certificate can be issued. On institutional and municipal work that turnaround is often the thing that holds a start date. Ask for the certificate to come directly from the agent rather than as a PDF from the contractor. It takes one email and removes an entire category of doubt. ## 4. Third-Party Prequalification Networks like ISNetworld and Avetta exist because large owners got tired of doing this verification themselves. A contractor with an active, in-good-standing account has already had safety programs, training records, insurance and EMR reviewed by somebody whose job is to be skeptical. It is not a marketing badge. It is a standing audit, and it lapses if the underlying documentation lapses. Ask for the account status and the grade, not just the logo. ## The Licensing Question Is Messier Than People Expect Texas does not license general contractors at state level. There is no state GC license to ask for, and any contractor implying otherwise is either confused or hoping you are. What exists instead is municipal contractor registration, trade licensing for electrical, plumbing and mechanical work, and licensing in neighboring states that do regulate at state level. So the right question is not "are you licensed" but "are you registered in the jurisdiction where my project sits, and who holds the trade licenses on your team." Several cities require contractor registration before a permit will issue at all, which is a scheduling problem rather than a legal one, but it is a real one. Adopted codes and the jurisdictions that enforce them vary considerably even inside one metro. The Texas Department of Insurance maintains a public list of [adopted building codes across Texas jurisdictions](https://www.tdi.texas.gov/wind/adopted-codes.html), and the [International Code Council](https://www.iccsafe.org/) publishes the model codes those adoptions are based on. ## What a Reference Call Should Actually Ask References are usually wasted because the questions are too polite. Three that work: **What went wrong, and how did you find out?** Every project has a problem. What you are testing is whether the contractor raised it or whether the owner discovered it. **Did the final number match the contract, and if not, why?** You are listening for whether change orders were anticipated and explained or produced as surprises. **Would you have them back for a job you could not afford to have go badly?** A softer version of this question gets a softer answer. ## The Order I Would Do This In Ask for bonding capacity, EMR, insurance limits and prequalification status in one email, before you talk about price. It costs a contractor ten minutes if they have the material to hand, and days if they do not, and which of those it is tells you a great deal. Then price. A bid you cannot evaluate against capacity is just a number. For what it is worth, ours: bonded to ten million dollars single project and twenty-five million aggregate, EMR consistently below 1.0, general liability at two million per occurrence and four million aggregate, ISNetworld prequalified, and registered in the jurisdictions we build in. We will send all of it before you ask about price, and we will tell you which of your questions we cannot answer well. Frequently Asked Questions Quick answers to the most common questions about this topic What is a good EMR for a commercial contractor? Do general contractors need a state license in Texas? What insurance limits should a commercial contractor carry? What is the difference between single-project and aggregate bonding capacity? Have a question not answered here? [Ask Our Team](https://utsbuildpros.com/contact) Related Service Interested in commercial construction ? Learn more about how UTS BuildPros can help. 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