The lowest bid is rarely the best deal. Here’s how to tell the difference.

Choosing a general contractor is one of the most consequential decisions a commercial property owner or developer makes — and it’s one where the wrong choice can cost you months and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet most owners evaluate contractors on price alone. In this post, Bear GC shares the seven questions that separate a reliable contractor from one who’ll create problems down the road. We cover license verification, bonding capacity, subcontractor relationships, Procore and project management transparency, safety record (OSHA EMR scores), local experience with permitting authorities, and references from projects of comparable scope. We also explain what a suspiciously low bid actually signals, and how to read a schedule of values to spot a front-loaded contract before you sign.