What to Look For When Hiring a Water Damage Contractor

What does Massachusetts require before I sign a contract?

A written contract is required for work over $1,000, with the scope and price in it. A deposit cannot be more than one third of the contract price. You have three days to cancel after signing, and the final payment is not due before the work is done. These are on you to enforce, so know them before anybody starts.

The law is in M.G.L. c. 142A and 201 CMR 18.00. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, which oversees Home Improvement Contractor registration, also enforces these terms, and they apply to work on owner-occupied homes of one to four units. If the law applies to your job, it applies whether the contractor mentions it or not, so you can bring it up if the estimate does not.

A written scope of work is worth having even on smaller jobs. Name the affected area, what will be extracted, what will be dried in place, what will be removed, what the drying plan is, and how the readings will be documented. Then a price and a schedule.

The deposit cap protects you from paying in full up front. On a $3,000 job, the deposit is capped at $1,000, leaving you leverage when the work is done. The three-day cancellation right applies from the moment you sign, not from the moment the work starts, so if you change your mind overnight you have a short window to act.

The final payment rule is the third piece: the contractor cannot ask for full payment before the work is complete. That rule is often tested when work runs long or when final details like paint or trim are still outstanding, and you should use it to hold the last piece of payment until everything matches the contract.

• Written contract for any work over $1,000
• Scope describing what is affected and what the plan is
• Price and payment schedule in the contract
• Deposit capped at one third of the total
• Three days to cancel after signing
• Final payment held until work is complete
• Home Improvement Contractor registration verified on mass.gov

What is Home Improvement Contractor registration and how do I verify it?

Any contractor doing work on your owner-occupied home in Massachusetts must be registered with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation unless they are an employee of a licensed contractor or unless the work is exempt. You can look up the registration number on the mass.gov website and see whether the contractor's record is clean.

Registration applies to work on existing owner-occupied homes of one to four units, not to new construction and not to buildings over four units. Whether emergency water mitigation on its own counts as home improvement work is not something this site could establish, so ask the contractor directly: do they hold registration, and if so, what is the number?

The registration page on mass.gov lets you search by company name or by registration number. You should be able to see the registration date, the address on file, and any complaints or action history. If the number you are given does not pull up or if the complaint history looks contested, that is worth a conversation with the contractor or with the office itself.

The registration gives you access to arbitration if a dispute arises, and to the state's Guaranty Fund if the contractor abandons the job. Neither of those helps if you do not know the contractor is registered, so ask and verify before signing.

What does New Hampshire require? There is no state contractor licence.

New Hampshire does not issue a general contractor licence, but the state licenses specialty trades: plumbers, electricians, asbestos abatement and lead abatement handlers. Some towns require contractors to register locally, so check with your town clerk about that. Verify credentials the same way you would in Massachusetts, but do not expect a single credential.

In New Hampshire the absence of a state general-contractor licence means more weight falls on your own questions. Ask for evidence of insurance, for references you can call, and for past work in your area. Ask whether any crew members hold state licences for specialty work — a plumber on the crew should be licenced if the failed line is being repaired as part of the drying scope, for instance.

Some towns require contractors to register or to hold a home occupation permit before doing work in that town. Call your town clerk and ask whether the contractor is required to register and whether they have done so. This is not a substitute for other questions, but it is a piece of information worth having.

The state and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules apply to contractors in New Hampshire the same as Massachusetts, and OSHA requires safety training and equipment on job sites. Ask what safety practices the crew follows, especially on a large job where equipment will be running and moisture is high.

Does the contractor need a special licence to do the drying, or only to fix the pipe that failed?

Drying itself does not require a licence in either state. Fixing the pipe or appliance that failed is a different trade: plumbing, HVAC, appliance repair. Structural work that requires permits needs a Construction Supervisor Licence in Massachusetts. Ask who does what and which licences apply.

A restoration crew extracts water, sets up drying equipment and documents the readings. If the crew is also repairing the supply line that burst, that is a plumber's work and belongs on a separate scope with a separate licence. In Massachusetts the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters issues plumbing licences. In New Hampshire the state issues plumbing licences through its trades licensing system.

Structural work such as moving a bearing wall or installing new framing requires a Construction Supervisor Licence in Massachusetts. That might arise if a water loss was severe enough and old enough that some framing has to be replaced before drying can finish. That is not a drying decision; it is a building-code decision, and the licence requirement reflects that.

Ask the contractor at the estimate stage: who will do the structural drying, and who will do any repairs? If they say the same crew will do everything, that is fine as long as the people with licences are licensed. If they say they will bring in someone else for repairs, that is also fine — just make sure the scope is clear and the additional cost is on the contract.

What kind of equipment should a drying crew bring, and how do I know what is reasonable?

Air movers, dehumidifiers, a moisture meter, and hoses are the standard equipment for residential drying. A crew should describe what is coming and why: how many of each, what size the dehumidifiers are, and what the drying plan is. Bigger is not always better, but it has to be adequate for the space and the materials.

A moisture meter is the single most important tool because it is how progress is measured. The crew should take a reading in the wet materials and in dry materials of the same type nearby at the start, and at each visit, and they should write the numbers down for you. That is how you verify that the drying is actually happening rather than taking it on faith.

Air movers are fans that push air across wet surfaces. Equipment for a residential basement might be four to six units, sized for the space. Dehumidifiers pull water out of the air as the fans evaporate it. The two work together: fans move air, dehumidifiers pull moisture, and if the room is humid outside a dehumidifier sometimes has to work harder to keep up.

The crew should be able to describe why this room gets this much equipment rather than less. If you disagree with the scope, ask for the reasoning. If the crew says a small bath needs six air movers and you want to know why, that is a fair question and it should get an answer about what is slow to dry in a small bath — tile, grout, dense materials under the tile, enclosed cavities — rather than a hand-wave.

How do I verify the contractor's insurance and what should I look for?

Ask for proof of liability insurance and workers compensation if the crew will be on site. A contractor without insurance should not be in your house — if someone is injured, you could be liable. Call the insurer named on the certificate and verify that the coverage is real and current.

Insurance certificates are easy to forge, so calling the insurance company is not paranoia, it is due diligence. The certificate should have a policy number, the insurer's name, and dates of coverage. Call the insurer and ask whether the policy is in force. Most insurers can answer that question in seconds.

The amount of coverage matters less than the fact that coverage exists, but a contractor with $1 million in general liability coverage is a more serious operation than one with $100,000. Ask what the coverage limit is and what it covers — does it cover water damage work specifically, or is it a generic coverage that might have exclusions?

Workers compensation is required in Massachusetts if the contractor has employees, and it is required in most of New Hampshire too, depending on the number of workers. Ask whether the crew are employees or independent contractors, and ask for the proof of coverage either way. If someone is injured on your property and the contractor has no insurance, you are the next target for the injured person's claim.

How do I know if the contractor has actually done this kind of work before?

Ask for references, call them, and ask specific questions about the job: how long the drying took, whether the crew communicated, whether the final bill matched the estimate, and whether the readings improved as promised. Also ask whether the reference would hire that contractor again.

References should be local and recent — ideally from the last year and from within the region. Ask for at least two. Call and ask whether the reference was a residential water loss, how large it was, how long the crew was there, and whether the homeowner felt the work was done right. A contractor with good references in the area is making a statement about experience.

Ask whether the crew showed up on time, whether they communicated about delays or changes, and whether the final bill surprised the homeowner. Those last two — communication and no surprises — are good signs. Ask also whether the crew cleaned up after themselves and whether they left the drying equipment running until the readings said it was time to stop, not just when they decided the room looked dry.

A contractor who cannot give you references is a red flag. A contractor whose references say "he stopped answering calls" or "the bill was much higher than promised" tells you something. A reference who says "yes, I would hire them again" and can explain why is worth listening to.

What should I look for in the written estimate?

A scope describing what is affected and what will be done, line items for labor, equipment and materials, the number of days equipment will run, an estimated drying timeline, and what happens if the timeline changes. If something is unclear in the estimate, ask before you sign.

A good estimate breaks the work into pieces: extraction and initial water removal, equipment setup, daily monitoring and readings, dehumidification days, any removal of damaged material, cleanup and restoration. That breakdown lets you follow what is actually happening rather than just seeing a total number.

The estimate should say how many air movers, dehumidifiers and other equipment are coming, and for how long. If the plan changes — the drying takes longer or the crew realizes material needs to come out that was not planned — there should be a process for getting you approval before the bill grows. Look for language about that.

Ask whether the estimate includes the moisture readings and whether the crew will provide them to you in writing. If the estimate does not mention readings, ask why not. If the contractor says readings are not necessary or are too technical for you to understand, that is worth questioning.

Should I get more than one estimate?

Yes. Two or three estimates from different contractors give you a sense of what the job typically costs and catch outliers. If one estimate is much higher or much lower than the others, ask why. A much lower estimate might be missing something; a much higher one might be overbidding.

Estimates might differ because crews plan the drying differently, or because they use different equipment, or because one crew is busier than another and charges more. All of those are legitimate reasons. But if one estimate is half the others, that is worth a conversation with that contractor.

Comparing estimates is easier if all three use the same format: square footage, number of days, equipment list, and hourly or daily rates. If they are all formatted differently, ask each contractor to put in writing what they plan to do and roughly what it will cost per day. That gives you a way to compare.

What happens if I disagree with the contractor about when the drying is done?

The readings decide it, not anyone's opinion. A moisture meter gives numbers, and the drying is done when the wet materials match dry materials of the same type. If the crew wants to stop and you want to keep the equipment running, the readings should settle it.

Ask the crew to write down the readings from the first day and show you how they are trending. A reading of 45% in a wet drywall that started at 70% is progress. A reading that stays at 45% after three days of equipment is either slow progress or a plateau that means something underneath is still wet. Those are questions to ask.

If you think the crew is stopping too early, ask them to leave the dehumidifier running another day and take a reading the next morning. If the reading is unchanged, the materials are probably dry. If you still disagree, a second crew can take readings independently, and a restoration company in the area might do that for a small fee.