How to Vet a Framing Subcontractor

The premise: framing is the schedule spine of every wood-framed project. When a framing sub fails, every following trade slides. Here's the vetting checklist we'd use if we were hiring us — the questions that actually predict performance.

The Seven Questions

1. "Whose crew does the work?" Some bidders are brokers who shop your job to whoever's available. You want a sub fielding its own core crews — people who've worked together for years and answer to the name on the contract.
2. "What's your current backlog, honestly?" A sub who says yes to everything is telling you how your project ends. The right answer includes a real framing-start window and what happens if their current job slides.
3. "What's your comparable project?" Multi-family production framing and custom-home framing are different sports. Ask for a project at your scale — ours is the 45th Street Apartments in Fargo — and call the GC who ran it.
4. "Walk me through your bid's scope." The cheapest number usually excludes something you'll pay for later: wrap, stairs, backing, crane time. An itemized inclusions/exclusions list is the mark of a sub who's done this.
5. "How do you handle out-of-town work?" If your project needs a traveling crew, lodging and per-diem should be inside their number — not a change order in month two.
6. "COIs and subcontract format?" Insurance certificates before mobilization, and comfort with standard subcontract agreements including AIA. Hesitation here is a red flag.
7. "Who do I call when something's wrong?" There should be one name, and that name should pick up. Family companies tend to be good at this one.

The Signals Between the Lines

• Bid turnaround speed correlates with estimating competence.
• A sub who asks about your schedule before quoting is planning to keep it.
• References who mention the second project they gave the sub matter more than the first.

Vetting us right now? Start here: send plans, ask for COIs and references in the notes, and time how fast we come back. That's the test.