General Contractor

A general contractor is the licensed business that signs the prime contract and takes on the whole build. They hold the schedule, pull the permits, hire and pay the subcontractors, and answer to you for the finished house. On a custom home, the general contractor is simply your builder.

Here is the part that surprises people. Arizona does not license a trade called "general contractor." A.R.S. 32-1102 sets out license classifications instead. The one that covers a house is general residential contracting. The statute describes it as work by "any general contractor or subcontractor" who builds, alters, or repairs a residential structure. So the phrase does appear in the law. It just names who does the work, never the license itself.

The real split is between general and specialty. A general residential license lets one firm take on the entire house. A specialty residential license covers a single trade, such as roofing or plumbing. A specialty licensee cannot legally contract for the whole project. The Registrar of Contractors gives each classification a code, and that code prints on the license.

Two things are worth checking before you sign. First, the classification has to match the job. A license in the wrong class cannot legally build your home. Second, look up the qualifying party, the person the license actually rests on. A company name tells you nothing about who holds the qualification.

A general contractor also differs from a construction manager, who advises for a fee and holds no trade contracts. And it differs from an owner-builder, where you take the prime role yourself. That last choice hands you the savings and hands you the liability with it.