How to Choose a Concrete Contractor in Dallas

It means the city has the company on file for its class of work, not that the company is licensed or rated. The Dallas city code lists a concrete/asphalt/paving contractor class that includes paving residential driveways, and a foundation contractor class for pouring and finishing concrete foundations. Doing that work in the city, or causing it to be done, without a valid registration is unlawful, and an unregistered contractor may not obtain the permits for it.

Know what registration is not: the same code says the city makes no statement of the technical competency of those registered and that no license is granted. Ask for the registration anyway, then call Dallas Planning and Development at 214-948-4480 if you want it confirmed.

Through each suburb's own register:

• Richardson publishes a Registered Contractor List, updated almost daily (Richardson).
• Frisco lets you search registered contractors in eTRAKiT (Frisco).
• Arlington suggests searching a contractor's registration and recent permits at ArlingtonPermits.com (Arlington).
• Plano requires contractors who pull Engineering permits to register every year (Plano).

Six things: thickness and PSI, subgrade work, slope, demolition, who pulls the permit and sealer. Here is what each should say:

1. Slab thickness (4, 5 or 6 inches), the PSI rating (3,500 or higher for driveways) and the reinforcement type.
2. Subgrade work: grading, compaction and a base layer.
3. How the finished slab slopes away from the garage and the house.
4. Demolition and disposal as a separate line when an old surface comes out.
5. Who pulls the permit.
6. Sealer: whether it is included, how many coats and whether it resists UV.

Then check the numbers against the Dallas concrete cost guide.

Five: being asked to pull the permit yourself, being told no permit is needed, no PSI on the quote, fiber mesh only, and a knock on the door.

• "You pull the permit." Arlington tells homeowners to beware of anyone who asks them to get the building permit as an owner-builder, because it may mean the contractor can't obtain it. In Dallas, the homeowner's own registration covers an owner who lives in the house and does the work without paid help.
• "We don't need a permit." Arlington says an inspector who finds work without a permit issues a stop work order, some work may have to be redone, and the property owner is ultimately responsible.
• No PSI on the quote. Ask for it before you sign.
• Fiber mesh only on a driveway. Ask why the company left out rebar.
• A knock on the door. Arlington's hiring tips say to be wary of contractors soliciting business door-to-door.

Ask for a certificate of liability insurance naming the company on your bid. Some suburbs tie registration to it: Frisco's registration number expires on the same day as the contractor's general liability insurance, and Plano's Engineering department asks for proof of insurance with every annual registration. Our vetted local concrete pros are checked the same way before any request reaches them; how we vet our pros explains the steps.