Skip to content
Foundation repair referrals for homes in Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop(617) 555-0111

Guide

Choosing a foundation repair company

Whichever company you speak with, through this site or any other way, check it yourself before you sign. Massachusetts gives you two official lookups and a set of contract rules to lean on.

Two credentials

Registration and license are different things

HIC

Home Improvement Contractor registration

Contractors who do home improvement work on homes of one to four units where the owner lives must register with the state's Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Registration involves no exam. What it gives you is access to the state's arbitration program and its Guaranty Fund if a registered contractor leaves you with an unpaid judgment.

Look a company up in the MA Contractor Hub, which shows registration status and complaint history.

CSL

Construction Supervisor License

This one does require an exam on the state building code. The state's homeowner page says it is generally required for any work that involves a building's structural elements, which foundation repair does.

Check the license through the state's license verification page. Ask whose license the job will run under and confirm that person is current.

Why it matters to you

What you lose with an unregistered contractor

The state is blunt about this. Hire an unregistered contractor and you cannot use the arbitration program or apply to the Guaranty Fund, though you can still file a complaint or go to court. The protections also assume the work is on a home of one to four units that is the owner's primary residence, that there is a written contract and that the contractor took out the building permit.

Landlords of houses they do not live in should note that last condition and rely all the more on the contract, the license and the insurance certificates.

The contract

What to see on paper before work begins

  • The contractor's registration number on the contract
  • A full description of the work, with the engineer's drawings attached
  • The total price and a payment schedule tied to progress
  • A deposit of no more than one third, unless special-order materials are needed
  • A statement that the contractor obtains the building permit
  • Start and completion dates
  • Insurance certificates for liability and for workers' comp, sent to you by the insurer
  • The warranty, as a separate document

State law requires home improvement contracts above a small threshold to be in writing, and the deposit limit comes from the same law. A contractor who offers to arrange a loan secured on your house is breaking another of its rules.

Warranties

Questions to ask about the warranty

Foundation warranties vary widely, and this site gives none of its own. Read the document, not the brochure, and ask:

  • Whose promise is it? An installer's warranty lasts only as long as the installer does. Some pier makers add one of their own.
  • Is it limited to the steel, or does it also answer for renewed sinking of the wall that the steel supports?
  • Which parts of the building fall outside it? Untreated walls nearly always do.
  • If you sell, can the buyer take it over, and on what terms?
  • Does it put conditions on you, for example keeping gutters and grading in order?

Questions about hiring

Are the companies reached through this site already checked?

Do not assume so. The companies are independent, and this site does not vouch for any contractor's registration, license, insurance or workmanship. Run the two state lookups on the company you speak with, exactly as you would for one you found yourself.

How many proposals should I get?

The state suggests interviewing at least three contractors for home improvement work. For a large structural job, two or three written proposals and, where they disagree, an engineer's opinion will serve you well.

What if a dispute arises afterwards?

With a registered contractor and a written contract you can ask for the state's arbitration program. The homeowner page explains the steps, along with mediation and small claims court.

Foundation repair in Boston

Have a Boston foundation company take a look

Give the street, the kind of building and what has changed. The company settles a day to visit, and afterwards you receive its written account of the cause and what it would charge.

Ready to have it looked at?

Phone and say what you have seen. The firm on the other end is a Boston-area foundation repair company, independent of this website, and it can book a visit to your home.

Call (617) 555-0111

You speak with an independent company, not with this website. See the referral disclosure.

Call (617) 555-0111