Most of the trouble in a residential building contract is decided before anyone breaks ground. In Forsyth County it comes down to three things a homeowner can check independently: whether the contractor holds the state license the work requires, how the permit and inspection process will be run, and what the contract says when the schedule, the site or the scope moves.
Here are the questions worth asking, why each matters here, and what a straight answer sounds like.
How do I verify a Georgia contractor's license?
Which license do you hold, and what is the number?
Residential contractor and general contractor licenses in Georgia are issued by the State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors, within the office of the Georgia Secretary of State. A license number is a public credential — a builder should hand theirs over without hesitating, and you can look it up yourself through the board.
Kade Homes & Renovations, for example, publishes a number on its own site, stating it holds Georgia general contractor license #GCI000080. That is the specificity to expect: a class and a number you can go and check, not "yes, we're licensed."
Is your license class right for my project?
O.C.G.A. § 43-41-2 defines them. A residential-basic contractor performs work "relative to detached one-family and two-family residences and one-family townhouses not over three stories in height." A residential-light commercial contractor adds certain multifamily and light commercial buildings under four stories. A general contractor is one "whose services are unlimited as to the type of work which he or she may do," subject to financial limitations by subclassification.
So a detached custom home or an addition needs at least a residential-basic license; a general contractor license is broader and covers it. A good answer names the class.
Why does licensure matter beyond the paperwork?
O.C.G.A. § 43-41-17(a) states that since July 1, 2008 no person or business organization may "engage in the business of residential contracting or general contracting" without a current, valid license — or, for a business, a qualifying agent who holds one.
The provision homeowners rarely hear about is subsection (b): a contract entered into on or after that date for work requiring a license, with a contractor who does not hold one, is "unenforceable in law or in equity by the unlicensed contractor," and "no lien or bond claim shall exist in favor of the unlicensed contractor."
The statute does carve out exemptions — repair work by an unlicensed person who discloses they hold no license and whose work does not affect structural integrity, and an owner-builder exemption for building on your own property for your own occupancy.
Will you show me your business license too?
Ask, because Forsyth County will. To pull a residential addition or new dwelling permit, the county requires a notarized Authorized Agent Form for the General Contractor, including current Business License and copy of State License; subcontractor affidavits carry the same requirement. Ask whether the license is current too — residential-basic and residential-light commercial licensees must submit proof of continuing education to renew.
Who pulls the permit, and what happens if it lapses?
Who is named as the permit holder?
The Forsyth County Department of Building and Licensing, Permitting Division issues all building permits, from the office on Freedom Parkway in Cumming. Applications go through the county's Customer Self-Service portal or in person; applications for new residential dwellings must be submitted electronically. Ask who is named on the permit — if the county's Owner/Contractor Self-Work Affidavit is used instead of the contractor's authorized agent form, the homeowner is the one on the hook.
What is the permit timeline?
All Forsyth County building permits expire 12 months from the date of issuance. Ask what the plan is if a project runs long, and get that answer in writing alongside the schedule.
Which approvals have to happen before the permit?
Two sequencing items catch people. Septic: Forsyth County Environmental Health issues on-site sewage management permits and states that if you plan to build or remodel a home on a property served by septic, you must get their approval before you can obtain a building permit — and that processing may take twenty business days or more. Erosion: the county's addition permit form asks for total disturbed acreage, and if that acreage requires an individual lot permit, a Georgia Erosion & Sediment Control Certification Card is required at time of permit.
Ask who is confirming setbacks, too. The county states that issuing a permit "does not assure that the building setbacks have been met," and that the owner and permit holder have sole responsibility.
Which inspections apply, and who schedules them?
Forsyth County publishes its residential inspection types — footing, monolithic slab, foundation wall, setback, rough framing, rough electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation, and the final trade and building inspections, among others. Three consequences to raise directly: a failed inspection carries a trade violation fee of $25.00, increasing in $25.00 increments for each subsequently failed inspection of the same type; power cannot be released without an approved inspection; and occupancy is not permissible until a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued.
Ask who schedules inspections, who meets the inspector, and how a failure gets communicated to you.
What does the contract say about money and time?
Will you provide a schedule of values?
A schedule of values allocates the contract price across the work, so payments track visible progress rather than the calendar. Ask for one, tied to defined milestones — plus what the deposit is applied toward, whether retainage is held until completion, and whether you receive lien waivers from subcontractors and suppliers with each payment.
What happens if the schedule slips?
Ask what the contract does about missed dates — liquidated damages, a defined cure period, or nothing at all. "Nothing at all" is a legitimate answer; not knowing which applies is not.
Ask separately about weather. Here the constraint is rain rather than cold: long-term normals for the nearest long-record station show roughly 81 days a year with at least a tenth of an inch of rain, wettest January through March — precisely when excavation, footings and site work are most exposed.
How are change orders and allowances handled?
Ask for written approval on every change, with cost and schedule impact stated before work proceeds — plus which finishes are carried as allowances, how overages are billed, and whether changes are quoted or run on time and materials.
What happens when the site surprises us?
Is there an unknown-conditions clause?
There should be, and you should read it. It should describe how an unforeseen condition is identified, priced and approved before work continues.
Do we need a geotechnical or structural opinion first?
Worth asking on sloping lots and anything touching a foundation. North Georgia Piedmont sites sit on deep, weathered soils with clayey subsoils, on ground ranging from gently rolling to steep, and two centuries of agriculture stripped much of the topsoil from mid- and upper slopes — so footings here often bear on subsoil clay. That is why the county's footing inspection covers "depth, bearing strength of soil, any reinforcement required." Drainage and grading are the live issues.
Ask about water on the lot too: Georgia establishes a 25-foot buffer along the banks of all state waters, and the Erosion and Sedimentation Act's one-acre exemption does not apply within 200 feet of a state waters bank.
Are we in a flood hazard area?
Forsyth County's flood ordinance requires new construction and substantial improvements to have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated no lower than three feet above base flood elevation or one foot above the future-conditions elevation, whichever is higher. Its definition of substantial improvement is what catches renovations: cumulative cost over the life of the structure reaching 50 percent of the structure's market value.
What if the house is older?
For a home built before 1978, ask how lead-safe work is handled. Georgia runs its own Renovation, Repair and Painting program through Georgia EPD rather than the federal one, so the credential to ask about is a Georgia-certified Renovator working for a Georgia-certified Renovation Firm. On asbestos, EPD rules require notification and fees for any project involving ten or more continuous linear feet or square feet of asbestos-containing material, with ten working days' notice beforehand.
Red flags
- Won't give you a license number or name a license class
- Won't show the current business license the county requires at permit
- Vague about who is named on the permit
- No schedule of values, no written change order process
- Large cash deposits up front
- No unknown-conditions clause, or one with no approval step
- Treats septic, erosion or floodplain approvals as an afterthought
Before you sign
The pattern is the same throughout. A good builder answers with a document — a license number, a permit application, a schedule of values, a written clause. A weaker one answers with reassurance.
If you'd rather work through these questions with someone who builds in Forsyth County, Kade Homes & Renovations is based in downtown Cumming and is happy to have that conversation.