How to hire an excavation contractor

The Federal Trade Commission recommends getting multiple estimates.¹ Ask each contractor for a total, and for what it includes, such as hauling, fill and permits. Our cost guides give published national ranges to plan with: excavation, land clearing, grading and driveways. The cost estimator turns those ranges into a planning range for your job before the quotes come in.

Licensing is set by each state, and some states leave it to counties and cities. Here are examples from 12 states:

• California A license from the Contractors State License Board is required for any job of $1,000 or more in labor and materials, and for smaller jobs that need a permit or hired workers.² Excavation, grading and trenching fall under the C-12 Earthwork and Paving classification.³
• Florida The state licenses underground utility and excavation contractors for work on main sewer and water lines.⁴ For other jobs, the state's construction licensing board tells homeowners to check with their building department about local licensing.⁵
• Georgia Grading, demolition and erosion control are specialty trades that don't need a residential or general contractor license when the work stays within the specialty.⁶ A utility contracting company must employ a full-time licensed Utility Manager.⁷
• Indiana The only construction contractors licensed by the state are plumbers, and licensing for other contractors is left to cities and counties.⁸
• Michigan Excavation on a one- or two-family home is covered by the residential maintenance and alteration contractor license when the contract price is $600 or more.^9-10
• Minnesota The residential building contractor license applies to contractors who offer two or more special skills, and excavation is one of them. A contractor who only does excavation doesn't need that license.^11-12
• New York Home improvement contractors must be licensed in New York City and in Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties.¹³
• North Carolina Grading work that costs $40,000 or more must be done by a licensed general contractor, and the licensing board offers a Grading and Excavating classification.^14-15
• Ohio The state's construction contractor licenses cover heating, ventilating and air conditioning, refrigeration, electrical, plumbing and hydronics contractors.¹⁶ Excavation isn't one of them.
• Pennsylvania Most construction contractors don't need a state license, though some municipalities license them.¹⁷ Contractors who do $5,000 or more a year of home improvement work, which includes driveways, must register with the Attorney General.¹⁸
• Texas Excavation isn't among the programs licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.¹⁹
• Wisconsin Anyone who pulls a building permit for a one- or two-family home needs a dwelling contractor certification, unless it's an owner who lives or will live there.^20-21

Your state's rules page has the rest.

Pick your state's rules page

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Where the state doesn't license the work, ask your city or county building department what applies locally.

The FTC recommends considering only contractors who are licensed and insured, and asking for proof of insurance.¹ If a worker is injured or your property is damaged, you could be held liable.¹³ You can ask for a certificate of insurance that lists you as the certificate holder.²²

Before you sign, make sure the contract includes the contractor's name, address, phone number and license number, and don't pay the full amount up front.¹ The FTC lists a contractor who asks you to get the building permits yourself as a warning sign. In Wisconsin, contractors must give you a notice of your right to receive lien waivers.²²

Most listings in this directory come from the federal USDOT registry. The rest come from Google Business Profiles and from owners who added their own business. A USDOT number is a unique identifier used to collect and monitor a company's safety information.²³ It isn't a contractor license. You can look up any company's registration for free by USDOT number or name on FMCSA's Company Snapshot.²⁴

811 is the free national call-before-you-dig service.²⁵ You or your contractor should contact it a few business days before digging begins.²⁶ State law sets how much notice to give,²⁷ and state pages like New York and North Carolina give the period.

Construction that disturbs one acre or more needs stormwater permit coverage under the Clean Water Act, and so does a smaller site that's part of a larger plan.²⁸ Some states add their own erosion and stormwater rules, like Pennsylvania and Georgia.