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Hiring a siding contractor: 5 red flags and 8 questions, checked against siding permits in 8 cities

To hire a siding contractor, check three things before you sign: a license where your state or city requires one, a siding permit pulled in the firm's own name, and a permit history that mostly reaches a final inspection. In Minneapolis, 462 firms pulled 1,823 siding permits in three years, 88.9% of those a year or more old reached a final, and the usual one was filed at $13,500. If your house was built before 1978, add a fourth: EPA lead-safe certification.

By Contractor Records · data through October 17, 2026

Who licenses siding contractors in the states we cover

We hold siding permits for 7 cities in 6 states, plus Columbus, Ohio, where siding is filed together with roofs and windows.

State What to ask for Look it up
California A CSLB license whose class covers the work. CSLB's list has no class named siding; a B General Building license covers it CSLB Check a License
Colorado No state license. Colorado Springs: a PPRBD contractor license PPRBD search
Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License plus HIC registration for owner-occupied 1–4 unit homes Contractor Hub
Minnesota DLI residential building contractor or remodeler license if the firm does more than one special skill. Siding is "exterior finishing"; a siding-only firm is exempt, one that also does carpentry (a separate skill) is not DLI lookup
Ohio No state license. Columbus: Home Improvement Limited (siding/windows/doors); Cleveland registers contractors Columbus contractor search; Cleveland Building & Housing, (216) 664-2282
Texas None: TDLR does not license siding or general contractors City permit record only

Pre-1978 homes, in every state. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers "anyone paid to do work that disturbs painted surfaces" in homes built before 1978, and contractors must be "certified in lead-safe work practices" (EPA, read 21 October 2026). Tearing off painted wood siding is exactly that work. EPA's lead-safe certified firm search takes a minute.

Eight questions to ask a siding contractor

Ask A good answer How to check it
1. What is your license or registration number? A number in the business name, in a class that covers siding The board in the table above
2. Who pulls the permit? "We do, in our name" The city portal; Columbus requires a Roof, Siding, Windows, Doors permit for any siding replacement
3. Is your firm EPA lead-safe certified? (pre-1978 homes) Yes, with a certificate number EPA's firm search
4. How many siding permits have you pulled here in three years? A number The firm's page here; search by name
5. How many passed final? Near or above your city's share (table below) Finished share on the firm page
6. What happens if the sheathing is rotten? A price per sheet, in the contract The contract
7. Who installs the house wrap and flashing at windows? Your crew, to the siding maker's instructions Ask for the manufacturer's install guide; the warranty depends on it
8. What is the deposit and schedule? Payments tied to stages, final payment after the final inspection The contract

What the siding permit record shows

City Siding permits Firms Usual filed value Middle half of firms' usual job Usual days to final Reached final Firms with a non-active license
Minneapolis, MN 1,823 462 $13,500 $10,000–$19,229 113 88.9% 38
Colorado Springs, CO 1,598 223 $12,707 $8,000–$16,000 45 not recorded not matched
Saint Paul, MN 1,112 366 $14,700 $10,250–$20,446 186 65.8% 48
Cleveland, OH 451 148 $13,866 $11,000–$21,929 159 73.6% not matched
Marin County, CA 204 90 $25,498 $34,000–$69,089 119 90.9% 2
Columbus, OH (roof, siding and windows) 19,187 815 $11,726 $9,000–$15,425 not recorded 38.3% not matched

Colorado Springs and Marin County file siding with stucco. Cambridge (106 permits, usual $37,120) records no finals in our file and Sugar Land (113 permits) files no values, so both are left out of the table.

Five red flags the permit record can show

1. The permit is in your name, or there is none. The FTC lists a contractor asking you to get the permits among its scam signs. In Columbus a siding job needs its own permit whatever the size (BZS FAQ, read October 2026).

2. Its finished share is well under its city's. Among Saint Paul siding firms with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile firm finished only 42.8%, and 9 of 24 were under 70%. In Minneapolis the 10th-percentile firm was at 77.0% and 2 of 41 were under 70%. Same metro, very different firms.

3. The license has lapsed. 48 Saint Paul siding firms and 38 in Minneapolis match a DLI license that is no longer active. A siding-only firm may not need one, but a firm quoting siding plus carpentry does, and an expired license says the firm once needed it.

4. It went quiet. 32 Minneapolis siding firms with 5 or more permits filed none in the last 12 months of the window, and 12 in Saint Paul. Ask where the firm has been working.

5. The price sits far outside the neighbors'. The middle half of Cleveland siding firms usually file between $11,000 and $21,929. A quote far outside that range is a question about square footage and material, not an answer.

See every Minneapolis siding contractor by finished share and license status →

What a clean record does not prove

A final inspection means the city saw the wrap, flashing and fastening it checks; it does not mean the siding was installed to the manufacturer's instructions that the warranty depends on, or that lead dust was contained. Insurance and EPA certification never appear on a permit. Our copy updates about monthly; the city portal is the live record.

How we know this

Counts, usual filed values and days to final come from each city's siding permits over its three-year window (Saint Paul July 2022 to June 2025; the others October 2023 to September 2026). "Reached final" is the share of permits a year or more old that the city closed with a final. The 10th-percentile and under-70% figures use siding firms with 10 or more permits; the middle-half range uses firms with 3 or more. License status is matched by name to the Minnesota DLI and California CSLB files; Ohio and Colorado siding firms are not matched. State and EPA rules are quoted from the pages under Sources, read 20 and 21 October 2026.

Numbers come from City of Minneapolis construction permits (CCS); City of Saint Paul approved building permits; Pikes Peak Regional Building Department permits inside Colorado Springs city limits; City of Cleveland building permits; City of Columbus Building & Zoning Services permits on 1-, 2- and 3-family homes (the city's Accela permit layer); Marin County Community Development Agency building permits on homes in unincorporated Marin (the County's open-data permit and inspection files), data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

Questions

  • Does a siding contractor need a license?

    It depends on the state. Minnesota does not require a DLI license from a firm that does only exterior finishing (siding is in that category) but does once it also does a second skill such as carpentry. Columbus, Ohio licenses siding firms as Home Improvement Limited contractors. Colorado Springs (PPRBD) and Massachusetts (supervisor license plus HIC registration) license them; Texas has no license at all.

  • My house was built before 1978. Does that change who I can hire?

    Yes. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in a pre-1978 home to be certified in lead-safe work practices. Tearing off old painted siding counts. Ask for the firm's EPA certification and check it on EPA's lead-safe certified firm search.

  • How much does new siding cost?

    The usual filed value of a siding permit was $13,500 in Minneapolis, $14,700 in Saint Paul, $12,707 in Colorado Springs and $25,498 in Marin County. Filed values are what the contractor told the city, not the contract price.

  • When is the best time to book siding?

    Siding permits in Minneapolis peak in September and are lowest in January; Saint Paul's peak in May. Quotes in the quiet months get you a start date before the rush.

Build your own list

Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.

Minneapolis sidingSaint Paul sidingColorado Springs siding & stuccoCleveland sidingColumbus, OH roofing, siding & windowsMarin County (unincorporated) siding & stucco

Related guides

For one city

All guides →

Sources
  1. Who needs a license? — Minnesota DLI (accessed 2026-10-21)
  2. License and registration lookup — Minnesota DLI (accessed 2026-10-20)
  3. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program — US EPA (accessed 2026-10-21)
  4. Licensing Classifications — CSLB (accessed 2026-10-21)
  5. Check a License — CSLB (accessed 2026-10-20)
  6. Contractor Licenses — City of Columbus Building and Zoning Services (accessed 2026-10-21)
  7. BZS Frequently Asked Questions — City of Columbus (accessed 2026-10-21)
  8. Search for Licensed & Registered Contractors — Columbus Citizen Access (accessed 2026-10-21)
  9. License/Registration Types — Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (accessed 2026-10-20)
  10. Contractor search — Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (accessed 2026-10-20)
  11. Department of Building & Housing — City of Cleveland (accessed 2026-10-20)
  12. Learn about different Construction Supervisor Licenses — Mass.gov (accessed 2026-10-20)
  13. HIC contractor search — MA Contractor Hub (accessed 2026-10-20)
  14. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation — regulated programs (accessed 2026-10-20)
  15. How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam — FTC Consumer Advice (accessed 2026-10-20)