How to check a concrete or paver company before you sign
An insurance certificate from the agent, a state filing, a written scope, the paperwork and the payment schedule. Five checks, twenty minutes.
- Insurance
- Certificate emailed by the agent
- Entity
- Active record on Sunbiz
- Scope
- Written, itemized, with quantities
- Paperwork
- Who files the permit and the ARC packet
- Money
- Payments that follow the work
How do I check a concrete or paver company before signing?
Five checks. Ask the company's insurance agent to email you a current certificate of insurance; look the business up on Sunbiz and compare the legal name with the one on the estimate; insist on a written, itemized scope; get a straight answer on who files the permit and prepares the HOA or ARC packet; and agree a payment schedule that never runs ahead of the work. All five cost nothing and fit before the deposit.
Each check leaves you holding a document. A website, this one included, is a claim; a certificate from the agent, a state filing and a signed scope are evidence you can put in the house file.
The five checks
| Check | Where | What you're looking for |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of insurance | Emailed to you by the company's insurance agent | Current policy dates; the named insured matches the estimate; general liability, and workers' compensation or an exemption |
| Business record | Sunbiz, the Florida Division of Corporations search | Active status; the same legal name on the estimate, the certificate and the contract |
| Written scope | The estimate itself | Area, thickness or paver system, base material and depth, joint spacing, drains, edges, demolition and disposal, each on its own line |
| Permit and HOA paperwork | Ask, then find it in the contract | Who applies for the permit, who prepares the ARC packet for the owner's signature, who pays the fees |
| Payment schedule | The contract | A modest deposit, then payments tied to stages you can photograph, the last one after the final inspection |
Why the scope is a check, not a formality
Two estimates can only be compared when they list the same things. If one names a base of 6 inches compacted in two lifts and the other just says "base", the cheaper number may have left out the part of the job that decides whether a driveway lasts on Myakka sand. The same goes for joints every 8 to 10 feet, a slope of 1/8 inch per foot toward a drain, and the demolition and haul-off line, which runs $2 to $4 a square foot and is the one most often missing from a low total. Ask every company to fill the same blanks and the gap between the totals usually explains itself.
The paperwork question
On most jobs here there are two applications: the permit with the county or city (Accela in unincorporated Sarasota County, eTRAKiT in Venice, Click2Gov in North Port), and the association's architectural review, where a committee that meets once or twice a month can take up to 30 days from a complete submission. Most associations want the owner's signature on their form, so the useful answer is who assembles the packet, who submits the permit, and who chases both. The HOA and ARC guide lists what a packet holds and the permit pages name the office for each address.
Money, in writing
A modest deposit, commonly 10 to 30 percent on residential flatwork, then payments at stages you can photograph. On a contract over $2,500, Florida's construction lien law (Statute Ch. 713) puts a lien notice in the contract; on permitted work over $5,000 a Notice of Commencement is recorded; and a release of lien with each payment, from the company and from its suppliers, closes the loop. The deposits guide has the full contract checklist.
Red flags
- No legal entity name on the estimate, or a name that doesn't match Sunbiz.
- An insurance certificate that exists only as a photo on a phone.
- Asks you to pull the permit as owner-builder for work they're doing.
- Wants most of the money before demolition.
- Won't put the base depth or the joint spacing in writing.
- Can't say who prepares the HOA packet.
Common questions
How do I check a concrete or paver company before I sign in Sarasota County?
Five checks, about twenty minutes in all: a certificate of insurance emailed to you by the company's insurance agent; the business's record on Sunbiz, with a legal name that matches the estimate; a written, itemized scope; a clear answer on who files the permit and prepares the HOA or ARC packet; and a payment schedule tied to stages you can see.
Why should the insurance certificate come from the agent?
Because a copy handed over at the estimate can be out of date. A certificate the agent sends you directly shows the policy dates, the named insured and the coverage types as they stand that day. Check that the named insured is the name on the estimate and that the dates cover the weeks of your job.
What does a Sunbiz lookup tell me?
Whether the business is an active Florida entity, its exact legal name, the principal address it filed, its officers or managers and its filing history. It says nothing about the quality of the work; it tells you who you are signing with, which is the name that belongs on the contract and on the insurance certificate.
Last reviewed September 10, 2026 by Luciano, Owner.