Marine construction is one of the easier trades to fake for about three years. A dock built badly does not fall down on day one. It looks fine, it feels fine, and then somewhere around year three the pilings start to move and you find out what you actually bought.
By then the person who built it is often not returning calls.
We are obviously not neutral here. But these are genuinely the questions we would ask if we were hiring somebody, and most of them will help you whether or not you end up calling us.
1. Are you licensed, bonded and insured, and can I see it?
Ask for the actual documents, not a yes. Then check that the insurance is current and that the coverage actually contemplates marine work. General liability written for residential remodeling may not respond the way you assume when a barge is involved.
If somebody is uncomfortable being asked, that is your answer. We wrote about what is genuinely at stake in licensed contractor versus handyman, and it is not an abstract concern. If an uninsured crew gets hurt on your property, that is your problem.
2. How do you drive pilings, and what happens if the bottom is not what you expected?
This is the single best question on the list, because it separates people who build docks from people who build decks near water.
You want to hear about the rig, about how depth gets determined on your site rather than from a standard number, and about what the contract says if conditions differ from the assumption. Somebody who says pilings go to a fixed depth everywhere has not thought about it.
Watch for jetting used as a shortcut rather than a technique, and for anybody suggesting posts set in concrete instead of driven pilings. Pile driving done right covers what good looks like.
3. What hardware are you using, exactly?
Not “marine grade.” That phrase means nothing on its own. You want the actual material and grade for the fasteners, the bolts, the brackets and the connectors.
Hardware is where corners get cut most often, because it is invisible in the quote and invisible on the finished dock. It becomes extremely visible in year four. See stainless versus coated decking screws for why this is not a small detail.
4. Who is handling the permit, and what have you told me about the timeline?
Two red flags here.
The first is a contractor who guarantees an approval or a date. Nobody can. SCDHEC-OCRM and the Army Corps set their own pace, and anyone promising otherwise is either inexperienced or telling you what you want to hear.
The second is a contractor who suggests starting before the paperwork is done. Do not. Unpermitted marine structures are a serious problem, and the person holding the bag is the property owner, not the builder. Our guides on navigating permits and the usual permitting gotchas will tell you enough to spot bad advice.
5. Can I see work you did five or more years ago?
Anybody can show you a photo of a dock they finished last month. Every new dock looks good.
What you want is the five-year-old one, ideally on water similar to yours. How are the pilings? Is the structure still in line? Are the fasteners holding? That is the only real evidence of how somebody builds.
Ask to talk to that customer, not the one from last month.
6. What is your warranty, and what voids it?
Get it in writing, and get the exclusions in writing. Ask specifically whether workmanship and materials are covered separately, what storm damage does to it, and whether it transfers if you sell the house.
A verbal warranty from a company that may not exist in four years is not a warranty.
7. What does your payment schedule look like?
A reasonable deposit is normal. Materials have to be bought and pilings have to be ordered. Half the job up front before anything happens is not normal, and a demand for the full amount before work starts is a reason to walk away.
Payments should track progress. There should be a final payment held until you have inspected the finished work.
8. Will you tell me if I do not need this?
Ask it directly and watch what happens.
A contractor who has never recommended a smaller job than the one you asked for is a contractor who will always find you the bigger job. Some of the best work we do is telling somebody their dock has ten good years left and they should spend the money on something else.
Warning signs worth taking seriously
- A quote on a single page with no specifications.
- Pressure to sign today for a discount.
- Vagueness about pilings or permits.
- A price far below everyone else’s with no explanation of why.
- No local references on similar water.
- Reluctance to put anything in writing.
On the low-price point specifically: there is always a reason. Sometimes it is legitimate, like a crew already working two doors down. Usually it is thinner pilings, cheaper hardware, no permit handling or no insurance. Ask which it is.
Bring us somebody else’s quote
We mean this. If you have a proposal from another contractor and you are not sure what you are reading, send it over. We will go through it with you and tell you what it covers, what it leaves out and whether the price makes sense for the scope.
Sometimes we tell people the other quote is good and they should take it. That is a fine outcome. A well-built dock on this creek is good for everybody.
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