This works in the famous Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, meaning that “names are irrelevant since the purpose is the same.” However, in home remodeling, it is not so. Knowing and understanding the nuances and differences between General Contractor(GC)/residential remodeler (RR) and handyman can and will be crucial to your specific remodel and may impact the process as well as the budget.
A few of the differences is what activities either one can perform, what insurance coverage they have and the level of experience. 
A handyman or handyman service has a wide range of hands-on experience for “surface projects”, simple small tasks around a home for maintenance. Some examples of this would be: changing a faucet, toilet, light fixtures; hanging curtain rods or shelves; pressure washing exterior of building; cleaning gutters; replacing light bulbs; small drywall patch or paint project. By no means is a handyman to do sub-surface work such as demo of walls to remove change or re-design a space, add or remove electric or plumbing. The typical handyman has a simple liability policy which limits their insurance coverage to surface work. Not only could they potentially uncover latent defects they are not qualified to repair but their insurance coverage would be insufficient to cover any work they do as one of their insurance requirements is to only work on the surface with cosmetic work. Therefore, any mistakes this handyman makes would be non-recoverable through his insurance.
A general contractor/residential remodeler is licensed, insured and experienced to work with all components of residential remodeling. This can be from design all through the completion of the build-out. Any work that is needed to work the subsurface of a wall or floor requires a GC or residential remodeler. Most of these projects will require a permit and in many cases even blueprints or some kind of design. A general contractor takes it a step above a residential remodeler as a GC will manage the entire process and will manage the movement of all trades required to complete a large permitted project. The GC will typically serve as the hub for all communication and activity between all parties allowing the homeowner peace of mind and providing a one stop shop for all their questions and needs.
A residential remodeler typically focuses on one or two areas that become their expertise, such as: trim carpentry, cabinet installation. A residential remodeler prefers to focus on one or two areas of expertise and does not always want to interact with other trades whereas the GC manages all trades and phases for ease of communication.
The most important takeaway from this small introduction is that while the GC and residential remodeler have the experience and paperwork to handle larger sub-surface projects, they can also provide handyman services (although some GC’s and residential remodelers may opt to not offer handyman services). Handyman or handyman services are not able to provide services for the larger permitted projects. Hence the difference in names and roles.
In this case, “what’s in a name” is important as the definitions, legal and insurance requirements are quite different.
As an educated homeowner, improving and having work done on your largest asset, your home, it is best to ask questions and understand who is coming into your home and understand what they are capable of delivering.
Meeting at least 3 contractors or handymen provides an opportunity not just to obtain estimates but also to interview the prospective contractor (whichever you need). Knowing who will be in your home and what that process looks like including the communication component are areas that are not always apparent on an estimate. Depending on the size of the project, these individuals may be in your home quite a bit and you need to be comfortable with that.
To decide on whether you need a GC/RR or a handyman write out what you have in mind, this will be your scope of work. Be prepared to provide this to the contractors you meet with. Providing them with the same list will eliminate any verbal misunderstandings and also provide a cohesive list that all contractors you are meeting with can provide an estimate from. This will make it easier for you when you sit down to review the estimates and your observations regarding the meetings.
All too often, homeowners take the cheapest bid because the cost was the most attractive, not realizing that it was not the appropriate contractor personality that fits your home. Just like we are all individual personalities and your family has its own rhythm, contractors do as well. They have personalities and a rhythm that you hope will work well with your family during the remodeling and or handyman work and the interview/initial meeting can identify these allowing you to make an informed decision on who to hire.
My invitation to you is to know your options. When in doubt, just reach out 630-359-8208, [email protected].
