How to vet a building contractor in Jamaica

After Hurricane Melissa every parish has more rebuild work than honest contractors to do it, and the people paying for much of it live abroad. That is the perfect setting for fraud: a deposit sent by remittance, a foundation poured, and then silence. None of the checks below require a lawyer. They require about a day of work and a refusal to pay in advance.

1. Does the business exist?

Start with the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ). In April 2026 the COJ publicly urged people to verify a company's registration status before transacting, using the search on its website by the entity's name or registration number. Basic information, including whether a company is active, its registered address and company secretary, is free of cost. If the contractor trades under a business name rather than a company, the same search applies. No record, or a record marked inactive, means you are contracting with an individual, not the firm on the business card.

2. Is the contractor on the public register?

Jamaicans still say NCC, but the National Contracts Commission no longer exists. JIS reported that it was terminated as of 1 April 2019 and that a new Public Procurement Commission (PPC) was established under the Public Procurement Act 2015. The PPC's function, in its own words, is to register and classify persons, firms or entities as suppliers. Its online register can be filtered to Suppliers of Goods and Services, Works Grades 1 to 4, and Grade 5 contractors, and downloaded as a PDF or CSV.

Registration is not trivial. The PPC says firms must be registered with the COJ and be tax compliant to qualify. A PPC entry therefore tells you the contractor is a real, tax-compliant company that has been classified for public works. What it does not tell you is that every unregistered builder is a rogue: registration is required to tender for government contracts above the competition thresholds set by the Ministry of Finance (its Circular 5 of June 2025 is linked from the PPC site), so a good private builder may simply never have needed it. JaRanks' verified contractor listings link to the PPC entry we matched; open the link and check the name yourself.

3. Who is drawing the plans?

A building application needs architectural and engineering drawings, and a house rebuilt without them is a house rebuilt without anyone calculating the roof connections. The Architects Registration Board publishes a list of architects licensed to practise for 2026 with registration and licence numbers. The Professional Engineers Registration Board publishes its register of engineers with the discipline each is registered for, civil, structural, electrical and so on, with a condition that they practise only in those categories. Ask the contractor who will sign the drawings and look both names up.

4. The contract

Get it in writing. A usable building contract names the parties exactly as registered with the COJ, attaches the approved drawings and a priced bill of quantities, states start and completion dates, and sets a payment schedule tied to finished stages rather than calendar dates. A reasonable structure for a small house is a modest mobilisation payment, then payments on completion of foundation, belt course, roof frame, roof covering and finishes, each released only after you or someone acting for you has seen the work. A quantity surveyor can certify each stage if you are overseas. Put in writing who buys materials and who owns surplus.

5. The permit and the inspections

The Building Act 2018 came into force on 15 January 2019 and repealed the old Kingston and St. Andrew and Parish Councils building laws. The Ministry of Local Government says the local authorities act as building authorities and enforce the Act together with the Bureau of Standards. Local Authorities of Jamaica states that once a building application is submitted, mandatory inspections cover steel work, foundation and belt course erection. Ask the municipal corporation how each inspection is requested and keep the record; Local Authorities of Jamaica publishes a Building Application Guide, and our building permit guide walks through the application itself.

Insist that the permit is in your name. A contractor who holds the approval holds your house.

6. The paper trail

Keep every receipt, photograph and message in one folder, dated. If the job goes wrong, the record is what a lawyer, the police or the Consumer Affairs Commission will ask for first. If you are abroad, have someone you trust photograph each stage before you release money, and never accept photographs supplied only by the person asking to be paid.

Warning signs

• Pressure to pay the full price up front because of material prices.
• A price with no bill of quantities behind it.
• No registered architect or engineer on the drawings.
• A permit the contractor will not show you, or one in the contractor's name.
• A company name that does not match the COJ record.

What JaRanks cannot do

JaRanks cannot guarantee any contractor's work, confirm their financial standing, or recover money paid. A register entry means the name matched a public list on the date shown; it is not an endorsement. Contract terms are between you and the builder, and for anything above a small job you should have an attorney read the contract before you sign.