Questions to ask before you hire a well driller

Hire a driller the way you would hire anyone who opens a hole into your drinking water. The questions below come from state licensing pages. They are not a drilling manual. They are the conversation to have before you sign.

Ask what credential this state requires for this job, and ask to see it. Then look it up. A Texas driller license is not a pump installer license. An Indiana card might be one or both. A South Carolina license has a category and a class. A North Carolina card has a level and dates. A Minnesota company license depends on a certified representative. If the state publishes a search, use it the same week you hire. Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Minnesota all publish lookups and still tell the public not to treat the list as an endorsement of quality.

Ask who gets the permit. In Iowa, the county health department issues the household permit, except in Osceola County. In Michigan, every county requires a permit or notice. In Ohio, the city or general health district permits the private water system while the contractor registers with the Department of Health. In Florida, a water management district or its delegate permits the well, and the contractor license is statewide. In Wyoming, Form U.W. 5 comes before construction. In the District of Columbia, a soil boring number from the Department of Buildings comes before the environment department's review. If the contractor says no permit is required, ask them to show you the sentence on the official page.

Ask who will be on site. Delaware expects a licensed person or direct on-site supervision. New Mexico allows a registered drill rig supervisor under a licensed driller, and the driller remains responsible. Wisconsin wants drilling experience earned under a licensed driller, with rig operators registered first. An apprentice is not the same as the licensee. Ask for the name that will be on the report.

Ask about money and risk in writing. Indiana's natural resources agency tells owners to compare contractors and to use a signed contract that covers price per foot, materials, a dry hole, and damage from the work. Ask what happens if the first hole is dry. Ask whether the price includes the permit fee, the grout the rules require, the pump, and the laboratory sample. Ask who carries the bond. Arkansas describes a contractor bond of $20,000. New Mexico's rules require a $5,000 driller bond and liability insurance of at least $300,000. Nebraska's Title 134 requires contractors to carry at least $100,000 in liability and property insurance. Those figures are state-specific. Do not assume your state uses the same number.

Ask what you will receive when they leave. You want the permit, the driller report, and, if a sample was taken, the laboratory result. New York says the owner gets the completion report. Alaska wants the log filed within 45 days and kept with the property papers. Ask when the old well, if there is one, will be closed and what abandonment form will be filed. Ask whether the driller's license includes that closure.

Ask who you call if something is wrong. Michigan says well-code complaints go to the local health department. Georgia's Environmental Protection Division says it will investigate a written complaint filed within two years after the well is finished, or within one year after the pump work. Other states use the licensing board. Get that office's name before you need it.

If the answers are vague, hire someone else. A careful driller can point to the license, the permit, and the report without being coached.