The framing crew determines whether everything that comes after — roofing, drywall, cabinets, tile — goes on straight, square, and solid. Pick well and the rest of your build gets easier. Pick badly and you'll be paying for it on every trade that follows.
Here's the checklist we'd give a family member hiring a framer in Los Angeles.
1. Verify the CSLB license — actually look it up
California contractors are licensed through the Contractors State License Board, and the lookup is public and takes thirty seconds. Check that the license is current, check how long they've held it, and check for disciplinary actions. Anyone hesitant to give you a license number has answered your question already.
2. Proof of insurance — both kinds
Ask for current certificates of general liability and workers' compensation. Framing is physical work at height; if a crew member is hurt on your property and the contractor isn’t covered, that risk can land on you as the homeowner. O & S carries both.
3. Do they frame to the plans — and talk about inspections?
Ask how they handle the shear wall schedule, holdown hardware, and city framing inspections. You're not testing vocabulary — you're listening for a crew that treats the engineer's sheets as the contract. In seismic country, "we've always done it this way" is not a lateral system.
4. Local, recent work
LA framing has its own personality: hillside lots, tight urban access, ADUs behind existing homes, older structures with surprises inside the walls. Ask what they've framed nearby and recently — and drive past one if you can. A frame you can see is worth ten photos.
5. A bid that's specific
A real framing bid references your plan set — beams by callout, sheathing, hardware, scope lines about what's included (subfloor? roof structure? backing?). A one-line "framing: $X" bid isn't a price, it's a placeholder for change orders later.
6. Straight answers on schedule
Framers sit between the foundation crew and every other trade. Ask when they can start, how many working days to rough frame, and how they sequence inspections. Confident, specific answers here are the best predictor of a build that doesn't stall.
7. Communication you can live with
You'll talk to your framer more than almost anyone during the structural phase. If getting a call back takes a week during the sales stage, it won't get better once your deposit clears. Responsiveness now is responsiveness later.
The short version
- Current CSLB license (verify it) and both insurance certificates
- Frames to the engineered plans, comfortable talking shear walls and inspections
- Recent local work you can see
- A specific, plan-referenced bid — and straight answers on schedule
O & S Framing checks every box above, and we're happy to prove each one — across North Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Tujunga, and Greater Los Angeles.