North South Construction

North South Construction is a small general contracting outfit at 482 Winthrop St. in Medford, listed with Kevin Lappin as its owner. What exists of its written history is a permit trail rather than a customer one: six permitted jobs between 2013 and 2016, spread across Somerville, Waltham, Cambridge and Arlington. That is a Greater Boston footprint of a decade ago, and nothing more recent has been documented. The one credential question worth raising before you call is the registration. BuildZoom lists a Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration, number 172970, for the company and reports it as inactive with an expiration date of August 19, 2018 — the directory also notes the status was at one point cancelled, and gives the company a score of zero on the grounds that it could not confirm an active licence. Directory licence records are frequently wrong or attached to a similarly-named business, so treat that as a question to ask rather than a settled fact, and check the number directly with the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. If you are considering this company for a remodel, ask for a current HIC registration number and proof it is active, and ask what work they have completed since 2016.