Forty-one permitted projects in the last three years, mostly commercial tenant fit-ups and electrical work across Lowell, Framingham, Malden, Norwell and Danvers: Original Contracting is a Westborough company whose day job is building out other people's offices, labs, restaurants and warehouses. It describes itself as a commercial general contractor running in-house plumbing, electrical, flooring, HVAC and painting divisions, and BuildZoom's permit history — 84 projects in all — lines up with that. BBB puts the business at 12 years in and names Thomas Kelly as principal owner; BuildZoom lists Joseph P Cataldo alongside him.
Customer write-ups are thinner than that permit trail, and mostly older. A March 2025 Google reviewer, a commercial client of five years, called the company "the Swiss Army knife of contractors" and singled out the quality of work. House projects sit further back: a 2023 review described a 2019 remodel of bathrooms, kitchen and living area the homeowner still liked, and a 2021 reviewer called the crew knowledgeable, hardworking and fairly priced, "skilled with everything from structure to finishes." Two of the seven reviewers name Tom. The three Angi accounts are older again, from February 2019 and April 2018 — the April 2018 one credits the company with tradespeople arriving when they were needed, permits obtained and inspections scheduled.
One job went badly. In a May 2024 Google review, a homeowner who hired them on a recommendation to pull up floating floors and polish and stain the concrete below, take out a wall bump-out and cut and cap plumbing in the wall wrote: "What did I get?! I got painted garage floors." It is one review out of seven, and Google's 4.5 across 17 ratings sits above it — but the scope described there, concrete polishing and a wall removal, is exactly the kind of work to pin down in writing before it starts.
The paperwork is straightforward: its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration, #186731, is active, and its BBB profile carries an A+ with accreditation. BBB also lists a Department of Public Safety licence, CS-096660, and BuildZoom lists a Massachusetts plumbing business licence, #4266. BuildZoom lists an EPA renovation certification for the company with an inactive status; ask where that stands.
For a commercial build-out or a tenant fit-up, this is a shop with a deep permit trail and its own trades on staff. For work on a house, get the finish spelled out in writing before anyone starts — materials, method, and what the finished floor or wall is meant to look like — and ask which crew will actually be on site.
