This site is operated by Montana Property Reports, LLC of Livingston, Montana. Using it means you accept what is written here. It is short, and it is worth reading, because this site publishes information people spend real money acting on.
Montana Contractor Guide is a free, independent resource for people who own or are buying rural land in Montana. It publishes two kinds of thing: written guides to permitting and cost, and lists of contractors compiled from public records. It is free, it sells nothing, and nobody pays to be listed.
The guides are written from Montana statute, administrative rules, and published agency material, and every guide names its sources at the bottom so you can check us. That is research, not legal advice, and we are not your lawyer or your engineer. Nothing here creates a professional relationship of any kind.
If your situation turns on a specific reading of a rule, or money is riding on it, talk to a Montana attorney, a licensed engineer, or the agency that issues the permit.
Where this site gives a cost range, it is a planning estimate drawn from public sources and from what the work has generally run in the area. It is not a quote, not a bid, and not a promise about what any contractor will charge you. Your site conditions, your access, your soil, the season, and the state of the market will all move the number. Only a contractor looking at your property can tell you the price.
The well driller records are compiled from well logs filed with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. The septic installer and site evaluator lists are reproduced from rosters published by Park County and Gallatin County.
Appearing in either is not an endorsement, not a recommendation, not a vouch for current licensure or insurance, and not a warranty of the quality or safety of anyone's work. It means a public record says that company did that work, or that a county listed them on a roster on a particular date. That is all it means. There are no paid listings, no sponsored positions, and no company can buy its way up the order.
Before you hire anyone, confirm their standing directly. Licensing and registration change, and a roster or a well log is a snapshot rather than a live status check:
Ask for a certificate of insurance, ask about bonding, ask for references on comparable work, and get the scope in writing. None of that is our job to do for you, and none of it is something this site has done on your behalf.
The public records behind the contractor lists are reproduced as filed. They contain errors, omissions, and companies that have closed. About one in five well log records carries no company name at all. Record keeping has improved: for logs completed since 2000 it is closer to one in thirty-five. A company that appears active may not be, and a good company may not appear.
Permit requirements, fees, deadlines, and thresholds change, sometimes in the middle of a building season and sometimes retroactively in a legislative year. Every guide carries the date it was last reviewed. Before you rely on a fee, a deadline, or a threshold, confirm it with the office that issues the permit. Where we could not verify something, the guide says so rather than guessing.
Montana Contractor Guide is an independent publication. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, any conservation district, Park County, Gallatin County, or any other government body. We are not a permitting authority and we cannot approve, expedite, or intervene in anything.
If you tell us about a project, we will point you toward people who do that kind of work in your county, or tell you honestly that we do not know anyone good there yet. That is an introduction offered in good faith, not a vetting service and not a guarantee. Whatever you agree with a contractor is between you and them, and we are not a party to it. See Privacy for what the form stores.
To the fullest extent Montana law allows, the total liability of Montana Property Reports, LLC to you for any claim arising out of this site is limited to one hundred dollars. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, and that includes lost profits, construction delays, permit denials, or the cost of work done or redone.
That is a cap, not an escape. It exists because this site is free and we cannot carry unlimited exposure for research we give away. It does not mean we will not stand behind our work, and if something here is wrong we want to know and we will correct it.
Nothing on this page limits liability for fraud or for willful injury to the person or property of another, and nothing on this page waives or limits your rights under the Montana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act. If any part of this page conflicts with a right the law gives you that cannot be waived, the law wins and the rest of this page still stands.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Montana, without regard to conflict of law rules.
We may update this page. If the change matters, the effective date at the top changes with it. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the current version.
Questions about anything on this page: matt@paradisevalleymedia.com. Montana Property Reports, LLC, Livingston, Montana.