How to Choose a Home Automation Company (Questions to Ask Before You Sign)

August 30, 2026 · Smart Home

The questions that separate a real integrator from a device installer: certified-dealer status, in-house permitting, a live showroom, and post-install support.

You've already decided you want a smart home. Now you have to pick who builds it, and that's the harder decision, because most companies that show up in a search look identical on their homepage. The gap between them isn't visible until the walls are open or the system breaks two years later. We're a certified dealer for Control4, Savant, Crestron, and Lutron, we pull our own low-voltage permits through the City of Plymouth building department, and we've watched clients inherit half-finished systems from installers who couldn't program past the app. This guide is the vetting checklist we'd want a homeowner to run on us, and on everyone else. ## How to Choose a Home Automation Company Start with certification, permitting, and support, in that order. A real integrator holds certified-dealer status with the platform it installs (Control4, Savant, Crestron, or Lutron), handles its own low-voltage permits with the local building department, and answers the phone after the install rather than handing you an app and disappearing. Those three facts filter out most of the field before you ever talk price. The homepage tells you almost nothing. Every company promises "seamless" control and a "connected home," so ignore the adjectives and ask for the concrete things underneath them: - **Are you a certified dealer, and for which platform?** Control4 and Savant are sold and programmed only through certified dealers, not off a shelf. A company that can't name its certifications is rese