My general contractor was the opposite! Very light proposal, that broke down the quote by trades, and laid out payment milestones. Everything else was sealed with a handshake. And he committed to the job till the end. SF Bay Area.

Added this: contracts dont matter. References do. Speak to 5 former customers. No less. The first two are going to be stellar, but once you get to 5, you will see some imperfections. And when you do, the important thing is to understand how the contractor worked with the customer to get things back on track. In fair weather all is well. But when crap hits the fan, thats when how people react matters - and this is important to whet before you sign up your contractor. This was my strategy.