Verified means we checked four things ourselves: license, insurance, references and reviews.
It's the same homework a careful homeowner would do before signing a contract. We do it once, so you don't have to do it from scratch for every company you call.
We look up the contractor's license or registration with the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and confirm it's active, it's in the business's name, and it covers the work they list. Trades the state doesn't license, like cleaning or pressure washing, show us a current business license from their town or county instead. Ray explains the state boards in how to check a contractor's license.
The contractor's insurance agent sends us a certificate directly, not a photo of one. We check that general liability is current and in the business's name, plus workers' comp when they have employees on job sites. We note when it expires and ask for the new one when it does.
The contractor gives us three customers from the past year here in the Lowcountry. We reach at least two and ask the same four questions: did they do the work, did it come in close to the price and schedule, how did they handle anything that went wrong, and would you hire them again.
We read every Google review from the past year in full, plus every low-star review no matter how old, and how the owner answered. One unhappy customer isn't a reason to say no. A pattern of unfinished jobs, missing deposits or damage nobody fixed is.
Verified is a check made on the date shown. It isn't a guarantee of the work, a warranty, or an inspection of any job, and licenses and insurance can lapse after we look. Get a written contract, confirm the details that matter to you, and read our Terms and Conditions for the full wording.
Verified lasts a year. At renewal we look at the license and the reviews again. When an insurance certificate expires and a new one doesn't arrive, the mark comes off until it does. If homeowners tell us about the same problem with a Verified contractor more than once, we check again, and we remove the mark if the complaints hold up.
Blair Witkowski, the publisher, does every check himself. Nobody can buy a Verified mark without passing it.
No. The fee pays for the check and a year on a Verified listing. A contractor who doesn't pass doesn't get the mark, and we refund the fee.
Usually a few days once we have the license number, the insurance certificate and the references. Most of the wait is for customers to call us back.
Tell us with the contact form. We can't step into a dispute between you and a contractor, but we read every message, and repeated complaints about the same company send it back through the check.
