How we verify crews

Every badge on this site stands for a piece of proof we have seen and kept on file. A crew earns badges by sending that proof. Nobody can buy a badge or pay to move up a page.

The five badges

Real jobs

What we need: photos from at least three finished jobs, each with the town and the month, taken by the crew or with the homeowner's permission. At least one of those jobs must be confirmed by the homeowner, who gets an email from us asking them to say yes, this job was done at their home in that month.

What we show: the photos with town and month only. We never show a street address, and we leave out photos that show the outside of a house unless the homeowner agrees.

How long it lasts: 12 months from the newest confirmed job. A crew keeps the badge by adding confirmed jobs.

Insured

What we need: a current certificate of insurance showing general liability, sent to us by the crew's insurance agent, plus proof of workers' compensation coverage or a Florida workers' compensation exemption. We check the workers' compensation part against the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation public databases.

What we show: the badge, the date we checked, and the policy end date on the certificate.

How long it lasts: until the end date on the certificate. When that date passes without a new certificate, the badge comes off.

Registered business

What we need: an active record on Sunbiz, the Florida Division of Corporations site, for the business name on the listing, or a registered fictitious name that ties the trading name to an active business. If the crew holds a state license from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, we look it up and show its status and number as we found them.

What we show: the badge and the date we checked. We have not confirmed whether Florida requires a state license for coating-only work, and rules can differ by county, so we do not award a "licensed" badge and we do not mark crews down for not having a state license. See our contractor checklist for what that means for you.

How long it lasts: we recheck Sunbiz every three months. An inactive or dissolved record removes the badge.

Fast reply

What we need: replies to homeowner requests sent through this site. We measure the time from the request to the crew's first reply to the homeowner.

The rule: at least five requests in the last 90 days, with half or more answered within four business hours.

How long it lasts: it is recalculated every week from the last 90 days. A crew with too few requests in that window does not get the badge either way.

Reviewed

What we need: at least three reviews hosted on this site, each written by a homeowner whose job we confirmed.

How we handle reviews: we publish every review from a confirmed homeowner, positive or negative. We remove a review only under rules we apply to every review the same way: it contains personal information, threats or hate speech, it is about a different business, or it is shown to be false. Crews, their staff and their relatives cannot review their own business, and nobody is paid or rewarded for a review.

How long it lasts: reviews stay up. The badge stays while the crew has three or more.

How crews are grouped on a region page

Region pages do not number crews. They show three groups, in this order:

1. Fully verified: all five badges.
2. Verified: a claimed listing with at least the Registered business and Insured badges.
3. Listed, unclaimed: a business we found in public records that has not claimed its listing. We show only its name, town, phone and website, marked "From public business records. Unclaimed." No badges, and no place in the groups above.

Fast reply and Reviewed depend on homeowner requests, so few crews will be fully verified in our first months. That is expected.

How crews are ordered inside a group

Inside each group, the crew with the most recent proof comes first. "Proof" means a newly confirmed job, a renewed certificate, or a fresh registration check. A crew that keeps its proof current moves up. A crew that lets it go stale drifts down.

Nobody can pay to move up

Badges, groups and order come only from the rules on this page. That applies to every crew, including crews that are marketing clients of the company that runs this site. Those crews carry an "Our client" tag on their listing, and they get no bump in order. See who runs this site.

If we ever add sponsored placements, they will be labelled "Sponsored", kept visually apart from the crew groups, and will never change a crew's group or order.

Challenging a listing

Anyone can challenge a listing.

If you are a homeowner and a badge looks wrong, a job photo is not what it claims, or a crew treated you in a way you want us to know about, email us at [email protected] with the crew name and what you saw. We review it, ask the crew for its side, and remove any badge whose proof does not hold up.

If you are a crew and your listing is wrong, you want it claimed, or you want an unclaimed listing removed, email [email protected] or use the "Claim this listing" link on the listing. We answer within five business days.

If a crew disputes a badge decision, it can send new proof at any time. We do not hold a removed badge against a crew once the proof is back.

What we keep on file

For each badge we keep the proof itself, the date we checked it, and who checked it. When a badge comes off, we keep a note of why. This record is what lets us stand behind the badges, and it is available to the crew it concerns on request.