How remodeling contractors will be checked

Which checks are planned, and which are not built?

We publish no ratings or rankings, because we cannot yet stand behind any. This is the process we are building instead. It starts in state and city records, not in a company’s description of itself.

“Before any introduction” means the check will run before we put a homeowner in touch with that company. No company has passed it, because none is signed up.

Why is a remodeling license harder to check than it sounds?

There is no national contractor license and no national register. What “licensed” means for a remodeler depends on the state. We verified four different regimes at the regulators’ own sites on September 5, 2026:

• No statewide license. The state issues no general contractor or home improvement license. Cities and counties may. Verified: Texas, Illinois, Colorado, Oklahoma, Indiana.
• Registration, no exam. The state records that a contractor exists, and may require a bond or insurance. It does not test whether they can remodel a kitchen. Verified: Pennsylvania, Washington.
• A license above a dollar figure. The license exists, but a job below the threshold can sit outside it. Verified: North Carolina, at $40,000.
• A statewide residential license. A state board issues a credential you can look up by name or number. Verified: Florida, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah.

Under all four, electrical and plumbing work can need its own trade license. So “licensed” is only a useful answer once you know which credential, from which authority, for which part of the job.

Our studies of states without contractor licensing and what “licensed contractor” means by state show the sources, and the license lookup directory links each state’s official search.

What does each check mean?

License or registration, with the issuing board

We will go to the board or city that issued the credential, not to the number on a truck or a website. Where the state issues nothing, we will say so, and we will not use “verified” as decoration.

Company registration

That the trading name matches a business registered with the state. This catches a name that matches nothing you could ever complain to. It catches nothing else.

Service area and type of project

Which areas and which projects the company takes on. A firm that does bathrooms well may not be set up for a structural addition or an ADU.

Insurance confirmed with the carrier: not yet

General liability and workers’ compensation, confirmed by the insurer, not by a PDF from the company. Until we check it, ask for the certificate yourself and confirm it with the carrier named on it.

Lead-safe certification: not yet

Under the EPA Lead RRP rule (40 CFR Part 745, Subpart E), a firm paid to disturb paint in a home built before 1978 must be EPA (or state) certified.

The exemption covers only 6 sq ft or less per room inside, or 20 sq ft outside, and never a window replacement. We do not check this yet, so ask for the firm’s certificate.

Reviews: not yet

Reviews are only evidence when you know how they were gathered. We have no published policy for collecting them, so we carry no reviews and no ratings.

Is verification the same as endorsement?

No. The two are easy to blur. A checked license becomes a “vetted pro”. A vetted pro becomes a recommendation. A recommendation becomes an implied guarantee of the work. Each step is small, and the last one is false.

A check tells you a company is real and allowed to do the work. It does not tell you who will run your job, whether the allowances are realistic or how the company handles a change order. A written proposal does that. See remodeling contracts for what it should contain.

Why do checks go out of date?

A license can lapse, be suspended or be reinstated. Insurance can be canceled mid-term. Companies change name, owner and service area. A check is true on the day it is made, so we will date every check, and we ask you to confirm what matters on the day you sign.

What will HyreRemodel never do?

• Publish a ranking. Not paid, not editorial, not a “top ten”. A ranking implies a comparison we have not made.
• Invent anything. No made-up company, review, award or credential, not even as an example.
• Say a company is licensed or insured. We tell you how to confirm it with the board and the carrier instead.
• Let money change a judgment. When introductions start paying us, that is disclosed, and it stays out of the copy.

What should you check yourself before you sign?

1. The right license, with the board. Check the contractor’s license or registration with the state board or city that issued it, and any trade licenses the job needs.
2. Insurance, with the insurer. Liability and workers’ compensation certificates, confirmed with the carrier and in force on your job dates.
3. Lead-safe certification, if the house is old. Built before 1978? Ask for the firm’s EPA or state certificate before anyone disturbs paint.
4. A written, itemized proposal. Allowances, exclusions, the schedule and how change orders are priced, in writing.
5. Who pulls the permit. Ask your building department whether the job needs one, and whose name goes on it.
6. The payment schedule. Tied to finished work, with a deposit your state allows. Contractor deposit limits shows the state caps we verified.

The long version is choosing a remodeling contractor. How HyreRemodel works explains what happens to your details, and the lead quality standard sets the rules for them.