How the TradeScore Works

Hiring a contractor usually comes down to a gut feeling. A name passed along by a neighbor, a few star ratings, or whoever picks up the phone first. That is a hard way to make a decision about your home.

The TradeScore exists to give you something steadier than a gut feeling. It is a single, consistent measure of a contractor's business health, built the same way for every contractor we list. This post explains exactly how it works, because a score is only useful if you can trust how it was made.

What the TradeScore measures

The TradeScore is a number from 0 to 700, paired with a letter grade from A to F.

It is not a judgment of whether one technician is more skilled than another on a given day. It is a measure of how a contractor runs their business: whether they are properly licensed, easy to find, well reviewed, clear about pricing, and set up to treat a customer well. Those are the things you can actually check before you hire someone, and they tell you a great deal about what working with that contractor will be like.

Every contractor is measured against the same checklist, using public information.

How we build every score

We build every TradeScore the same four-step way.

1. We gather public information. For each contractor we pull from their state license record with the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), their Google Business Profile, their website, and review sources including Yelp and the Better Business Bureau.
2. We run the checklist. We check that information against more than 100 individual questions. Each one is specific and factual, such as: is the license active, does the contractor carry a bond, is the average review rating strong, does the website work on a phone.
3. We group the results into seven categories. Each category covers one part of running a trustworthy business.
4. We add it up. Each category can earn up to 100 points, for a total out of 700, and that total becomes the letter grade.

The seven categories we check

• Trust and Licensing. Whether the contractor holds an active, valid state license, carries the required bond, and is in good standing with the CSLB. This is the foundation. If a contractor is not properly licensed to do the work, nothing else counts for much.
• Online Presence. How easy the contractor is to find and reach. A complete, accurate Google Business Profile and consistent business details across the web show that the business is real, current, and reachable.
• Reputation. What past customers say. We look at review ratings and review counts across Google, Yelp, and the Better Business Bureau, how recent those reviews are, and whether the contractor responds to them.
• Pricing and Value. How clear and upfront a contractor is about cost. Transparency around estimates and pricing is one of the strongest signs of a contractor who treats customers fairly.
• Service Quality. Signals about how the work gets delivered, such as guarantees and warranties, the range of services offered, and how responsive and professional the business is.
• Website Health. If a contractor has a website, whether it actually works well. Does it load quickly, work on a phone, and give a homeowner the information they need.
• AI Search. Whether the contractor shows up when people use AI assistants and AI-powered search to find help. More homeowners search this way every month, and a business that is invisible there is missing customers.

What your grade means

The seven category scores add up to a total out of 700, which maps to a letter grade:

• A: 560 to 700
• B: 420 to 559
• C: 280 to 419
• D: 140 to 279
• F: below 140

A higher grade means a contractor scores well across more parts of their business. The grade is there to help you build a shortlist quickly. It is not meant to replace your own judgment.

Why some contractors show a Limited Profile

Not every contractor in our directory has a letter grade. Some show a Limited Profile instead.

This happens when we cannot find enough public information to score a contractor fairly. Most often it means the business has no Google Business Profile, which leaves a large part of the checklist with nothing to measure.

A Limited Profile is not a bad grade, and it is not a warning. It simply means we were not able to fully assess that contractor. We would rather tell you that honestly than hand you a grade we are not confident in. On a Limited Profile we still show everything we could verify, such as license status, so you are never left with nothing.

If you are a contractor with a Limited Profile, it usually points to a thin online presence, which is something that can be improved.

How we keep the score honest

A score is only worth something if it is honest, so here is what we hold ourselves to.

We never inflate a score by ignoring missing information. If we could not measure part of a contractor's business, we do not quietly drop it and grade them on the rest. Doing that would make a contractor we know very little about look just as strong as one we were able to fully check.

We also never penalize a contractor for something we simply could not see. A low category score reflects something we actually checked and found lacking, not something we failed to find. That is the real difference between a low grade and a Limited Profile.

We keep online presence separate from quality of work. A skilled, honest contractor can still have a weak online presence. The TradeScore shows both pictures instead of pretending they are the same thing.

And no contractor can pay to have their score raised. The only way a score goes up is for the underlying business to genuinely improve.

How to use your TradeScore

If you are a homeowner, use the TradeScore to build a shortlist. Start with contractors who score well, then do your own homework: talk to them, request estimates, and ask questions. The score points you toward strong candidates. It does not make the decision for you.

If you are a contractor, your TradeScore is a clear, outside view of how your business looks to a customer who is deciding whether to call you. It shows you where you stand and which parts of your business are worth your attention.

The TradeScore will keep improving as we add new checks and better data, but the principle behind it will not change. Every contractor measured the same way, using public information, with an honest result.