The Standards Behind Every State Contractor-Board Guide
Our E-E-A-T framework in full: who writes and reviews our content, how we source it from official state .gov boards and NASCLA, how we verify and re-verify license-lookup tools and board contacts, how we handle the constant churn of license status, our advertising and FTC compliance, and our human-in-the-loop AI policy. Read alongside our Sources & Methodology.
What is on this page
1. Editorial Mission
Contractor licensing in the U.S. is fragmented — 50 states, dozens of boards, different classifications, different rules, and license records that change daily. Consumers routinely lose money to unlicensed or lapsed contractors because they could not quickly find the right board or did not know how to verify a license. Our mission is to bring every state board’s official tools and processes into one plain-English, in-depth, regularly-updated reference, so anyone can verify a contractor before they hire.
2. Our E-E-A-T Commitment
Experience: our guides reflect first-hand knowledge of how license verification actually works — how lookup tools behave, what “active” vs. “expired” vs. “suspended” means, how complaint processes run. Expertise: our editors understand state licensing frameworks, classifications, bonding, and consumer-protection law. Authoritativeness: we cite primary sources — the state board’s own .gov page and official lookup tool — never lead-generation sites. Trustworthiness: every board detail is human-verified, we disclose our methodology, we date every page, and we correct errors quickly.
3. Source Hierarchy
We work to a six-tier source hierarchy, where higher-tier sources govern when sources conflict:
- Tier 1 — The state board’s official .gov site: the board homepage, the license-lookup tool, the complaint portal, classification and renewal pages.
- Tier 2 — The state’s official license-lookup tool: the authoritative source of a contractor’s current license status.
- Tier 3 — State statute & administrative code: the licensing law and rules that govern classifications, bonding, and discipline.
- Tier 4 — NASCLA: the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies for cross-state coordination and the NASCLA Accredited Examination.
- Tier 5 — Federal & consumer-protection bodies: OSHA for job-site safety; the FTC (including the Cooling-Off Rule) and state Attorneys General for consumer protection.
- Tier 6 — Recovery-fund & bonding administrators: the state recovery/guaranty fund and surety information where published.
Full detail on each tier is on our Sources & Methodology page.
4. Verification Workflow
- Identify the authoritative source. The state board’s official .gov site — never a lead-generation or referral site.
- Verify URLs are live. A human editor clicks every link before publication — homepage, license-lookup, complaint portal.
- Test the license-lookup tool to confirm it reaches the live state system.
- Cross-check the board’s address against the official .gov contact page.
- Confirm the complaint process against the board’s current published procedure.
- Check classification & bonding rules against the state statute or board guidance.
- Dial-test the board phone on a quarterly cycle — confirming the line answers and routes correctly, without generating any false emergency call.
- Editor sign-off. A second editor reviews end-to-end, including the “this is not a board” notice and the 911 / Poison Control / 988 emergency framework.
5. License-Status Discipline — A Contractor-Specific Challenge
A contractor’s license can be active today and suspended tomorrow; it can expire, be revoked, or be reinstated. Because of this, we do not publish any individual contractor’s license status — we publish the official lookup tool so you can check the live status yourself at the moment you need it. What we do verify and re-verify is the board’s own infrastructure: the lookup-tool URL, the complaint portal, the phone number, and the process. If a board moves its lookup tool or changes its complaint portal, that is one of our 48-hour priority correction categories.
6. Independence
contractorsboard.org/ is independent. We are not affiliated with any state contractor licensing board, NASCLA, OSHA, the FTC, or any contractor, surety, or insurer. No board or agency reviews our content prior to publication. No payment is accepted for editorial coverage, and we do not run a contractor-referral or lead-generation business.
7. Advertising Relationships
We are funded by display advertising. Our editorial content is never altered to favor any advertiser. We decline advertising in these categories:
- Operations that misrepresent themselves as a state licensing board or an official .gov service
- Lead-generation schemes that imply official endorsement or vetting we do not provide
- Unlicensed-contractor or “no license needed” promotions
- Products with deceptive claims under FTC Act Section 5
- Products with environmental/sustainability claims that fail the FTC Green Guides
8. FTC Act Section 5 and State UDAP Compliance
Our own promotional content is written to comply with Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. §45), which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and with state UDAP statutes. We also describe the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule (a 3-day right to cancel certain home-solicitation sales) where relevant to consumers hiring contractors. Spot something deceptive? Report it to us and to reportfraud.ftc.gov.
9. Corrections
If an entry is wrong — a moved license-lookup tool, a changed complaint portal, a new board phone number, a revised classification — we want to know and fix it. Reader-reported corrections are our priority queue: 7 business days for most, with a 48-hour priority path for broken license-lookup links, dead phone numbers, and changed complaint portals.
10. Authors and Reviewers
Site content is written and reviewed by editors who research state contractor-licensing statutes, board rules, classifications, bonding and insurance requirements, and consumer-protection law. Pages carry a clear “last reviewed” date so readers know how current the information is.
11. AI and Automation
We use software tools for spell-check, grammar review, and routine drafting assistance. However, no editorial fact, URL, license-lookup link, telephone number, board address, complaint process, or classification detail on contractorsboard.org/ is published from AI without human verification against the board's own official .gov page. We do not auto-generate or auto-publish board entries, and we never publish an individual contractor’s license status. This human-in-the-loop standard is central to our E-E-A-T commitment.
12. Contact
For corrections, editorial questions, or sourcing inquiries: info@contractorsboard.org
Spotted a Correction?
Email us with the subject “Correction”. Corrections are our priority queue: 7 business days for most; 48 hours for broken license-lookup links, dead phone numbers, and changed complaint portals.
📧 info@contractorsboard.org