The Guild
Standard.
Membership isn't bought. It's earned. Here's the bar every Guild member clears before their name shows up on this site.
For their trade. In their state. Current. We pull license records directly from state contractor boards. If a license expires, the member gets 30 days to renew or the listing comes down. No grace period beyond that.
General liability coverage on file. Workers' compensation where state law requires it. We verify directly with the carrier, not just a certificate the contractor printed.
The owner or principal operator runs a clean background check. We re-run it annually. If something shows up between annual checks, we have the right to suspend pending review.
No fly by night outfits. We want pros with at least a year of work in the DMV. Long enough to have a track record. Long enough to have made a few mistakes and learned from them.
We pull BBB reports, state contractor board complaints, and local court records. One bad review doesn't disqualify anyone. A pattern does.
This is the one nobody else does. Repeat issues, even minor ones, get reviewed by a Guild member panel. Removal is on the table. The Guild self polices because if we don't, the brand dies.
Most Directories
Make Money Saying Yes.
Every directory you've ever used has the same business model. The more contractors they list, the more leads they sell, the more revenue they make. Being permissive is profitable.
The Guild flips that. Fewer members, vetted harder. We make less per ZIP code on purpose. That's the point.
If we let in everyone who applied, the brand promise of "vouched for by their own" would be a marketing line. We won't let that happen.
How We Enforce.
You report an issue. We investigate. We talk to both sides. We document everything.
If the member needs coaching, we coach. If they need to go, they go. There's no protected class inside the Guild. The longest tenure member is held to the same standard as the newest.
The number of Guild members removed in the past 12 months is published quarterly in our Standard Report. Transparency about removals is part of how we keep the brand honest.
Our Enforcement Timeline
- Issue reported privately by homeowner or peer member
- Within 48 hours: Guild representative contacts the reporter
- Within 7 days: Guild member contacted, given chance to respond
- Within 14 days: Written outcome delivered to all parties
- If removal is warranted: listing comes down, badge revoked, refund issued where applicable