Seven checks. In order. Every year.
This is the whole test. A firm passes each step in sequence or it does not appear on the register. There is no partial credit, no probationary listing, and no fee that changes the outcome.
Beside each step is a page from a sample file, for a fictional roofing firm, so you can see exactly what we keep.
-
Step 01 of 07
License & registration
The firm holds every Idaho license and registration its trade requires, in its own name, current as of the review date.
Cut ifa credential has expired, the license belongs to someone who has left the firm, or there is any open disciplinary action.
How we check. A reviewer pulls the record directly from the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses and the Contractor Registration database. We never accept a document supplied by the applicant.
What we record. License numbers, issue and expiry dates, and any disciplinary history, entered in the firm's file.
Sample file · fictional firmPage 1 Contractor registration record
- Registrant
- Example Roofing Co.
- Registration
- RCE-00000
- Status
- Active
- Expires
- 30 Jun 2027
- Discipline
- None on record
Pulled from the state database by the reviewer, not supplied by the firm.
-
Step 02 of 07
Insurance on file
General liability of at least $1M per occurrence, and workers' compensation wherever the firm employs a crew.
Cut ifa policy lapses at any point during the year, or a crew works without comp coverage.
How we check. The certificate of insurance is issued to the Guild by the carrier, naming us as certificate holder, so we are notified on cancellation.
What we record. Carrier, policy numbers, limits, and expiry. Renewals are chased thirty days out.
Sample file · fictional firmPage 2 Certificate of liability insurance
- Certificate holder
- The HomeGuild, Boise
- General liability
- $1,000,000 each occurrence
- Workers' comp
- Statutory, Idaho
- Policy period
- 1 Mar 2026 to 1 Mar 2027
- Renewal chase
- 30 Jan 2027
Sent to us by the carrier. If the policy is cancelled, the carrier tells us.
-
Step 03 of 07
Three homeowner references, called
Three recent residential customers, none related to the firm, at least one from a job over $5,000.
Cut ifa reference can't be reached, a dispute is unresolved, or a final bill ran more than 15% over the written estimate without a signed change order.
How we check. A reviewer phones each reference and works through the same twelve questions. The questions that matter most: what went wrong, how it was handled, and what the final bill was against the estimate.
What we record. A one-paragraph summary of each call, visible to members on the firm's page.
Sample file · fictional firmPage 3 Reference call 2 of 3 · full tear-off, 2025
- Q7
- What went wrong?
- Q8
- How was it handled?
- Q9
- Final bill against the estimate?
- Estimate
- $17,900
- Final bill
- $18,400 +2.8%, change order signed
Twelve questions, same order, every call.
-
Step 04 of 07
Five years operating in the Valley
Continuous operation in Ada or Canyon County for at least five years under the same ownership.
Cut ifownership changed inside the window, an out-of-state parent controls scheduling and pricing, or a franchise has been in the market less than five years.
How we check. Secretary of State filing date, the earliest license record, and a local business address that is not a mailbox.
Why five. The Valley's growth brought a wave of firms that arrived in a boom and leave in a slowdown. Five years covers one full cycle.
Sample file · fictional firmPage 4 Operating history
- State filing
- March 2014
- First registration
- June 2014
- Ownership changes
- None
- Business address
- Garden City shop, visited
12 years
Four checks on the record. Three on the work.
Licenses, insurance, references and years in business get a firm to the door. The site visit, the pricing pledge and the yearly re-review decide whether it stays.
-
Step 05 of 07
A site visit to finished work
A Guild reviewer walks a completed job, chosen by us from the reference list, with the homeowner present.
Cut ifany work would not pass the relevant inspection, or the homeowner declines to host the visit.
How we check. We pick the job. The firm is told the week, not the day. The reviewer looks at what a homeowner can't see from the driveway: flashing, terminations, panel labeling, drainage, cleanup.
What we record. A short written report with photographs, shared with the firm and visible to members.
Sample file · fictional firmPage 5 Site report · roof replacement, Eagle
- Flashing
- Chimney and sidewalls stepped, sealed
- Edges
- Drip edge and starter course in place
- Ventilation
- Ridge vent continuous
- Cleanup
- Magnet sweep, no nails in beds
- Homeowner
- Present for the walk
Six photographs attached. Signed by the reviewer.
-
Step 06 of 07
Pricing transparency pledge
Written estimates, itemized change orders signed before the work, and no fee of any kind paid to the Guild or to anyone for the referral.
Cut ifa single breach is substantiated. This is the check most likely to remove a firm mid-year.
How we check. The firm signs the pledge annually. Reference calls and member reports test whether it is kept.
What it rules out. Lead fees, "preferred vendor" fees, kickbacks to property managers or agents, and member-only pricing that is really a surcharge.
Sample file · fictional firmPage 6 Pricing pledge · 2026
- Estimates
- Written, every job
- Change orders
- Itemized, signed before work
- Referral fees
- None, to anyone
- Paid to the Guild
- $0
Signed by the owner · August 2026
-
Step 07 of 07
Annual re-review
Steps one through six again, every August, for every firm on the register.
Cut ifany step is failed. A removed firm may be re-nominated after twelve months.
How we check. Same process, new references, a new site visit. Nothing carries over from the prior year except the file.
Between cycles. Two substantiated member complaints in twelve months trigger an immediate review. Removals are published to members with the reason.
Sample file · fictional firmPage 7 Register status
- Status
- On the register
- Next full review
- August 2027
- Complaints, 12 months
- 0 (2 trigger a review)
- Carried over
- The file. Nothing else.
Every firm starts again at step one each August.
Reviewers live here and don't take work from firms.
Guild reviewers are Treasure Valley residents with a trade background — a retired inspector, a former GC, a journeyman electrician. None may hold an interest in a listed firm or accept work from one. Every site-visit report carries the reviewer's name.
Meet the reviewers