How we vet contractors

Before a contractor appears on VouchHome, we check four things. Each contractor's profile shows what we found and the date we checked it.

1. State license or registration

We look up every contractor on the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs license lookup and record the number, the status and the date. Which credential we check depends on the trade:

• Plumbers: a New Jersey Master Plumber license. A plumbing company must work under a master plumber who owns at least 10% of the business.
• HVAC contractors: a New Jersey Master HVACR Contractor license.
• Electricians: a New Jersey Electrical Contractor license, plus the company's Electrical Contractor Business Permit.
• Roofers, remodelers, waterproofing, window, siding, garage door and general contractors: New Jersey Home Improvement Contractor registration, which the state requires of any business that sells or does home improvements on residential property. New Jersey has no separate roofing license.

Home Improvement Contractor registration has to be renewed every year, so we check it again at each renewal. If a license or registration lapses, we take the contractor's listing down until it's current.

2. Insurance

New Jersey requires registered home improvement contractors to carry at least $500,000 per occurrence in commercial general liability insurance, plus workers' compensation unless they're exempt. We keep a current certificate of insurance on file for every contractor and note its expiry date. When a certificate expires without a replacement, we hide the listing.

3. Track record

We review each contractor's Google Business Profile and how long they've been operating. Reviews on VouchHome come only from customers we've connected with the contractor, and we never write or edit them.

4. A signed listing agreement

Every contractor signs an agreement to keep their license and insurance current, to tell us when either changes, and to follow New Jersey's consumer rules: a written contract for any job over $500, the three-day cancellation right, and no work before required permits are issued.

What we don't check

We don't inspect contractors' work and we can't guarantee results. Always get a written contract and ask who pulls the permits. Our trade pages explain the rules for each kind of job.

Featured contractors pay for placement and pass exactly the same checks. How listings are paid for.

Sources: New Jersey Contractors' Registration Act (N.J.S.A. 56:8-136 et seq.), as amended by P.L.2023, c.237; N.J.S.A. 45:14C-2.