Methodology

How we verify contractors

The exact process we run before a contractor appears on Provetly. We publish it so homeowners can hold us accountable, and so contractors applying know what to expect.

Why this exists

Most home services platforms across Canada and the US accept any contractor who pays a lead fee. The result is well documented: regulators in both countries have taken action against major lead-share platforms over misleading practices, and the largest of them sit at low single-digit ratings on consumer review sites.

The pattern homeowners describe is the same in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montréal, Halifax, and across the US: they hire someone who looks legitimate on the platform, then discover an expired license, no insurance, or a long complaint history only after the bad job. So we verify first, then list. That is the entire product.

Step 1

License verification

We require the contractor's license number for every trade and jurisdiction they operate in. We then look it up directly with the issuing agency — provincial regulator in Canada, state board in the US — to confirm:

·License is currently active (not expired, suspended, or revoked)
·Trade classification matches the services the contractor offers (e.g. residential vs ICI in Ontario, sub-classes 1.1 / 1.3 / 1.4 in Quebec)
·Business name on the license matches the listing on Provetly
·No open complaints or disciplinary action in the past 24 months

Sources we check against:

Ontario: Skilled Trades Ontario — Public Register
Quebec: Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ)
British Columbia: Skilled Trades BC — Tradesperson Lookup
Alberta: Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training
Texas: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
Arizona: Arizona Registrar of Contractors
Colorado: Colorado DORA Professional Licensing

Every contractor profile shows the license number we verified. You can re-check it on the agency above — that's why we link them.

Step 2

Insurance Confirmation

Contractors must provide a current Certificate of Insurance (COI) that names Provetly as a verifying party. We confirm:

·General liability coverage of at least $1M per occurrence
·Workers' compensation coverage if the contractor has employees
·Policy is current — not lapsed, cancelled, or pending renewal
·Carrier is rated A or better by AM Best

Coverage is re-verified at policy renewal. Contractors whose insurance lapses are paused immediately and removed from search results until coverage is restored.

Step 3

Background Screening

We run a background check on the business owner — not a generic database search, but a multi-source review covering:

·National criminal record search (county, state, federal — past 7 years)
·Better Business Bureau profile cross-check (open complaints, alerts)
·State-level civil suit search related to construction or service work
·Identity verification — owner name on license matches owner name on background check

Contractors with construction-related felonies, recent fraud convictions, or unresolved BBB complaints don't make it onto Provetly.

Ongoing Monitoring

Vetting once isn't enough. We re-check every contractor on a rolling 12-month cycle and trigger an immediate re-verification when any of these signals fire:

·License renewal date passes without confirmation
·Insurance carrier reports policy lapse or cancellation
·BBB complaint filed against the contractor
·3+ negative homeowner reviews within 30 days
·Homeowner dispute report submitted via our contact form

Contractors who fail re-verification are paused from search results immediately. We notify the contractor and give them 14 days to resolve before permanent removal.

Public verification log

We'll publish quarterly numbers here as we accumulate meaningful volume — applications received, verifications completed, applications rejected (with category breakdown), and contractors removed after listing.

We're not posting Q1 2026 numbers because we hadn't launched yet. Watch this section.

Last log update: pending first quarter of public operations.

Browse what we've verified so far

The directory shows live cities and trades as we add them. Empty results mean we haven't verified anyone there yet — not that we're hiding contractors who paid less.

Browse the directory

Are you a contractor? Apply to be verified