Certification standard
What a restoration company must prove to hold the Restoration.com.co Certified Operations badge, and how it can lose it.
We verify credentials and collect reviews from real jobs. We do not guarantee any company's workmanship.
1. Criteria
Certification is a set of checks we can verify and an applicant can fail. A company must meet all eight.
| Criterion | Evidence | How verified | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1. Legal entity in good standing | Entity name, state and registration number | We check the Secretary of State record and keep a dated screenshot. | Annual |
| C2. State contractor license | License number, class and limit, where the state requires a license for the work offered | We check the state licensing board lookup and keep a dated screenshot. | License expiry date |
| C3. General liability insurance | Certificate of insurance | We read the carrier, policy, limits and dates. The platform is named as certificate holder. | Policy expiry date |
| C4. Workers' compensation | Certificate of insurance, or a signed exemption where state law allows one | Checked the same way as general liability. | Policy expiry date |
| C5. IICRC Certified Firm | Firm number, for water, fire or mold work | We check the IICRC firm locator. | Firm expiry date |
| C6. Carrier-format estimates | The estimating platform the company uses, or an active restoration.claims account | Declared by the company. Met automatically by a delivered restoration.claims order. | Annual |
| C7. Signed code of conduct and terms | E-signature | Signature record with the document version. | When the document version changes |
| C8. Service areas and trades | ZIP list; trades (water, fire, mold, storm, rebuild); general contractor license yes or no | Declared by the company. A general contractor claim requires the license evidence in C2. | Annual |
2. Certificate, badge and verify link
- Each certified company has a certificate ID: a two-letter state code and a four-digit number. An ID is never reused.
- The badge is proof only when it resolves. Its QR code and link open the verify page, which is read live from our records and shows the current status.
- A company's public profile shows its status, certificate ID, license number and class, the date its insurance is current through, its IICRC firm number, trades and service area. Policy numbers and limits are not published.
3. Renewal, expiry and suspension
- Renewal. Annual, on the certification anniversary. The verification fee is charged, criteria C1, C6 and C8 are reconfirmed, and every expiring document must be current.
- Automatic expiry. Status changes to Expired the day any of C2 to C5 lapses. The company is reminded 30, 14, 3 and 0 days before.
- Suspension. Every suspension carries a recorded reason. An invoice unpaid for more than 15 days suspends the company automatically, and payment restores it. We may also suspend while a complaint is under investigation, or after reviewing a verified-review average below 3.5 across 5 or more reviews. A low average opens a review by us; it never suspends a company on its own.
- Effect. While a company is suspended, expired or revoked, it receives no job requests. Its profile stays up and shows the status. The verify page shows the status and its date.
- Expired and suspended companies can return to Certified. The fee never bypasses a check.
4. Revocation
Revocation happens only after the complaint process below. The reason is recorded but not published; the status is. A revoked company cannot be certified again for 12 months.
5. Complaints
Anyone can file a complaint about a certified company.
- We acknowledge the complaint within 2 business days.
- The company has 5 business days to respond.
- We decide one of four outcomes: no action, warning, suspension, or revocation.
6. Verified job reviews
- One review per job, requested once from the homeowner when the job closes.
- A review has 1 to 5 stars, text, and an optional “would hire again”.
- Reviews publish after a 48-hour hold used for abuse screening only.
- A review can be removed for only three reasons: it is not from the job's homeowner; it contains profanity or personal data; it contains threats. A low rating is never a reason.
- The company may post one public reply.
- We show the average, the count and every review, newest first. No incentive of any kind is offered for a review.
- Reviews shown under “From Google” come from Google and are never part of the verified average.
7. Ownership disclosure
A company owned by the operator of this site is certified under the same criteria and is labeled “Owned by the operator of this site” on its profile and in search results.
8. What certification is not
We verify credentials and collect reviews from real jobs. We do not guarantee any company's workmanship. The work contract is between the homeowner and the company. Restoration.com.co does not perform restoration work.