How We Verify and Rank
Every business listed on Homversa is checked against official state records before it appears. Businesses cannot pay to be listed, and payment never affects rankings. This page describes exactly what we check, how we rank, and how we make money.
What we verify, and where
- Plumbing licenses — Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE). We ingest the board's public licensee files and record each company's Responsible Master Plumber license number, status, original license date, expiration, insurance certificate expiry, and endorsements. Only companies with a current license are listed. Every listing shows the license number and links to the official TSBPE lookup so you can verify it yourself.
- HVAC licenses — Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Texas licenses air conditioning and refrigeration contractors in two classes: Class A (unlimited) and Class B (up to 25 tons cooling / 1.5 million BTU heating). We ingest TDLR's public contractor file and show the license number, class, and expiration. Two honest limitations of that file: TDLR publishes only the county (not the city or phone) for ACR contractors, so HVAC listings use a county-level lens; and the file carries no insurance information, so unlike plumbing we cannot rank by insurance status. Verify any license at the official TDLR search.
- Mold remediation licenses — Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Texas requires a TDLR license for mold remediation above 25 contiguous square feet. We ingest TDLR's public mold licensee files and show status and expiration, linked to the official TDLR search.
- Plumbing contractor licenses — Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). For Washington we ingest L&I's open contractor-registry data (refreshed daily by the state), including license status, expiration, the insurance policy on file, and the contractor's bond. Only companies with an ACTIVE license are listed - suspended or expired registrations never appear. Verify any license at the official L&I verify tool.
- IICRC certifications. Texas does not license water damage restoration as a trade — a fact most directories don't tell you. Where no state license exists, we verify voluntary IICRC certification (Certified Firm status and technician certifications such as Water Damage Restoration Technician) against the IICRC's public locator.
Each verification is stamped with the date we last checked it, shown on every listing. We re-verify on a rolling schedule and keep an append-only history of every status change. If a license lapses, the business is removed from ranked lists automatically.
How rankings work
Plumbing (Texas): a current TSBPE license is required to appear at all. Ranked companies are ordered by: (1) valid insurance certificate on file with the state, then (2) longest time licensed (original license date). No other factor affects order.
Plumbing (Washington): an ACTIVE L&I plumbing contractor license is required to appear at all. Ranked companies are ordered by: (1) insurance policy on file with L&I, then (2) larger contractor bond, then (3) company name. Washington's registry does not publish original licensure dates, so "years licensed" is not used there - we rank only on what the state actually publishes.
HVAC (Texas): a current TDLR air conditioning contractor license in the county is required to appear at all. Because TDLR publishes only county-level data for this trade, we publish ONE HVAC page per county, on its principal covered city - never near-identical pages for every town. Ranked by: (1) license class (Class A, unlimited tonnage, before Class B), then (2) furthest license expiration (the most recently renewed license), then (3) company name. TDLR publishes no insurance or licensure-age data for this trade - we rank only on what the state actually publishes.
Water damage restoration: companies must hold a current TDLR mold license serving the county, or verified IICRC certification within 20 miles of the city. Ranked by: (1) verification depth (both a state license and IICRC certification ranks above one alone), then (2) proximity to the city, then (3) number of active certifications.
Selection counts on every city page ("We identified N... X passed verification... Y listed") are computed directly from these records and update as the data changes.
How we make money
We earn a fee when you call businesses through numbers on this site. This never affects who is listed or how they rank. We are a referral service: you contract and pay the contractor directly, and we never negotiate, quote, or take payment for the work itself. We never sell your information as a "shared lead" to multiple companies - here is why that matters, with sources.
Corrections
If any listing shows incorrect license information, we want to know. State records occasionally lag reality; we display exactly what the official registry showed on the verification date, and we re-check on request. Contact: [email protected].