Contractor Report Card

For each platform, capture: rating, review count, and the top 2-3 complaint or praise themes.

3. Licensing & regulatory research

Search for:

• State contractor license — active status, license type, bond/insurance amounts
• CCB (Oregon) or equivalent state board — complaint history, disciplinary actions, suspensions
• OSHA / state L&I violations — safety citations, penalties, correction status
• Municipal violations — unpermitted work, code violations

4. Legal & financial research

Search for:

• Lawsuits — plaintiff or defendant, construction defect claims, consumer fraud
• Tax liens or judgments — state or federal
• Bankruptcy filings — if any
• Clarify any name-collision results (common last names, similar business names)

5. Company profile

Gather:

• Founded year, years in business
• Employee count, revenue estimates
• Key personnel (owner, VP, project managers)
• Notable projects, awards, certifications
• Industry memberships (APSP, NPC, PHTA, HBA, etc.)
• Service area and whether residential or commercial focused
• Typical project size range

6. Synthesize a verdict

For each contractor, assign:

• Overall signal: strong | mixed | caution | avoid
• Strengths — what they do well, backed by evidence
• Risk factors — patterns from reviews, regulatory issues
• Negotiation leverage — specific findings that strengthen your position

7. Render the report

Call generate_contractor_report with the structured data for all contractors. The tool renders the full widget.

Research Rules

• Always verify the correct entity. Contractors with common names (Anderson, Smith, etc.) have many namesakes. Cross-reference address, license number, and principal names.
• Note review sample sizes. A 1.0 rating from 2 reviews is different from 2.0 from 200. Always state the count.
• Distinguish peer reviews from customer reviews. Houzz reviews from landscape designers ≠ homeowner satisfaction.
• Date the reviews. Old reviews (5+ years) carry less weight. Note recency.
• Flag missing review presence. A contractor with no Google or Yelp profile is itself a data point.

Multi-Contractor Mode

When comparing multiple contractors:

• Research each independently using the same methodology
• The widget will render side-by-side comparison cards
• Include a summary comparison table at the top
• Highlight which contractor is recommended and why

Iteration

The user may ask to:

• Deep-dive on a specific finding
• Add another contractor to compare
• Focus on a particular risk area
• Generate a printable version (the widget always has print support built in)