How to Read a Contractor’s BBB Report Before You Hire

Most homeowners have heard of the Better Business Bureau. Most have never actually looked up a contractor on the BBB website. And almost none know how to read what they find there. That’s a significant gap — because the BBB report is far more than a letter grade.

The BBB report is a window into how a contractor handles conflict, disputes, and difficult customers. What’s in that record can reveal patterns that no amount of positive reviews will show you.

This guide walks you through everything: what the BBB is, what it isn’t, how their rating system works, and — most importantly — how to read a complaint so you understand what it actually tells you about the contractor you’re considering hiring.

If you haven’t read the full contractor hiring guide yet, start with The Complete Guide to Hiring a Contractor: How to Protect Your Home and Your Money. The BBB is one piece of the picture — that guide covers the whole process.

What the BBB Actually Is — And What It Isn’t

Is the BBB a government agency?

No — and this is the most important thing to understand before you look at any BBB report. The Better Business Bureau is a private, nonprofit organization. It was founded in 1912, operates through a network of local chapters across North America, and functions independently of any government oversight body. It does not have enforcement authority, cannot revoke licenses, and cannot fine contractors.

The BBB’s mission is to advance marketplace trust by helping consumers find trustworthy businesses and by giving businesses a way to demonstrate their commitment to customer service. That’s a legitimate and useful mission — but it’s not the same as government regulation. Think of the BBB as a curated community review system with dispute resolution services bolted on.

Who pays for BBB accreditation and why does it matter?

BBB accreditation is a paid membership. Businesses apply to be accredited and pay annual dues based on their size. In exchange, they get the right to display the BBB Accredited Business seal, they’re listed prominently in BBB search results, and they receive dispute resolution support. Accreditation requires meeting certain standards — but paying the membership fee is what keeps them listed with that badge.

This doesn’t mean accreditation is meaningless. Accredited businesses agree to uphold BBB standards including honesty in advertising, transparency about their business, and responsiveness to customer complaints. But it does mean a non-accredited business isn’t automatically a bad actor — they may simply have chosen not to pay the annual fee. Keep that context in mind when you see the “Not BBB Accredited” label.

What can the BBB actually do when something goes wrong?

The BBB’s real power lies in reputational pressure and complaint mediation. When a consumer files a complaint, the BBB contacts the business and asks them to respond. If the business ignores complaints or fails to resolve them, their rating drops and the unresolved complaints become part of their public record. For contractors who care about their BBB profile, that’s meaningful pressure.

The BBB cannot force a contractor to refund your money, redo your work, or appear in court. They can mediate disputes and help reach resolutions — and many contractors do resolve complaints through that process. But if a contractor simply ignores the BBB entirely, there’s no enforcement mechanism. What you’re left with is a public record showing they didn’t respond.

How does the BBB compare to government licensing boards?

State contractor licensing boards are government agencies with real teeth. They can investigate complaints, revoke licenses, and impose fines. The BBB has none of that authority. That said, the BBB’s complaint database is often more accessible to everyday homeowners than navigating state agency portals.

Both the BBB and your state licensing board are worth checking — and understanding how they’re different makes you a smarter consumer throughout the hiring process.

For a full picture of how to verify a contractor’s credentials, read our guide on how to check if a contractor is licensed and insured. The BBB and state licensing boards answer different questions — you need both.

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The BBB Rating System Explained: A+ to F

How does the BBB calculate its letter grades?

The BBB letter grade is calculated using a 100-point scale based on 13 weighted factors. The grade runs from A+ (the highest) through A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and finally F (the lowest). Not all factors carry the same weight — some are much more significant than others. Understanding what goes into the score helps you interpret it correctly.

The most heavily weighted factors are complaint volume relative to business size, complaint resolution, and time in business. A contractor with a high complaint volume relative to how long they’ve been operating will see their grade suffer quickly. A contractor who resolves complaints professionally can maintain a strong grade even with a few complaints on record.

What are all the factors that go into the BBB score?

The 13 factors include: complaint history (volume, severity, and resolution), time in business, transparent business practices, licensing and government action history, advertising compliance, and whether the business has responded to BBB inquiries. Factors like failure to respond to complaints or a pattern of repeated complaint types carry significant negative weight. A single government action (like a state license board sanction) can also drag a grade down sharply.

Factors that do NOT affect the grade include customer reviews posted on the BBB website. That surprises most people. Star ratings left by customers are separate from the letter grade — they don’t feed the algorithm. This means a contractor can have a glowing 4.9-star customer review average and still carry a C grade if their complaint history is problematic.

Is an A+ rating a reliable signal that a contractor is trustworthy?

It’s a positive signal — but not a guarantee. A newly formed business with no complaints yet will often start with a high default grade simply because there’s no negative data. That doesn’t mean they’ve proven themselves. A contractor with an A+ rating and only 14 months of business history carries much more uncertainty than a contractor with an A- rating and 12 years of history including a few resolved complaints.

The letter grade is a useful filtering tool, not a final verdict. Use it to flag obvious concerns — an F rating or a D rating with multiple unresolved complaints deserves serious scrutiny. But don’t let an A+ make you skip the rest of the due diligence process. The details behind the grade tell the real story.

What does an “NR” (No Rating) or “Not Rated” status mean?

NR means the BBB doesn’t have enough information to assign a letter grade. This can happen with very new businesses, businesses that operate primarily in cash without a formal online presence, or businesses that have declined to participate in the BBB rating process. NR isn’t automatically a red flag — but it does mean you’ll need to rely more heavily on other verification sources. It gives you less to work with, not more reason to trust.

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How to Look Up a Contractor on the BBB Website

Where do you start when searching for a contractor on BBB.org?

Go to bbb.org and use the search bar at the top of the page. Enter the contractor’s business name. If you know their city or zip code, add that in the location field — this is especially important for contractors with common business names. The search returns a list of matching businesses, and you’ll click through to their individual profile page.

If your initial search returns no results, try variations of the business name. Many contractors operate under a DBA (Doing Business As) that differs from their legal company name. Try searching by the owner’s name if you know it, or by phone number — the BBB sometimes allows phone-based lookup.

If they genuinely don’t appear after those attempts, that’s important information on its own. What a missing BBB record means is covered in full in a later section.

What sections will you see on a contractor’s BBB profile page?

A full BBB profile typically includes: the business name and contact information, the letter grade displayed prominently, whether they’re accredited and for how long, years in business, number of employees, and the complaint section. Below the basic info you’ll find customer reviews (separate from complaints), complaint history broken down by complaint type, and a “Details” section listing any government actions or business license information on file.

The most important section is the Complaints tab. This is where the actual dispute history lives — not just the count, but the full text of each complaint and the business’s response. Spend the most time here. The letter grade and accreditation status are useful context, but the complaints are where you learn how this contractor actually behaves under pressure.

How do you find the right contractor when multiple businesses have similar names?

Look carefully at the business address, phone number, and years in business. Cross-reference what you know from your contractor’s business card or estimate. If they gave you a license number during your initial conversation, you can verify the business name associated with that license through your state’s licensing board, then search BBB with the exact registered name. This prevents you from accidentally reviewing the wrong company’s record.

Our guide on checking a contractor’s license and insurance explains how to pull the official business name from state records — that’s the most reliable way to confirm you’re looking at the right BBB profile. It’s a five-minute step that eliminates a lot of potential confusion.

What’s the fastest way to get through a BBB profile during the hiring process?

Start with three quick checks: (1) How long have they been in business? (2) How many complaints in the last 3 years? (3) Are any complaints unresolved? If all three answers are acceptable — solid history, manageable complaint volume, nothing unresolved — then read the actual complaint text to check for patterns.

If any of the three quick checks raises a flag, dig deeper before proceeding. Don’t let time pressure push you past something worth understanding.

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How to Read a BBB Complaint

What information does a BBB complaint actually contain?

Each BBB complaint includes: the complaint type (categorized as Billing/Collection, Delivery, Guarantee/Warranty, Advertising, or Service Issues), the complaint date, the full text of the consumer’s complaint, the business’s response, any additional comments from the consumer, and a final resolution status. The status will show as Resolved, Answered, or Unanswered — and that status matters enormously.

The complaint text is written by the homeowner, not by the BBB. That means it’s one-sided by nature — you’re reading one person’s account of what went wrong. Read it critically. Some complaints involve genuine contractor misconduct; others reflect misunderstandings about scope, pricing, or realistic outcomes for a complex job.

The contractor’s response gives you the other side of the story. Treat both together as evidence — not either one in isolation.

How do you evaluate the contractor’s response to a complaint?

A good contractor response does four things: it acknowledges the customer’s concern, explains what happened from the business’s perspective, describes what was done or offered to make it right, and closes professionally. You don’t need a contractor to admit fault in every complaint — sometimes the complaint is unfair and a clear, factual rebuttal is the right response. What you’re looking for is professionalism under pressure.

A bad response deflects blame entirely, attacks the customer’s credibility, makes excuses without solutions, or disappears into legal language without substance. Some contractors respond with a single sentence that says “This customer was difficult to work with” and nothing more. That’s a red flag — not because the claim might be wrong, but because a professional business handles difficult situations with more care than that.

What does “Answered” versus “Resolved” actually mean in a complaint status?

“Resolved” means the consumer confirmed they were satisfied with the outcome — the contractor made it right to the customer’s satisfaction. “Answered” means the contractor responded, but the customer did not confirm satisfaction — either because the customer didn’t respond back, or because the customer was still unhappy but the BBB closed the complaint after 10 days with no further response. “Answered” is a neutral status; it doesn’t mean the problem was actually fixed.

“Unanswered” is the most serious status. It means the contractor did not respond to the complaint at all. The BBB sent them notice, gave them time to respond, and they ignored it. For a homeowner hiring a contractor, unanswered complaints are the clearest signal that this business doesn’t take accountability seriously.

Should you be worried if a contractor has complaints at all?

Not necessarily. Any contractor who has been in business for 10+ years and completed hundreds of jobs will likely have at least a few complaints. The question isn’t whether complaints exist — it’s what they say, how many there are relative to the size of the business, and how the contractor handled them. A contractor with 4 resolved complaints over 15 years is often a better signal than a contractor with zero complaints and 18 months of history.

Volume matters too. If a contractor has 22 complaints in 3 years, that’s a pattern worth examining regardless of resolution status. Compare that to other local contractors in the same trade. Context is everything — what looks like a lot of complaints for a handyman might be typical for a large roofing company doing hundreds of jobs per year.

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Red Flags in BBB Reports: What Should Make You Stop

What is the single biggest red flag you can find in a BBB report?

Unanswered complaints. Full stop. When a contractor receives a formal complaint through the BBB — a complaint the BBB notifies them about directly — and they don’t bother to respond, they’re telling you something important about how they handle problems. A contractor who ignores the BBB complaint process is likely to ignore your calls, your texts, and your concerns after you’ve already handed over a deposit.

Multiple unanswered complaints compound the concern. If you see three, four, or five unanswered complaints over a 12-month period, you’re not looking at a one-time oversight — you’re looking at a business that has consciously decided not to engage with accountability mechanisms. That’s the kind of contractor who disappears after the job goes wrong.

What does a pattern of complaints tell you that individual complaints don’t?

Individual complaints can be outliers. A pattern is structural. If six different complaints over two years all describe the same problem — incomplete work, failed return visits, pressure to pay before the job was done — that’s not six unlucky customers. That’s how this contractor operates.

The BBB complaint categories make it easier to spot patterns. If every complaint is categorized under “Service Issues” and all describe the same behavior, the pattern is unmistakable.

Pay special attention to complaints filed within the same few months. A cluster of complaints in a short window can signal a contractor who took on more work than they could handle, ran into financial trouble, or changed management. Any of those scenarios creates risk for you as a new customer. Read the dates carefully and note whether the pattern is old or ongoing.

Why should short business history concern you even with a clean record?

A contractor with 14 months in business and no complaints doesn’t necessarily have a clean track record — they may just not have been around long enough to generate one. Industry data consistently shows that the majority of contractor failures and disputes occur within the first two to three years of operation. A short business history means you’re taking on the risk of being their first difficult customer.

This doesn’t mean every newer contractor is risky. Some of the best tradespeople are veterans who recently launched their own companies after years of working under established firms. But when you combine short business history with limited online presence, no permit history, and no BBB record, the picture gets concerning. Any one of those factors alone is manageable; all four together suggests someone you know very little about.

What government actions in a BBB report should you be aware of?

The BBB profiles sometimes list government actions against a business — things like state attorney general actions, licensing board sanctions, or regulatory violations. If you see a government action listed, click through to read what it was. An old fine for a paperwork violation is very different from a contractor whose license was revoked for safety violations or fraud. Government actions carry real weight because they come from agencies with actual enforcement authority.

Any contractor with an active license revocation or suspension who is still advertising for work is operating illegally in most states. If you find a government action on their BBB profile, verify their current license status through the state licensing board before you go any further. Our article on checking contractor licenses shows you exactly how to do that lookup for your state.

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Green Flags: What a Good BBB Report Actually Looks Like

What does an ideal contractor BBB profile look like for a homeowner to hire?

The ideal profile shows a business with 8+ years of history, an A or A+ rating, and a complaint count that is low relative to their operational scale. Any complaints on record are resolved — meaning the customer confirmed satisfaction. The contractor’s responses to complaints are measured, professional, and specific. There are no government actions listed, and the business type matches the work you need done.

That said, very few contractors have a spotless record over a long career. The realistic version of a green flag is a contractor who has complaints — because they’ve been around long enough to accumulate them — but who resolves them. A resolved complaint is actually better evidence of a professional contractor than zero complaints, because you get to see how they handle adversity.

Why are professional responses to complaints a stronger signal than no complaints at all?

A complaint is a stress test. When a job goes sideways — and eventually, with enough jobs, something always does — the question isn’t whether problems happen. It’s how the contractor responds. A contractor whose BBB responses are calm, professional, and solution-oriented has demonstrated something valuable.

That’s exactly what you want to know before you hand them a significant contract. How a contractor treats an unhappy customer in a public forum tells you how they’ll treat you if your job hits a snag.

Contrast that with a contractor who has never had a complaint because they’ve only been in business for a year and completed 15 jobs. They haven’t been tested yet. They haven’t had to deal with a customer who’s unhappy, a subcontractor who didn’t show, or a supply delay that blew the timeline. A multi-year track record of resolved complaints is better evidence than absence of any record at all.

What does a long business history on the BBB record signal about a contractor?

Longevity is one of the most underappreciated signals in contractor vetting. A business that has operated in your community for 15 or 20 years has survived recessions, supply chain disruptions, seasonal slowdowns, and competitive pressure from newer competitors. They’ve built enough of a reputation — good or bad — for the record to have real meaning. They have something to lose if they treat a customer poorly, which changes the incentive structure.

Long-established contractors are also more likely to pull proper permits, carry current insurance, and follow local codes — because they’ve built relationships with local inspectors and know exactly what compliance looks like. Our article on checking a contractor’s permit history explains why that compliance record matters for your home’s safety and resale value.

How do customer reviews on the BBB site factor into your assessment?

Customer reviews on BBB.org are worth reading, but treat them separately from the complaint history. The star ratings and review text represent voluntary feedback from customers — they don’t affect the letter grade and aren’t verified in the same way complaints are. A contractor with mostly positive BBB reviews but two unresolved complaints is more concerning than a contractor with mixed reviews and a clean complaint resolution record.

Use the reviews to get a feel for the customer experience — timeliness, communication, quality of finish work. But for risk assessment, the complaint history is where the meaningful signal lives. Reviews are impressions; complaints are incidents. Both matter, but incidents tell you more about what happens when things go wrong.

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What BBB Accreditation Means — And What It Doesn’t

What does a contractor have to do to become BBB accredited?

To become BBB accredited, a business must apply, pay annual dues, and meet the BBB’s standards of trust. Those standards include being in business for at least 6 months, having no unresolved complaints, maintaining a rating of at least B, and agreeing to the BBB’s Code of Business Practices — which covers honesty, transparency, responsiveness, and fair treatment of customers. Meeting the standards is a real requirement, not rubber-stamped.

However, the process starts with paying the fee and submitting an application. The BBB reviews the application and approves accreditation if the standards are met — but the ongoing monitoring is complaint-driven. If an accredited business starts generating unresolved complaints, their accreditation can be revoked. This means the seal does carry some ongoing accountability, but it’s not as rigorous as, say, a state licensing board audit.

Should you only consider BBB-accredited contractors?

No — and that’s important. Many excellent, experienced contractors simply don’t participate in BBB accreditation. Some find the annual fee unjustifiable for the benefit it delivers. Others operate primarily through word-of-mouth referrals and never needed a BBB seal to build their business.

A non-accredited contractor with 20 years of history, clean licensing, and strong community reputation is a safer hire than an accredited contractor with multiple unresolved complaints. The seal is a signal, not a guarantee.

Accreditation is a positive signal when combined with other positive signals. It’s not a pass/fail qualifier. Use it as one data point in a broader assessment — not as the deciding factor. The homeowners who get burned by contractors often ignored clear warning signs while fixating on credentials that looked reassuring on the surface.

Can a contractor lose their BBB accreditation?

Yes. The BBB can revoke accreditation for failure to uphold their standards — including accumulating unresolved complaints, engaging in deceptive advertising, or receiving a government action that violates their code of business practices. Revocations are documented in the BBB’s public records. If you’re reviewing a contractor and see that their accreditation was revoked in the past, read the reasons carefully before proceeding.

A past revocation that was followed by years of clean operation is different from a recent revocation. Context matters here just as it does with complaints. Some contractors go through difficult periods and emerge better-run businesses; others have a pattern of losing accreditation and reapplying under a new business name. If you see that pattern, walk away.

What’s the difference between displaying the BBB seal and being truly accredited?

The BBB seal can be displayed digitally, on business cards, trucks, and websites — but only by businesses with current, active accreditation. If a contractor displays the seal but their accreditation is expired or revoked, that’s a misrepresentation. You can verify current accreditation status directly on the BBB website — the profile will show “BBB Accredited Business” with the start date if accreditation is active. If it’s not active, the seal shouldn’t be displayed.

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How to Use BBB Reports Alongside Google, Angi, and Other Sources

Why does using multiple sources matter when researching a contractor?

Every verification source has a blind spot. The BBB only captures complaints from customers who knew to file one and took the time to do so. Google reviews skew positive because satisfied customers are more likely to respond to a “How did we do?” request than dissatisfied ones.

Angi ratings reflect their own verified customers and can be influenced by Angi’s business relationship with the contractor. No single source gives you the full picture — which is why combining them matters.

Using multiple sources creates a composite picture that is harder to game. A contractor who has a clean BBB record, strong Google reviews, solid Angi rating, and verified license and insurance has passed multiple independent checkpoints. The more sources that point in the same direction, the more confident you can be in your assessment. Conversely, a contractor who looks good on one source but poorly on others is worth slowing down on.

How does the BBB differ from Google reviews in what it tells you?

Google reviews are volume-and-sentiment signals — they tell you what the general experience with this contractor looks like across many customers. BBB complaints are incident-specific signals that show you the worst moments and, more importantly, how the contractor handled them.

Google reviews reflect the typical customer experience. BBB complaints reveal the outlier experiences. Both are useful for different reasons, and together they give you a fuller picture than either one alone.

A contractor with a 4.8-star Google average and two BBB complaints — both resolved professionally — is a contractor worth meeting. The Google reviews confirm the typical experience is positive; the BBB shows the contractor handles problems well. Together, those two data points reinforce each other. Our guide on what contractor reviews really tell you goes deeper on how to interpret review patterns and spot manipulation.

What does Angi (formerly Angie’s List) add that the BBB doesn’t cover?

Angi adds background checks and verified service history for contractors in their network. Contractors who list on Angi go through a screening process that includes criminal background checks and license verification. Angi also collects project-specific reviews — often with details about cost, timeline, and quality of work on particular job types. This can be more useful than a general rating when you’re hiring for a specific trade.

The limitation of Angi is that it’s a paid lead generation platform. Contractors pay for placement and leads, which creates a financial relationship between Angi and the contractors they feature. That doesn’t make their ratings worthless — but it’s worth knowing the structure. Angi’s best value is for finding contractors you can then vet independently through BBB, state licensing boards, and permit records.

How does permit history round out what the BBB record tells you?

A contractor’s permit history shows whether they pull permits for jobs that require them — and whether those jobs pass inspection. This is the compliance record the BBB can’t see. A contractor with a strong BBB profile who consistently skips permits on roofing, electrical, or structural work is creating hidden liability for you. The permit record lives at your local building department and is usually accessible online.

Our article on checking a contractor’s permit history and why it matters explains exactly how to run that search. The combination of BBB complaint history and permit compliance record gives you a more complete picture of how a contractor actually operates than either source alone.

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When a Contractor Has No BBB Record — What That Actually Means

Is a missing BBB record automatically a warning sign?

Not automatically — but it should prompt questions. Many highly skilled contractors operate primarily on referrals and word-of-mouth, never feeling the need to establish or maintain a BBB presence. Small handyman operations, specialty tradespeople, and contractors who came up through union apprenticeships often don’t prioritize online reputation platforms. The absence of a BBB record doesn’t mean they’re bad at their job or dishonest.

What a missing BBB record does mean is that you have less third-party data to work with. You’ll need to rely more heavily on other sources: state licensing board verification, direct references from past customers, permit history, and platforms like Google or Nextdoor. A contractor with no BBB record but 12 verifiable references from neighbors can be a safer hire than an accredited contractor with 8 unresolved complaints.

What are the most common reasons a contractor might not show up in BBB search results?

There are four main reasons a contractor might be absent from BBB search results. First, they’re genuinely new and haven’t been operating long enough to appear. Second, they chose not to participate in the BBB system at all. Third, they operate under a business name different from what they gave you — a DBA situation you’d need to resolve through state licensing records.

The fourth reason is the most concerning: they may have closed a previous business with a bad BBB record and started fresh under a new name. The new entity has no BBB record because it is genuinely new.

The “name change dodge” is more common than homeowners realize. A contractor who accumulated complaints and a failing grade under one business name can simply form a new LLC and start fresh with no BBB record. This is one reason verifying the owner’s name and checking for related entities is valuable.

The KKS Echelon report is designed specifically to surface these kinds of connections between a contractor and prior business entities — before you sign anything.

How do you vet a contractor who has no BBB presence at all?

Start with what you can verify independently: state licensing and insurance, permit history at the local building department, and personal references from recent customers in your community. Ask the contractor directly: “Can you give me the names of three homeowners nearby who can speak to a job you completed in the last 12 months?” A legitimate contractor with nothing to hide will answer that question without hesitation.

Also check their online presence holistically. A contractor with no BBB record, no Google presence, no Facebook business page, no truck lettering, and no local business address who is offering you a substantially below-market bid is presenting a risk profile you should take seriously. The combination of indicators — not any single one — is what tells the story. When several indicators are missing at once, slow down.

What steps should you take if a contractor can’t be found on any verification platform?

Request a copy of their contractor’s license, liability insurance certificate, and workers’ compensation certificate before any money changes hands. A licensed, insured contractor should be able to produce all three within 24 hours. If they’re evasive about providing documentation, that tells you everything you need to know. No paperwork, no contract.

Then call the insurance company directly to verify the policy is current — don’t just accept the paper. Call your state licensing board to confirm the license is active and in good standing. And before you sign a contract for any significant work, consider getting a professional background check on the business and its owner. The cost is small relative to what you’re spending on the project.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is a BBB A+ rating enough on its own to trust a contractor with a major project?

No — an A+ rating is a starting point, not a final answer. The BBB grade reflects complaint history and time in business, but it doesn’t verify a contractor’s license, insurance coverage, or permit compliance. A contractor can hold an A+ rating and still be unlicensed in your state. Always verify licensing and insurance separately through official state sources before signing any contract.

How many BBB complaints is too many for a contractor you’re considering hiring?

There’s no universal threshold — it depends on the size of the operation and the nature of the complaints. A contractor who completes 200 roofing jobs per year and has 5 complaints is performing at a rate most businesses would accept. The same 5 complaints for a contractor who does 20 jobs per year is a very different picture. Look at complaint volume relative to apparent business scale, and weight unresolved complaints more heavily than resolved ones.

Can a contractor fake or remove a negative BBB complaint?

Contractors cannot remove legitimate complaints from their BBB record. Complaints remain on the public record for three years. A contractor can request removal only if they believe the complaint is fraudulent, submitted by a competitor, or filed about a different business — and the BBB reviews such requests.

This process has integrity gaps, but outright fabrication or mass removal of real complaints is not something contractors can do unilaterally. The public record is more reliable than many homeowners assume.

What should I do if I need to file a BBB complaint against a contractor I already hired?

Go to bbb.org and navigate to “File a Complaint.” You’ll need the contractor’s business name, address, and a clear description of what happened — including dates, amounts paid, and the outcome you’re seeking. Be factual and specific. The BBB will contact the contractor and request a response within a set timeframe. Filing a BBB complaint is separate from and should not replace filing with your state contractor licensing board or pursuing legal action if warranted.

Does the BBB cover contractors in all 50 states?

Yes — the BBB operates through regional chapters across the United States and Canada, covering virtually all geographic markets. Some rural areas are served by a regional chapter rather than a local one, but the search function at bbb.org handles the routing automatically. You’ll see the chapter responsible for that business’s region listed on the profile page. Coverage is not always uniform in very rural markets, but for the vast majority of homeowners the BBB database will include contractors serving your area.

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