Methodology: Where Our Contractor Data Comes From
Every listing in Wildfire Home Hardening Directory is assembled from public records — no contractor pays to be included, and no contractor can pay to have data changed. This page describes each source, how records are verified, and how to correct yours.
Data sources
- CSLB license database — the California Contractors State License Board's public registry. It provides license numbers, classifications, status and business locations, and is the backbone of the directory.
- County Fire Safe Council vendor lists — the contractor lists that county FSCs publish for residents. Presence on an FSC list is recorded on the contractor's profile as a source.
- Google Maps — public ratings, review counts, service descriptions and contact details from contractors' public business listings.
- Yelp — public business listings used to cross-check services and contact information.
How we verify
- License numbers are checked against the CSLB database, and every license badge on a profile links directly to the official CSLB verification page — you can confirm status yourself in one click.
- Ratings shown are public Google ratings with their review counts, reproduced as-is. We do not collect our own reviews, and we never edit, weight or hide ratings.
- Each profile lists which sources its data came from.
Paid placement and data integrity
Contractors can pay for position (labeled Featured or Slot #1). Payment affects ordering only — never license data, ratings or reviews. Paid placement is always visibly labeled.
Update frequency
The dataset is rebuilt quarterly, and additionally whenever California wildfire law changes in a way that affects the content (as with the laws that took effect January 1, 2026). The “Updated” date on a page changes only when its data actually changed — we don't fake freshness.
Found an error in your listing?
Use the “This is my business” claim form on your profile page (or the contact form on /for-contractors/). We verify claims by contacting the business through the publicly listed phone or email, then correct the record in the next rebuild. Claimed and verified profiles are marked as such.