Question 1

Which records are actually checked on a Single Lookup?

Accepted Answer

Five signal categories drive the Go / Caution / No-Go verdict. Liens filed against the homeowner or the property. Court filings naming the owner — civil judgments and small-claims filings, both as plaintiff and as defendant. Permit history on the address itself, so permit-pull patterns and stale or unpermitted work show up. Contractor board complaints against any GC the homeowner names on the project. And payment-posting patterns from the prior jobs we have visibility into — slow-pay streaks, chargebacks, and double-deposit patterns all land on the line.

Question 2

How fresh is the data — is a clean result the same as safe?

Accepted Answer

Every line carries a filing date, so a clean Go means "no red flags in the records as of today" — not a guarantee. The freshness lever is Attest pre-registration: when the homeowner pre-registers their project, their own record picks up new activity before you bid, so by the time you re-run the lookup the file is current to the most recent writ that hit the docket. A clean Go today plus an Attest pre-registration is the closest the platform gets to a forward-looking read.

Question 3

Is the $35 Single Lookup reusable across the same client?

Accepted Answer

One $35 Single Lookup = one report PDF for one property + owner + job. You do not pay again to re-read the same report on the same client on the same project — open the PDF, share it with your partner or estimator, and the verdict stands. A re-run on a later bid (different scope, deeper estimate, six months later) does cost another $35 because public records accumulate new lines in the meantime — liens age off slowly, new filings land weekly, and the verdict at bid time should reflect the docket as of bid time, not as of the original run.

Question 4

What happens if no records surface on the lookup?

Accepted Answer

A clean Go with a thin file is the expected outcome on a first-time homeowner with no court history. Fewer signals is not a worse client — it is just fewer signals. The property-side checks still run on the address itself, so the home's permit record and any liens against the property do most of the talking. Price is the same per check whether the file is thick or thin, so you do not lose anything by running it.

Question 5

How are refunds and edge cases handled?

Accepted Answer

If a checkout error blocks report delivery, you are never charged — the platform only bills on a delivered PDF. If a delivered report has a verifiable data error, we rerun the lookup at no charge and send a corrected PDF. First-time-buyer returns on "didn't fit my workflow" are handled case-by-case — email tradesafejobs@polsia.app with the receipt ID and we will walk through it with you. Filing a chargeback against a delivered report instead of contacting support triggers an account suspension pending review.

Question 6

Can I share the report with a partner or subcontractor?

Accepted Answer

The report PDF is yours once delivered — share it with a partner, an estimator, or a sub by any means you choose; there is no share-gate on the file itself. What the seat controls is who can sign in and run lookups under your account: a Solo seat is one login, the GC / Team plan unlocks invites so multiple seats can run their own checks against the same subscription. If your sub needs to run their own pre-bids against other homeowners, they need their own seat.

What you can verify	Free Google search	$35 TradeSafeJobs lookup (1 report)
	Free · manual synthesis · no source citation	1 report · single (client, project, state) triple · $35 Buy 1 report — $35
License status	Whatever the contractor’s website says — usually absent or stale home-state info.	State-board lookup with current class, active expiry, and a scope-match flag.
COI in-force date	The contractor hands you a dated PDF; you have to call the carrier yourself.	Carrier-confirmed in-force date and a scope check that the policy covers the project class.
Surety bond	Hidden behind the state board; only visible if the contractor publishes it.	State-board lookup confirms the bond is in force for the active license.
Permit history depth	1–2 permits visible on the city portal, no final-inspection status.	Full permit sequence under that license, plus final-inspection outcomes (passed / trailed / never finalized).
Financial signal	Anecdotal — what the contractor tells you about past payment.	Federal civil dockets + state judgments + mechanic’s liens + bankruptcy, condensed to one Go / Caution / No-Go.
Final verdict	DIY assemble	Go Caution No-Go

Every plan starts
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Compare Solo vs. GC / Team at a glance

What a $35 lookup adds over a free Google search.

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