New DCRA Contractor Rating System Launches

From DCRA:

“Owning a home requires maintenance, repairs and renovations. How do you know if you are hiring the best contractor to do the job? To help District residents and businesses hire contractors and building professionals with more confidence, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) is introducing the new DCRA Contractor Rating System.

DCRA frequently hears the real life nightmares of District residents, oftentimes senior citizens, who pay for renovations and repairs, but don’t receive the work for which they have paid. Unfortunately, the options for recourse after the fact are sometimes limited, and always a headache. The DCRA Contractor Rating System arms residents with information to hire contractors who possess a proven track record of proper licensing, construction and inspections, thus preventing lots of pain and hassle.

The DCRA Contractor Rating System provides unprecedented free access to an inventory of contractors, architects, and other building professionals.

Building on our expressed policy of transparency, the DCRA Contractor Rating System uses objective data to assign a rating using between one and five stars to building professionals doing business in the District. 

Benefits of the DCRA Contractor Rating System

· Helps District consumers identify properly licensed and high-performing building professionals

· Completely free to consumers, and based solely on objective data

· Helps honest contractors with proven records validate their work and attract new customers

· Reduces the number of consumer protection cases DCRA will need to pursue against bad contractors

· Only known customer-facing contracting rating system in the country operated by a local government, and another example how DCRA is using technology to enhance the customer experience

While introducing the Contractor Rating System with Architects and Interior Designers, General Contractors, and Home Improvement Contractors initially, ultimately, customers will find a variety of building and design professionals in the DCRA Contractor Rating System including engineers, electricians, mechanical contractors, and plumbers.”