Contract Rating is a directory, not an accreditation body. We do not inspect job sites, verify licences, or endorse the businesses listed here. What we do is collect what is publicly known about contractors in a given area, present it consistently, and explain what it does and does not tell you.
That distinction matters, so this page sets out exactly where the data comes from, how the ordering is calculated, and what we cannot tell you. If something here is wrong about your business, there is a correction process at the bottom.
Business details and reviews on this site are retrieved from Google Business Profiles through the Google Places API. That includes the business name, address, phone number, website, opening hours, star rating, review count, and up to five individual reviews per business.
We do not write reviews, edit review text, or accept reviews submitted directly to us. Every review you read here was written by a Google user about that business, and it is reproduced as written.
Contract Rating is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated in partnership with Google.
Results are ranked by a confidence-weighted rating rather than by raw star average. A perfect 5.0 from three customers is a weaker signal than a 4.7 from four hundred, and sorting purely by average would put the former first every time.
The score multiplies the star rating by a logarithm of the review count, which lets a genuinely excellent business with modest volume still rank well, while preventing a single five-star review from topping the page. Businesses without a rating sort last, and ties break alphabetically.
You can override this on any listing page by sorting by rating alone or by review count alone.
Several things that similar sites do, we deliberately do not:
No paid placement
A contractor cannot pay to rank higher, to appear first, or to be featured. There is no advertising product on this site that alters the order of results.
No review suppression
A contractor cannot pay to have negative reviews removed or hidden. We show what Google returns.
No lead selling
We do not collect your project details and sell them to contractors as leads. When you contact a contractor from this site, you do it directly, through their own phone number or website.
No fake urgency
No countdown timers, no "three homeowners are viewing this", no invented scarcity.
Being straightforward about the gaps is more useful to you than pretending they do not exist.
We show up to five reviews per business
That is the maximum the Google Places API returns. A contractor with 300 reviews will show five of them here. Always click through to the full Google listing before making a decision. We link to it on every profile.
We do not verify licences or insurance
We cannot confirm that any contractor listed here holds a valid certificate of qualification, an ECRA/ESA licence, liability insurance or WSIB coverage. Our hiring guides explain how to verify each of these yourself, and you should.
Category assignment is automated
A contractor's trade category is inferred from Google business types and the business name. It is usually right and occasionally wrong. A business may also do work well beyond the single category we file it under.
Coverage is uneven
We currently cover selected Ontario cities. Within those, coverage is best for the trades homeowners search for most. A contractor absent from this site has not been judged. They simply may not have been captured yet.
Data goes stale
Ratings, review counts and opening hours are refreshed periodically, not continuously. The figure on a profile page may lag the live Google listing by some weeks.
Contract Rating is free to use and is run by one person in Ontario. It is not currently a profitable business, and it does not sell your data.
If advertising is introduced in future, it will be clearly labelled as advertising, it will be visually distinct from listings, and it will not affect the order in which contractors appear. If that ever stops being true, this page will say so.
If you own or represent a business listed here and something is inaccurate - wrong category, wrong contact details, a closed location, or a listing you want removed entirely - email us and we will action it. Removal requests are honoured; we do not require a reason and we do not attempt to talk you out of it.
Because review content and ratings are sourced from your Google Business Profile, corrections to reviews themselves have to be raised with Google. Changes you make there will flow through here at the next refresh.
Email operations.ddt@gmail.com or use the contact page.