What public records exist on contractors?

Public records on contractors fall into about ten distinct categories, each maintained by a different agency. Knowing what exists tells you what verification is possible.

1. State licensing board records (where licensing exists):

- License status, class, issue and expiration dates. - Bond status and surety company name. - Workers' comp account status. - Qualifying party name. - Disciplinary actions, citations, license bars. - Continuing education compliance.

2. Secretary of State / business entity filings:

- LLC, corporation, partnership formation. - Registered agent name and address. - Officers and directors. - Status (Active, Good Standing, Dissolved, Suspended). - Annual report filings. - DBA / fictitious name registrations.

3. County civil court records:

- Breach of contract lawsuits. - Mechanics' liens. - Property liens (different from mechanics' liens). - Judgments and enforcement actions. - Probate (relevant for sole-proprietor contractors after death).

4. Federal court records (PACER):

- Federal civil cases (rare for contractors, but cross-state disputes appear). - Federal bankruptcy filings (Chapter 7, 11, 13). - Federal tax court (less common).

5. OSHA enforcement records (osha.gov):

- Inspections. - Citations by severity (Other-than-Serious, Serious, Repeat, Willful, Failure to Abate). - Penalty dollar amounts. - Abatement status.

6. Federal tax lien records:

- IRS tax liens filed against businesses or individuals. - Available through county recorder offices (where the lien is filed) and via PACER subscription services.

7. State tax liens:

- Filed against contractors by state revenue departments for unpaid sales, employment, or income tax.

8. SAM.gov (System for Award Management):

- Federal contracting exclusions and debarments. - Relevant primarily for contractors who do federal work, but exclusions indicate serious regulatory or fraud issues.

9. BBB (Better Business Bureau):

- Complaint history. - Accreditation status. - Rating.

10. Local building department records:

- Permit history (what work the contractor pulled permits for, in what jurisdiction, with what outcome). - Code violations. - Stop-work orders.

11. State Attorney General consumer protection records:

- Pattern complaint data, fraud enforcement actions, consent orders.

12. Property records (assessor and recorder):

- Real estate owned by the contractor (asset assessment for judgment collection). - Liens recorded against the contractor.

What is NOT public:

- Insurance certificates and policy status (private contracts with carriers). - Personal credit reports (FCRA-regulated). - Personal criminal history (FCRA-regulated, generally accessed only with consent). - Tax returns (federal and state). - Private banking records. - Subcontracts the contractor signs with subs (those are private contracts unless filed in court). - References from prior customers.

Coverage by Groundcheck (earthmove.io/trust):

Groundcheck pulls categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9 directly. It cross-references and flags phoenix patterns from category 2. The Pro tier ($99.99/month) adds federal tax lien and SAM.gov coverage. Local building permit records (category 10) and property/asset records (category 12) are available through BuildZoom (permits) and county assessor websites (property).

For the most thorough verification, combine Groundcheck (entity-level public records) with BuildZoom (permit history), direct insurer call (insurance), and reference calls (subjective work quality). These four together cover the diligence universe.