Independence and Responsibility

This page describes the boundary between Authority Network America and the contractors listed in the ANA Registered Provider directory: what ANA does, what ANA does not do, what each contractor commits to, and what each contractor controls.

ANA's commitments to the contractor

When a contractor pledges and pays the monthly subscription, ANA commits to:

• List the contractor in the directory. Within 24 hours of successful first payment, the contractor's listing appears on the selected ANA authority site and is linked from contractorstandards.org/providers.
• Publish listings without paid ranking. No paid placement, no quality-tier surcharge, no rank manipulation, no auction. Provider order follows the published program rule for that surface; current county/trade panels list first-to-pledge first.
• Provide a unique QR-coded badge in PNG, SVG, and decal-print formats. The QR encodes the listing URL and is stable for the life of the listing. The badge is the contractor's to use on website, vehicles, business cards, signage, marketing materials.
• Honor self-supplied content updates within 5 minutes. When a contractor updates the listing's website link, social profiles, business overview, claimed credentials, or references, the change is live on the public listing within 5 minutes. ANA does not host contractor photo galleries; contractors can link to their own websites.
• Provide due process before any revocation. When a customer files a complaint that names the contractor, ANA provides the contractor a copy of the complaint and a 14-day window to respond in writing before any determination is issued.
• Issue determinations within 30 days of a complete complaint package. No indefinite holds, no quiet shelving, no retaliation against contractors for filing customer-side disputes.
• Provide an appeal mechanism. Any revocation can be appealed in writing within 14 days. The appeal is reviewed by a separate ANA reviewer who did not participate in the original determination.
• Take no commission and route no leads. ANA receives nothing from any work the contractor wins through their listing. The listing is a directory listing, not a marketplace.
• Not sell, rent, lease, syndicate, or share the contractor's data with third parties beyond what is necessary for the listing to be public.

ANA's commitments to the customer

When a customer arrives at a ANA Registered listing, ANA commits to:

• Make the Pledge text the contractor signed available at all times, with the date the contractor signed, on the contractor's listing page.
• Show pledge status accurately. Active listing, lapsed listing, revoked listing — each is displayed clearly. The badge stops resolving when the listing is not active.
• Accept and process complaints about ANA Registered contractors per the complaints process, with substantive responses within 30 days.
• Maintain the revoked-pledges page permanently. A contractor whose pledge was revoked stays on the public ledger forever, even after reinstatement.
• Charge customers nothing. The directory is free to read, the standards are free to read, the complaints process is free to use, and ANA receives no compensation when a customer hires a contractor.
• Not retarget, profile, or sell customer browsing data. Visitors to the directory see no third-party advertising or tracking.

What ANA explicitly does NOT do

These are the boundaries of the program — stated affirmatively so neither contractor nor customer forms an expectation ANA cannot deliver.

• ANA does not verify the contractor's license, insurance, bond, certifications, references, or background. The contractor's claims are taken on the contractor's word, secured by the Pledge. Customer-side due diligence is described in for customers.
• ANA does not award damages, refunds, or restitution. Civil court, arbitration, and bond claims are the venues for monetary remedies.
• ANA does not suspend, revoke, or report on state-issued licenses. Only state licensing boards have that authority.
• ANA does not file claims on the contractor's surety bond. The customer or another harmed party files those claims directly with the bonding company.
• ANA does not refer matters to law enforcement except where the conduct alleged is on its face criminal. When ANA does refer, the customer is notified before the referral is made.
• ANA does not represent itself as the contractor's employer, agent, principal, partner, or affiliate. The contractor is independent. ANA is the publisher of the directory in which the contractor pledged.
• ANA does not direct, control, supervise, or audit the contractor's work. Pledge or no pledge, the contractor decides how to do the work, who to hire, what materials to use, what hours to keep, what equipment to deploy. ANA's only mechanism is post-hoc revocation if a substantiated complaint shows the work fell short of the Pledge.

The contractor's commitments to ANA

By pledging, the contractor commits to:

• Honor the twelve pledges in the Pledge with respect to every job covered by the listing.
• Represent the listing's status accurately. Pledge #12 — the contractor will not represent themselves as ANA Registered or display the badge while the listing is inactive.
• Notify ANA of material changes. Loss of license, change of business name, change of business address, change of contact email or phone, addition or removal of trades, suspension by a state licensing board, criminal investigation related to contracting — all reportable to ANA within 14 days at [email protected].
• Cooperate with the complaints process. Receiving notice of a complaint and not responding by the 14-day deadline is itself a substantiable Pledge violation.
• Pay the monthly subscription for as long as the listing is active.

The contractor's responsibility to the customer

This is what the contractor — not ANA — owes the customer hiring them:

• The work itself, performed competently and to the standards of the trade.
• A written contract covering scope, price, timeline, materials, warranty.
• Honest representation of credentials, experience, and capacity.
• Permits where the work requires them, in the customer's name where law requires.
• Written change orders for any change in scope or price.
• Receipts for every payment, with deposits within legal caps.
• A warranty appropriate to the work, honored when invoked.
• Respectful conduct on the property, on schedule, leaving the worksite clean.
• Insurance and bonding adequate to the work, current at the time of the work.
• Subcontractor oversight when subcontractors are used.
• Direct communication on disputes, with participation in published dispute resolution before any litigation.
• Records of the work retained for the period the contractor's jurisdiction requires (and not less than three years).

These are the contractor's obligations to the customer regardless of whether the contractor is ANA Registered. The Pledge is a public, written commitment to do them — not a substitute for them.

The customer's responsibilities

ANA does not direct customer conduct. But for the contractor-customer relationship to work, the customer is responsible for:

• Verifying the contractor's license at the issuing state or local board (most states publish a free public lookup).
• Requesting and reviewing current certificates of insurance and worker's comp coverage.
• Reading the written contract before signing it and before paying any deposit.
• Communicating concerns to the contractor directly and in writing before escalating to the published dispute-resolution procedure.
• Filing complaints in good faith — based on documented facts and not as a negotiating lever in a separate civil dispute.
• Paying for the work as scheduled in the contract, on time and in the form agreed.

The Pledge does not transfer customer responsibilities to ANA or to the contractor.

A note on independence

The contractor is in business for themselves. ANA is not the contractor's employer, agent, or boss. The customer is not ANA's customer for the work — the customer is the contractor's customer for the work. ANA publishes a directory and operates a complaint mechanism; that is the entire program.

We say this explicitly because some directories blur this boundary deliberately to insert themselves into the contractor-customer relationship and take a cut. We take no cut. We refer no leads. We do not stand between the customer and the contractor for any purpose other than the narrow act of publishing the listing and processing complaints against it.

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)