The ANA Contractor Standards Pledge

Preamble

I am a contractor in the United States. I do work for property owners — homeowners, businesses, property managers, public agencies — who hire me to build, install, repair, restore, or improve real property and the systems within it. The customer who hires me is paying for both the work itself and for the integrity with which it is done.

I am taking this Pledge because the customer hiring me has the right to know — before money changes hands and before I set foot on the property — what I commit to. The published Standards of Business at contractorstandards.org are not novel. They are the conduct that any honest, competent contractor would already be following. By signing this Pledge I am putting my name on a public list that says: I do this work the right way, and I am willing to be held to that publicly.

The ANA Standards-Pledged Provider listing is not a license. It is not a guarantee. It is not a warranty. It is a public commitment, made in writing, by a contractor who chose to be on the list and accepted the consequences of being removed from it.

The Pledge

I, the undersigned contractor, voluntarily commit to the following twelve pledges in connection with my listing in the Authority Network America Standards-Pledged Provider directory.

1. The work itself

I will perform the work I am hired to perform — competently, in conformance with applicable building codes, manufacturer specifications, and the documented written contract — through to completion. If I cannot complete a job I have started, I will say so in writing and refund the unearned portion of any deposit promptly.

2. The contract

I will use a written contract for every job above any minimum threshold required by my jurisdiction, and I will give my customer a copy before any work begins or any deposit is taken. The contract will state the scope of work, the price, the payment schedule, the start and substantial-completion target dates, the materials to be used, and the warranty I am offering. I will not begin paid work on the basis of a verbal agreement alone. See contract standards for the detail.

3. Permits and inspections

I will obtain every permit my jurisdiction requires for the work, in my customer's name where required and my own where required, and I will schedule the inspections each permit requires. If a job legally requires a permit, I will not perform that job without one — even if my customer asks me to skip it. See permit compliance for the detail.

4. Licenses and credentials, honestly stated

I will represent my licenses, certifications, insurance, bonding, and trade experience truthfully — never claiming credentials I do not currently hold and never working in trades or jurisdictions where I am not legally permitted to work. See licensing requirements for the detail.

5. Change orders, in writing

I will not perform additional work outside the original scope, nor charge for it, without a signed written change order describing what changed and what it costs. A verbal "while you're here" request is not a change order. See change order standards for the detail.

6. Deposits and payments

I will not collect a deposit larger than the legal cap in my jurisdiction, and where no cap exists I will not collect more than is reasonably required to procure materials and begin scheduled work. I will provide written receipts for every payment, and I will not demand full payment before the work is substantially complete. See payment terms for the detail.

7. Workmanship and warranty

I will stand behind the workmanship of every job I complete for the warranty period stated in my contract, at no less than the minimum implied warranty period required by my jurisdiction's law. If a defect attributable to my work appears within that period, I will return and remedy it. See workmanship standards and warranty standards for the detail.

8. Conduct on the property

I will treat the customer's property and the people on it with respect: showing up when I said I would or communicating in advance when I cannot, leaving the worksite reasonably clean each day, securing the property when I leave, and never engaging in discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or retaliation against anyone associated with the job. See code of conduct and non-discrimination standards for the detail.

9. Subcontractors

Any subcontractor I bring onto a job is my responsibility — for their conduct, their insurance, their licensing if required, and the standard of their work. I will not hire subcontractors who could not meet this Pledge themselves. See subcontractor oversight for the detail.

10. Disputes — communication first, dispute resolution next, courthouse last

When a customer raises a concern with my work, I will respond to it directly and in good faith before any third party becomes involved. If we cannot resolve it ourselves I will participate in the dispute-resolution procedure published at dispute resolution standards. Litigation is a last resort, not a first reflex.

11. Records

I will keep contracts, change orders, payment records, inspection records, and warranty correspondence for the periods my jurisdiction requires (and not less than three years), and I will provide my customer with copies of records pertaining to their job on request. See recordkeeping standards for the detail.

12. The Pledge itself

I will not represent myself as a Standards-Pledged Provider, nor display the ANA Standards-Pledged badge, when my listing has lapsed, been revoked, or been withdrawn. The badge belongs to the active listing, not to me personally, and I will treat it that way. See badge meaning for the detail.

What this Pledge is

It is an honor-system commitment in writing, made voluntarily by a contractor in exchange for inclusion in a public directory adjacent to the laws and codes of the contractor's jurisdiction.

It is enforced by Authority Network America in exactly one way: by removing the contractor from the directory. There is no fine, no license suspension, no damages award, no order to rebuild — those remedies belong to state licensing boards, civil court, and bonding companies, not to ANA.

What this Pledge is not

It is not a license to perform contracting work. The contractor must hold every license their jurisdiction requires before they can lawfully take a job, and ANA does not issue, supplement, or substitute for any such license.

It is not a guarantee that the contractor will perform every job perfectly, or even acceptably. It is a commitment to a standard of conduct, which a contractor can fall short of. When a contractor falls short of the Pledge, the recourse is — in this order — direct conversation, the published dispute-resolution procedure, a complaint filed with ANA at the complaints page, complaint to the state licensing board, claim against the contractor's bond, and civil action.

It is not a verification of any of the contractor's claims. ANA does not check licenses, does not pull insurance certificates, does not run background checks, does not validate references. The Pledge is taken on the contractor's word. The contractor's word is what is being offered.

Public consequences of the Pledge

The contractor's listing in the Standards-Pledged directory is public. The aggregate count of revoked pledges, by reason, is published quarterly and the names of contractors whose pledges have been revoked appear on a permanent revoked-pledges page where customers searching that contractor can see the action. The fact of having taken — and broken — the Pledge is the public consequence ANA can deliver, and is the consequence the contractor accepts in exchange for the listing.

Effective date

A contractor's pledge takes effect on the date their first subscription payment to the ANA Standards-Pledged Provider Program is received and continues for as long as the subscription remains current. Lapsed subscriptions remove the listing immediately; the listing is reinstated upon resumption of payment unless the pledge has been revoked.

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