How matching works
A person decides which company contacts you, using a short list of yes-or-no checks. Not a score, and not who pays most. This page lists the checks and says what happens when no company passes them.
Reviewed September 30, 2026
Get a local company for the job
Free. Takes a minute. One company that serves your area contacts you.
What happens to a request
Automatic checks
The form is checked for a working-looking email and phone number, a valid ZIP code, and whether the same person asked for the same service in the last 30 days.
A person reviews it
Someone on our team reads the request and makes sure it is a real job with enough detail to act on. Duplicates, job applications and sales pitches stop here.
Every company is checked against the job
Each company we work with for that service is tested against the checks below. The person deciding sees every result, including why a company was ruled out.
One company is chosen
The person picks one company that passed and writes down why. Your request goes to that company, once.
You are told who it is
We email you the company's name when your request is sent. If no company passed, we email you that instead.
The checks
| Check | A company passes when |
|---|---|
| Active | Its account is active and not suspended. |
| Does the service | It has told us it does the service you asked for. |
| Taking on work | It has not paused new requests. |
| Serves the ZIP code | Your ZIP code is in the area it told us it serves. |
| Kind of property | It takes your kind of property, home or business. |
| Size of job | Your job falls inside the limits it set, for example a minimum size or hours it does not work. |
| Jobs it turns down | Your job is not one it has told us it will not take. |
| Room for the work | It has not reached the number of requests it agreed to take this month. |
| Agreement | It has a current agreement with us. |
| Trade licence | For plumbing, electrical, HVAC and roofing, we have checked its licence and it has not expired. |
| Reachable | We have a working contact for it that we have checked. |
Missing information never counts as a yes. If we do not know something a company has a limit on, a person has to look into it before your request goes anywhere.
What this is not
- Not a ranking. Passing the checks means a company does work like yours in your area. It does not mean it is better than others.
- Not every company in town. We choose among the companies we work with. Others serve your area too.
- Not an auction. What a company pays us plays no part in any check.
When nobody fits
We email you to say so, and your details are not shared with anyone. The guides and tools on this site stay free to use.