ControlHive
Trust & transparency

How we rank & verify contractors

A directory is only as good as its trust. Here's exactly how we verify BMS and controls contractors, score confidence, handle reviews and label anything commercial - so you can rely on what you see.

We verify before we list

Each contractor's website, contact details, accreditations and coverage are checked. We record a last-verified date and a confidence score on every profile so you can see how current the information is.

Ratings are never bought

Star ratings are aggregated from public sources during verification. Contractors cannot pay to raise their rating, and we do not publish incentivised or fabricated reviews.

Featured placement is labelled

Some contractors pay for featured placement. These are always clearly marked as “Featured” or “Sponsored”. Paying for placement does not change a contractor's rating, verification status or where they appear in filtered or sorted results based on merit.

We re-check regularly

Listings decay. We periodically re-verify details and lower the confidence score when information ages, prompting a fresh check.

Editorial independence

Our shortlists and rankings are built from structured data and editorial judgement - not from who pays us. We are not tied to any manufacturer or contractor, and commercial relationships are disclosed.

No dark patterns

We don't sell your data, hide the opt-out, or spam you. You choose which contractors to respond to after requesting quotes.

Verification confidence score

Every contractor carries a 0 - 100% confidence score reflecting how current and complete our verification is. It blends recency, website reachability and accreditation checks.

85 - 100%
High

Recently verified, website reachable, accreditations confirmed.

70 - 84%
Good

Verified, with most details confirmed and a recent check.

Below 70%
Needs review

Ageing or partially-confirmed data; queued for re-verification.

Where our data comes from

We build on authoritative, public sources - not anonymous submissions:

Industry accreditation bodies

We cross-reference membership and accreditation registers such as the BCIA (Building Controls Industry Association), BESA, BSRIA and CIBSE to confirm a contractor's standing.

Companies House

We match contractors to their registered company and show status and incorporation date. Dissolved companies are flagged and down-ranked.

Public profiles & reviews

Ratings, review counts and recent review snippets are aggregated from each contractor's public business profile, with the source shown.

Contractor websites

We review each contractor's own site to confirm the control platforms they work with, services, sectors served and accreditations, and to pull their description.