About Builder Lookup

See the work, not the reviews.

Who runs it

Builder Lookup runs this site independently of any contractor, lead-generation company, trade association or government agency. No contractor pays to be listed or to rank.

Contact: contact@builderlookup.com

Why

Choosing a contractor is one of the largest purchases a household makes, and it is made with almost no verifiable information. Reviews can be bought or filtered, "verified" badges are sold, and referrals cannot be checked.

Where the numbers come from

• Arlington County permit records, published by the county under its Open Data Policy, and the Virginia DPOR license lists. Last retrieved September 11, 2026; refreshed about once a month.
• Arlington: permits issued from September 1, 2022 onward, when the county's current permit system began. In this run: 59,963 permits.
• Loudoun: the county publishes a monthly report of issued building permits rather than a data feed. It names the company that applied for each permit (usually the builder), not a licensed contractor of record, and carries no license numbers, closing dates, trade permits or owner details. Permits filed by permit-filing services on a builder's behalf (4,338 in this run) are counted in the group totals but credited to no firm. Permits issued from July 1, 2023 onward; in this run 25,795 permits.
• Each contractor name on a permit is matched to its state license by name and address (by name alone for Loudoun, whose reports carry no contractor address). When no license matches, the page says so and shows the name as written on county permits.

How to read the figures

• Jobs are distinct permitted sites; a site with several permits counts once. Tables sort by jobs.
• Peer groups. Firms are compared only within one group (for example Additions, or Kitchen and bath), only within one county, and only on work at houses, not apartment or commercial buildings. A firm is listed in a group with 4 or more jobs; under 10 jobs it carries a "small record" tag and no comparison is made.
• Median declared value is the middle of the values applicants declared on their permits. Applicants commonly understate these.
• Works for homeowners is the share of a firm's jobs where the property owner was an individual rather than a company (an LLC, trust, builder or investor). Loudoun's reports carry no owner field, so no homeowner share is shown for Loudoun.
• Timing and completion appear on contractor pages only, as plain labels relative to peers in the same group, never as numbers or scores, and only with 10 or more closed permits. County review cycles, owner decisions and final-inspection scheduling are all inside these figures. Loudoun's reports carry no closing dates, so Loudoun pages show no timing or completion labels.
• Permits submitted by a property owner acting as their own contractor are not counted for any firm.

What a permit does and does not show

A permit proves a permit: what was permitted, when, and by whom. It does not show workmanship, price fairness or unpermitted work. It does not show complaints, discipline, lawsuits or insurance; for disciplinary history, use DPOR License Lookup.

The sources' own disclaimers

Arlington County: "Information on this website, including calendar information, is provided “as is” and to the extent permitted by relevant law without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement." (Terms & Conditions)

DPOR: "While DPOR works to ensure the accuracy of the data provided online, the data available on these pages are updated routinely but may not be up to date at all times (due to document processing delays, technical maintenance, etc.). DPOR assumes no liability for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the information provided or for any reliance on data provided online." (License Lookup legal disclaimer)

This site disclaims the accuracy of its figures in the same way.

Corrections

Name spellings, obvious duplicate entries and websites are corrected by hand from a short list that is reviewed monthly. The list is published with the code. Factual errors are corrected within one business day. Report an error by email to contact@builderlookup.com.