How we check businesses

Before any listing goes live

When a business asks to be listed, a member of the Houzie team checks:

• It's a real, local business. We check the contact details work and that the business covers somewhere in Greater Manchester.
• The services make sense. The trades and specialisms listed match what the business actually does.
• Company details, where a Companies House number is given. We look it up on the official register and check the company is active.
• The description is honest. We remove claims we can't support, such as "best in Manchester", and anything misleading.

If something doesn't add up, we ask the business before publishing. If it still doesn't add up, we don't list them.

What the Verified badge means

A Verified badge means the business has sent us documents and we've checked them. Depending on the trade, this includes:

• Registration with the right scheme, checked on the official register. Examples are the Competent Person Electrical Register for electricians and the Gas Safe Register for gas engineers.
• Public liability insurance that's in date.
• Any accreditations shown on their profile.

We ask Verified businesses for up-to-date documents every year, and we remove the badge if they don't send them. Where a business gives us a registration or company number, we show it on their profile with a link so you can check it yourself.

Featured listings

Businesses can pay to be Featured, which shows them first and adds a "Featured" label. That's advertising. It doesn't affect whether a business is Verified, what their reviews say, or anything in our guides.

What we don't do

We don't inspect work, and we can't guarantee any business's work or prices. Before work starts, always get a written quote, check insurance and ask for the right certificates. Our trade guides explain what to look for.

Something not right?

If a business isn't what its listing says, please tell us. We look into every report.