How the records work in San Diego County (unincorporated)

About the ranking: The score combines how much of this exact work a contractor has on record, how often their older permits reached completion (where we can measure it), how well their usual job size matches your budget, how recently they've been active, and how much of their work is near you. A measure we can't calculate is left out rather than guessed, and a thin record pulls the score toward the middle. A contractor whose matched license has a problem is listed after everyone else. You set the weights with the sliders on every list.

San Diego County (unincorporated) specifics: These are County permits for the unincorporated areas only (Fallbrook, Ramona, Spring Valley, Lakeside, Alpine, Valley Center and other communities); the City of San Diego and the county's 17 other cities issue their own permits and aren't included. The County's recorded job value is its own valuation (floor area times a standard rate), not a declared price, so a typical cost is shown only as a guide to job size and no trade shows a price comparison. Solar, battery, HVAC, electrical, EV charger, plumbing, water heater, window, remodel and demolition permits mostly carry no value, so those trades show no typical cost. Water-heater permits are completed only about 40% of the time, so that trade shows no speed; additions and retaining walls are too few and too recent for completion or speed. Owner-builder permits name no contractor and aren't ranked. A license number that isn't in the current CSLB file (expired, cancelled or mistyped) shows no license. Home values are Proposition 13 assessed values, so the kind of homes a contractor works on is a rough guide. Locations are by community.