How the records work in Waco, TX

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.

Waco, TX specifics: Waco's permit data is a one-time extract dated June 9, 2026, not a live feed, so the three-year window runs from June 2023 through May 2026 and later permits aren't shown. The contractor isn't in that extract: it comes from each permit's contact list on the city's Citizen Self Service site, using the contact listed for the permit's trade (the electrical contractor on an electrical permit, and so on) or else the general contractor; applicants, owners and tenants are never used. Most remodel permits list only an applicant, so Remodel & Repair covers only the permits that name a general contractor, and additions, garages and accessory buildings and demolition have too few named contractors to rank. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, gas, irrigation, water and sewer line, solar and most new-home permits carry a $0 job value (Waco charges these permits by count, not value), so a typical cost and price comparison are shown only for roofing, remodels and pools. Irrigation and backflow permits are finaled only about one time in five, and pools about one in three, so those trades show no speed and their completion rates are low for everyone; one firm holds most irrigation permits. Gas line and water and sewer line permits are finaled within a few days, so speed there is a matter of days. Licenses are matched by business name; plumbers' years licensed are those of the company's responsible master plumber, TDLR publishes no first-licensed date, irrigators (TCEQ) aren't linked, and Texas doesn't license roofers, remodelers, pool builders or home builders. Permits filed under a person's own name aren't ranked. Locations are by ZIP code. Some firms appear under two spellings.