BuildSafe

What BuildSafe is

BuildSafe’s Scout investigates U.S. contractors and organizes public information into cited reports for customers considering them before hiring. Reports cover identity, licenses, business registration, reviews, court and lien indicators, permits, online presence, and Scout’s recommendation. Listed sources include state license boards, CourtListener, OSHA, DOL, Shovels permit data, BBB, Yelp, Google, and Secretary of State records. Scout covers all 50 states, with direct license-board adapters listed for Texas, California, Florida, Oregon, and Washington. BuildSafe says most reports finish in under five minutes, although deep court-record or multi-county permit searches can take longer. Each report has a public share link and a print-ready PDF export with citations and all 13 modules. Scout Pro and API customers can enable weekly re-investigations and email alerts for material changes. The API provides REST endpoints, webhook callbacks, snapshot-diff feeds, and access to the 13 modules. The homepage offers a free QuickCheck in 60 seconds without a credit card. Paid options include a $79.00 USD per-report investigation, Scout Pro at $199 a month, and API plans from $299 a month. BuildSafe says its reports cannot be used for credit, employment, tenancy, or insurance decisions.

Who it suits

Scout is aimed at professionals such as property managers, real estate agents, investors, contractors, developers, insurance adjusters, HOAs, commercial property owners, and asset managers evaluating U.S. contractors. Its reports are not for credit, employment, tenancy, or insurance decisions.

Limits

The $79.00 USD per-report plan includes one contractor investigation. Monthly allowances are 25 investigations on Scout Pro, 50 on API Starter, 200 on API Growth, and 1,000 on API Scale; Scout Enterprise lists unlimited usage. Deep court-record or multi-county permit searches can take longer than the usual under-five-minute turnaround.

Getting started

1. Visit https://www.getbuildsafe.com/.
2. Start with the free Scout QuickCheck; no credit card is required.
3. Choose a per-report investigation or a monthly plan based on investigation volume.
4. Use Scout Pro or an API plan to enable weekly re-investigations and email alerts, if needed.
5. For API access, use its REST endpoints, webhook callbacks, or snapshot-diff feeds.

Verdict

BuildSafe organizes contractor-related public information into reports with sharing, export, and optional monitoring. Its stated legal limitation excludes several consequential uses, including hiring and tenancy decisions.