BBB Accreditation Standards


UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR BBB ACCREDITED BUSINESSES

To be an accredited business of the Better Business Bureau, an applicant must, at a minimum:
  1. Be in business in the BBB’s service area for not less than six months, or such longer period of time as necessary to evaluate an applicant’s record, unless
    • The principal(s) operate a firm that is an Accredited Business in good standing with another BBB; or
    • The firm is a branch of an existing Accredited Business that has met these standards.
  2. Sign an Accredited Business Application and pay the appropriate fees as set by the BBB Board of Directors.
  3. Supply background information about the company, its principals or other information deemed essential to the BBB’s responsibility to provide inquirers with factual reports that bear on the reliability of the business.
  4. Fulfill all licensing and bonding requirements of applicable city, county, state and federal agencies and authorities, provide license numbers upon application for BBB accreditation and provide periodic updates on request of the BBB.
  5. Promptly respond to any and all complaints forwarded by the BBB, and make good faith efforts to resolve all such complaints in accordance with generally accepted good business practices.
  6. If the Accredited Business is a company headquartered in another BBB service area, it must be free from an unsatisfactory report at the BBB in whose service area the company is headquartered.
  7. Comply with any decisions rendered through the BBB arbitration programs in which the firm agrees to participate.
  8. Cooperate with the BBB in efforts to eliminate the underlying causes of patterns of customer complaints that the BBB may call to the company’s attention.
  9. Cooperate with the BBB’s activities and efforts to promote voluntary self-regulation within the Accredited Business’ industry.
  10. Adhere to established BBB standards of advertising and selling, and cooperate with the BBB in matters relating thereto.
  11. Be free from any governmental action concerning the marketplace and its customers that demonstrates a significant failure of the company to support the principles and purposes of the BBB. An Accredited Business must be suspended by the BBB’s board when an action is filed if the allegations suggest such a failure.
  12. Refrain from using the name or logo of the BBB for commercial, sales or advertising purposes in any manner not specifically authorized in writing by the BBB.
  13. Support the principles and purposes of the BBB and not engage in any activity that reflects unfavorably on the BBB and its members.