How we verify license requirements
Five rules decide what reaches a page: official sources, an exact quote behind every value, a second independent check, a build that uses only checked values, and regular re-checks.
On this page
1. Official sources only
Facts come from licensing boards, state statutes and administrative codes on official sites, state agencies, and city or county governments for local licenses. Commercial sites, exam vendors, schools and other guides may help us find an official page, but they are never the source of a requirement. Exam fees that only a testing company publishes are therefore not shown as the board's fee.
When a site blocks automated access, we do not get around the block. We use another official page that states the same rule, or a dated archive copy of the official page, and record which.
2. A quote behind every value
Each value is stored with the exact sentence or table cell it comes from, the page address, the date the page itself shows (if any) and the date we read it. Numbers must appear in the quoted words: a fee of $30 needs "$30" in the source, and 8,000 hours needs "8,000 hours". Hours, years and dollar amounts keep the board's own unit; we do not convert hours to years or add up fees.
3. A second, independent check
A different checker re-opens every source, live where possible, and confirms each quote and value to the cent. Only when every value in an occupation and state is confirmed does that page publish. Values that could not be confirmed are left out; values that two official sources state differently are held back until the conflict is settled.
4. The site is built only from checked values
- Before each build, a script re-checks that every quote is still found in the archived official page, that its numbers match, and that it was checked recently enough: within 90 days for fees and 180 days for other rules (365 for statutes).
- Each credential level keeps its own requirements. A rule for a master electrician is never shown on the journeyman line, and broker rules never appear under salesperson.
- Fees are listed one by one with who you pay. We show a total only where the board itself publishes one.
- Reciprocity lists are shown exactly as the board publishes them, and in one direction only: the states this state accepts.
- Tests compare every fee, hour count and exam on the built pages with the records before the site is published.
5. Keeping it current
Every page shows the date its sources were last checked, and each source in its list shows its own date. Fees are re-checked at least every 90 days and other rules every 180 days, and immediately when an archived page changes. Dated rule changes are listed on what changed.
Coverage today
499 occupation and state combinations have passed both checks, covering 1,555 credentials in 50 states and DC, from 7,033 official pages. More occupations are being checked now and will be added state by state as they pass.