Vetting Standards
We Check Every Shop Before They Touch Your Project
The CabinetQuotes directory is not a list of everyone who asked to be included. It is a list of shops we have verified — by license, insurance, and track record.
The bar is set by 35 years of hiring cabinet shops, running cabinet shops, and knowing exactly what goes wrong when you hire the wrong one.
What We Verify
Four Checks. No Exceptions.
CSLB License Verification
Every shop is checked against the California Contractors State License Board database. Active license. Correct classification. No disciplinary actions.
We verify the license number, the licensee name, the bond status, and the expiration date. Not just that a license exists — that it is clean and current.
General Liability Insurance
We confirm active GL insurance with adequate coverage before any shop is listed as verified. A certificate of insurance on file is a minimum.
This protects you. If something goes wrong on your job — damage, injury, a dispute — a properly insured shop is the difference between a conversation and a lawsuit.
Portfolio Review
We look at finished work — not renderings, not stock photos. Actual completed projects: the joinery, the finishing, the installation quality.
We are looking for shops that can do the work they claim to do. A shop that builds painted frame cabinets and a shop that does high-end frameless European are both on the platform — but they are not interchangeable, and we know the difference.
Industry Experience Check
How long has the shop been operating? Who have they worked with? Do they have references from GCs or designers, not just homeowners?
We are building a professional-grade directory. The target user is a GC or designer who needs to trust the shop they hire. We match that bar.
The Quality Bar
35 Years in the Dust
The person reviewing these shops has run shops, hired shops, and built custom millwork for commercial projects across California. He has seen what a bad shop looks like at every stage — in the bid, in the shop, and on the job site.
The vetting standards on this platform are not borrowed from a software checklist. They come from 35 years of knowing what separates a shop you can trust from one you cannot.
When a shop carries the CabinetQuotes verified badge, it means someone with deep industry experience looked at them and decided they belong on the list.