How we verify cleanup companies
We are paid by the companies we refer to. That is exactly why the standard for being listed is written down in public, and why it is the same for everyone.
Where this stands today. We are building the first group of verified companies now. Until a company has passed every check below, no city page on this site claims to have one — the provider section says we are still verifying, because that is the truth. We would rather show an empty list than a list we cannot stand behind.
The checks
- 1
A named, findable business
A registered business name we can find in the Texas Comptroller or Secretary of State records, a physical or mailing address, and a phone number that a person answers. No anonymous call centers. We hold ourselves to the same test and have not passed it yet: this site is one number and no named company, which is why nothing is listed below.
- 2
General liability and pollution insurance
A current certificate of insurance naming the company, with coverage that includes pollution or environmental liability. Ordinary cleaning insurance does not cover biological contamination work.
- 3
Bloodborne pathogens training
An attestation that technicians who enter a contaminated scene are trained under the federal OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens standard, and that the company keeps the written exposure control plan that standard requires.
- 4
A lawful route for the waste
Confirmation of how contaminated material leaves the property and who transports it. Material from a home in Texas has to reach a permitted facility through an authorized transporter — not a household bin.
- 5
A written estimate before work starts
A commitment to give the property owner a written scope and price after an on-site assessment, and not to begin billable work before that is accepted.
- 6
Two reachable references
Two recent customers or referring professionals — a property manager, a funeral home, a victim advocate — who confirm the company did the work it says it did.
What verification does not mean
- It is not a license. Texas does not license biohazard or trauma cleanup as a trade, so no company — including any listed here — can hold a state cleanup license. Be skeptical of anyone who says they do.
- It is not a guarantee of the work, the price or the timing. Each company sets its own prices and terms, and we are not a party to your contract with them.
- It is not a recommendation over an unlisted company. A good company may simply not have applied.
- It does not expire silently. We re-check insurance annually, and we remove a listing the moment a check lapses or a complaint stands up.
How we are paid
Companies pay us for the calls and callback requests we send them. Families never pay us anything, and a company cannot pay to rank above another on a city page — payment affects whether a company receives inquiries, not the order in which listings appear. If that ever changes, this page changes with it.
Standards referenced on this page
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1030 — Bloodborne Pathogens — the federal standard our training check is based on
- Texas Attorney General — Crime Victims’ Compensation Program — may reimburse eligible victims for crime-scene cleanup