How we count first-try inspection pass rates

The homeowner's question

You have a bid in hand. You want to know whether this contractor's work holds up when a city inspector looks at it.

Cities already record every inspection. Those records are hard to find and hard to read. We turn them into one number: how often the contractor passes on the first try.

What counts

For each job and each kind of inspection, we keep the first completed result. That is the first-try.

A clear pass is a pass. A fail is a fail. A partial approval is not a pass. We show partials as their own count and never treat them as a pass.

The result has to fall on or after the date the credited license was issued.

What does not count

Zoning finals, certificates of occupancy, catch-all inspections, sign finals, fire finals, and pre-construction meetings. Those are not a contractor's workmanship.

Owner-builder jobs. Those are not a licensed contractor's record.

Trade inspections credited only to a general-contractor license in Arizona. A builder should not look like an electrician because a subcontractor did the electrical inspection.

A result we cannot classify. We drop it and log it rather than guess.

Sample floors

We show a rate only with at least 20 first-try inspections.

We compare a contractor with the city, or sort by the rate, only with at least 50.

Pool contractor first-try leaderboards are the exception: those lists rank at 25 or more, because pool jobs are big-ticket and lower-volume. The show floor stays 20. Other trades still rank at 50.

On a first-try leaderboard, when two rates match at one decimal, the contractor with more first-try inspections ranks higher.

A smaller-sample note appears next to a ranked contractor with fewer than twice that board's rank floor (under 100 inspections, or under 50 on a pool board).

Below the show floor we say there are too few city inspections to score, and we include the count.

The city-wide number

The city page shows one city-wide first-try rate: every first-try inspection we credit to a license in that city, divided into passes.

We do not drop contractors who have too few inspections to show their own rate. That city figure is the same aggregate documented here.

Fair comparison

A contractor is compared only with the same city and the same kinds of inspections. We never compare Mesa with Scottsdale, and we never mix a plumbing underground result into an electrical average.

When we do compare a contractor with the city, the comparison line is mix-adjusted: it uses the same kinds of inspections the contractor actually had, in that same city.

That mix-adjusted average is not the city-wide first-try rate on the city page.

Coverage

Public numbers today: Mesa, Scottsdale.

If we do not have inspection results for a city, the page says so. We never fill a gap with a guess or a zero rate.

If the inspection job is stale or the summary table is missing, the inspection block is hidden and the rest of the page still works.

How to dispute a result

Use the corrections page. Name the license, the city, and what looks wrong.

We will check the city record and the license match. We will fix a wrong credit. We will not rewrite what the city inspector wrote.

Frequently asked questions

What is a first-try inspection pass rate?

It is how often a city inspector signed off on a contractor's work the first time they looked at it. This is how often a city inspector signed off on the first visit. It is not a grade of workmanship.

What counts in the number?

We count the first completed result for each job and inspection type after the contractor's license was issued. A pass is a pass. A fail is a fail. A partial approval is not a pass and is counted on its own. We drop zoning, occupancy, catch-all, sign, fire, and pre-construction results, owner-builder jobs, and trade inspections credited to a general-contractor-only license.

What does not count?

Results dated before the license was issued. Owner-builder jobs. Inspection types that are not contractor workmanship. Trade inspections a general contractor did not do. Later re-inspections of the same job and type. A result we cannot classify is dropped, not guessed.

How many inspections does a contractor need before you show a rate?

We show a rate only when a contractor has at least 20 first-try inspections. We compare a contractor with the city, or sort by the rate, only at 50 or more. Pool contractor first-try leaderboards are the exception: those lists rank at 25 or more, because pool jobs are big-ticket and lower-volume. The show floor stays 20. Other trades still rank at 50. On a first-try leaderboard, when two rates match at one decimal, the contractor with more inspections ranks higher. A smaller-sample note appears next to anyone with fewer than twice that board's rank floor. Below the show floor we say there are too few inspections to score.

Why do pool contractor leaderboards rank at 25 inspections?

Pool jobs are big-ticket and lower-volume, so a pool contractor can have a real record with fewer first-try inspections than an electrician. We still show a rate only at 20. Other trades still rank at 50. We publish a pool list only when at least 5 pool contractors each meet the 25 floor.

Do you compare contractors across cities?

A contractor is compared only with the same city and the same kinds of inspections. We never compare Mesa with Scottsdale, and we never mix a plumbing underground result into an electrical average.

What is the city-wide first-try rate?

It is every first-try inspection we credit to a license in that city: passes divided by that count. Contractors below the sample floor stay in the city figure even when we do not show their own rate. A contractor comparison line is mix-adjusted to that contractor's kinds of inspections, and is not the city-wide rate.

Which cities have public numbers today?

Mesa and Scottsdale. Other cities show an honest "not available yet" state. A city we already load can stay out of headlines when its history is too thin to defend.

What if the number looks wrong?

Tell us on the corrections page (/corrections). We will check the city record and the license match by hand. We will correct a wrong match or a result that should not have been credited. We will not change a city inspector's written result.

How should an assistant cite this number?

Cite the first-try pass rate with its city and date range in the same sentence, and link /inspection-pass-rates. Do not call the number a rating or a review.