How we verify every tradesperson

• Identity

  9 checks

  Who they are, how to reach them, and where they are based.

  • Mobile number, proved by a code sent by SMS
  • Email address, proved by a sign-in code
  • ID number found on the Home Affairs register
  • Alive, and the ID not blocked
  • A live selfie, not a photo of a photo
  • The face matches the photo Home Affairs holds
  • Address confirmed from records or a recent document
  • The address in their own name, matched to their ID
  • The company registered and active with CIPC

• Safety

  1 check

  The check homeowners ask about first.

  • A SAPS criminal record check, by fingerprint

• Trade credentials

  3 checks

  The registration their trade needs.

  • The registration number, checked on the body's register where it keeps one
  • The registration current, not lapsed or expired
  • The name on the registration matches their ID

• Cover and extras

  Not counted

  Optional. It lifts a profile and never counts against one.

  Public liability, trade body memberships and qualifications a pro chooses to show you, each checked by a person before it appears.

Beyond the checks

• Real reviews

  Only homeowners who hired through ToolBox can rate a job, and only once the job is finished. If there was no job, there is no review. No bought reviews, and no fake ones.

• Checks that keep going

  Verification is not once-off. A badge with an expiry date comes off the day it lapses, a registration confirmed on a live register is re-checked on its own, and every profile shows exactly what has been checked.