Pro questions, answered
Straight answers before you apply.
Fees, payouts, licensing, and the background check — no fine print. The same answers appear on the pro page; this page is the full library, grouped by topic. Are you a customer? Read the customer questions instead.
Fees & payouts
What joining costs, the 20% fee, and how payouts land.
Nothing to apply. There is no subscription and there are no lead fees. The only cost is one flat 20% platform fee on completed jobs — you never pay to quote or to bid.
On a $350.00 job: you keep $280.00, the platform fee is $70.00, and $5.00 of that fee goes to the re-do fund. Our payment system records the same split on every captured job. If a job does not complete, no fee is charged.
Customers pay by card inside the platform — where the job’s agreement carries a deposit, it is captured when the job is booked; the balance is authorized at check-in and captured once the finished work is approved. The money settles in Square on your own connected Square account, with the 20% platform fee taken at capture — Coastal Repair Squad never holds your money. Square then pays out to your bank on its standard schedule (about 1–2 business days); an optional instant payout is available for a 1.5% fee. We would rather say that plainly than promise speed we have not built.
Every job finishes with before-and-after photos and a customer sign-off; if the customer does not respond, the job auto-approves after 48 hours. If something is genuinely wrong, the $5.00 from every job’s fee builds a re-do fund that covers up to 25% of the job price (max $1,250) on jobs priced $300–$5,000 — and the customer chooses a return fix or a refund. While a dispute is open, the payout for that job is held until it is resolved.
Getting verified
Licensing and the background check.
It depends on the trade. In Georgia, electrical, plumbing, HVAC (conditioned air), and low-voltage work requires a Georgia license number, which we check before you take those jobs; projects over $2,500 follow Georgia’s licensed-contractor rules, and most general handyman repairs under $2,500 do not require a state license. Everywhere else, pros must meet all state and local licensing requirements.
You do — it is your check. Order it during signup and pay the reporting agency directly (the provider’s price, shown to you before you pay), or provide a recent check you already have from a consumer reporting agency (within the last 90 days) and we will review it. Either way, you sign a standalone authorization first, and we receive only the status — never the report contents.
Offers & urgency
The jobs you will see, and what speed-tier jobs pay extra.
Requests across 32 job categories — handyman repairs, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, painting, cleaning, moving help, and more. Jobs are matched to your trade and the service area you choose, with scope and price agreed in writing before work begins. You accept the jobs that fit your schedule.
On top of your normal earnings, you earn an urgency bonus: a percentage of the customer’s urgency fee that grows with the speed — 15% at the within-1-week tier up to 85% at the within-1-hour tier. The bonus and the answer deadline are shown on the offer before you accept. Rush offers expire fast — 15 minutes on the tiers up to 2 hours, 30 minutes on the 3–8 hour tiers; priority windows keep the standard answer window.
Only when the job is completed and paid — the same rule as the platform fee — and it settles with the job’s payout on your own connected Square account. A job that does not complete and get paid pays no bonus.
No-shows & strikes
Cancellations, empty houses, and missed jobs.
Your trip is paid from the customer’s deposit: the deposit first covers the non-refundable Square processing fee, and the rest splits 80% to you and 20% to the platform. On speed-tier jobs, your share is topped up to a $50 minimum from the forfeited urgency fee.
Check in on site, take a photo of the locked site on the job, log your contact attempts from the job in your checklist (call, text, or platform message), and wait out the grace period — 15 minutes on rush tiers, 30 minutes otherwise. Then file the customer no-show claim from the job. Once it is confirmed, the deposit split pays you for the trip, plus show-up pay at your tier’s bonus percentage of the urgency fee that was captured, and the customer’s balance hold is released.
Declining an offer is always free and is never punished. But accepting a job and not showing up is a strike: the first is a warning, a second within 6 months pauses your urgency offers for 30 days, and a third flags your account for review. The customer is re-dispatched or refunded in full, and no bonus is ever paid on a missed job.
Talking to customers
How contact works, and when customer details are shared.
Inside the platform only. Keep the job on the platform — taking a platform job off-platform breaks your pro agreement and removes the payment protection, warranty, and make-it-right coverage for both sides. Platform messages may be reviewed for safety and rule enforcement.
Privacy by design: a customer’s exact address is shared only with the pro who accepts the job. The offer shows the service, city and ZIP, the customer’s job photos, your pay, and — on speed-tier jobs — the bonus and the answer deadline: everything you need to decide.
Apply in minutes.
Tell us your trade, where you work, and your license and insurance details.
Apply now