Contractor FAQs.

Pearl Certification is a third-party certification contractors can offer as a value-added service to their residential customers. Pearl's Certification Report captures the value of a contractor’s work once the installation is complete. Homeowners use Pearl Certification to build home equity and increase the appraised value of their homes at the time of sale or refinance.

Bottom line? Pearl helps you prove the value of your work and turn your installs into home equity for your customers. In fact, 72% of surveyed homeowners say that a contractor’s ability to offer Pearl Certification influences them to hire that contractor.

Pearl Certification provides third-party validation of installs, clearly communicating the increased home equity supported by investment-grade documentation. Simply put, Pearl Certification helps you turn your work into home equity for your customers.

"Each year we've worked with Pearl, our return on investment has gone up," said George Clark, vice president of WMBG Home Improvement in Wyoming. "Our average sale has gone up 15 to 20% each year, and close rates have gone up 3 to 4% each year. Pearl is a major part of that."

Pearl helps your business generate more leads by supporting your marketing team with:

• Persuasive collateral to print

• A checklist of digital channels to update

• Sales training on how to leverage Pearl

• An online, on-demand resource center

• A dedicated Success Team committed to helping you take full advantage of your Pearl resources and to supporting your business

Pearl also collaborates locally with pertinent programs and with Pearl Partners, such as the Building Performance Institute (BPI), the National Comfort Institute (NCI), Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), SunPower, and other noncompeting organizations, to help generate leads.

As an active industry member, Pearl has teamed up with manufacturers, service providers, and industry associations to offer fee reductions and discounts.

• Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) members are pre-qualified for the Pearl Network; they will receive a 50% discount on onboarding fees and 10% on their monthly network fees. Pearl Network Contractors who are not ACCA members will receive a 50% discount on first-year membership fees.

• SunPower Dealers enjoy 50% off all Pearl onboarding fees and can use SunPower Dealer Funds (DPF) to pay for Pearl Network fees.

• The Building Performance Institute offers Pearl Network contractors special discounts on its certificate programs.

• The National Comfort Institute offers contractors in the Pearl Network 2% of their monthly network fees in NCI Training Bucks.

Visit our Partner Perks web page for information about even more benefits from Pearl’s Partners.

Through regular communication, including the Pearl Certification Report, the Green Door app, and online content, Pearl Certification educates homeowners about the comfort, health, savings, and home equity advantages of high-performing, energy-efficient and renewable home assets.

When homeowners prepare to sell their homes, Pearl provides a real estate marketing package that promotes the home’s high-performing features and explains the value they add for the future homeowner.

A home with certified energy performance will earn top dollar from buyers. In fact, appraisal studies have shown that high-performing homes with Pearl Certification earn a 5% premium on average when compared to non-certified homes.

When you provide a customer with a Pearl Certification, they can access the Certification Report and details of their home investment through Green Door, Pearl’s award-winning virtual home management portal for homeowners.

Homeowners can create customized home improvement plans based on their goals and home attributes. They can also use the app to find rebates and tax credits, set maintenance reminders, and reconnect with you. If a homeowner is seeking services outside of your specialty, Green Door can connect the homeowner with other contractors in their area.

The Pearl Solar Equity Calculator^® uses hard data to help contractors quantify the value solar installations can add to a home. The calculator is the first in the industry to compute discounted cash flow using certified contractor data, NREL software to calculate solar production numbers, and an API to Freddie Mac’s 30-year mortgage rate.

In addition to serving as a valuable proposal tool, the Pearl Solar Equity Calculator also provides an appraiser-ready certification report that includes a discounted cash flow schedule to help ensure the home’s solar value is calculated correctly at the time of sale.

Certification begins with contractors inserting Pearl Certification in the presale conversation, informing homeowners that they can offer a third-party certification of their work.

Upon subscription, Pearl’s Success Team identifies the best approach to receive certifiable data based on your business processes and objectives. Some contractors opt for Pearl’s easy-to-use web portal, which can take less than five minutes per project to complete. But most of Pearl’s contractors opt for API integration or CRM-specific solutions like Salesforce and Service Titan that make data entry completely hassle-free.

Following the equipment installation, Pearl reviews your data to verify all the energy-efficiency features. Homeowners receive documentation in the form of a certification and an appraisal addendum that allows the energy-efficiency work the contractor has completed to be considered for valuation when the home is sold or refinanced.

Once a contracting firm subscribes to our platform, the onboarding process begins with assigning it a dedicated success team, including a relationship manager, operations manager, and a success advisor. The team helps integrate the contractor’s customer relationship management system into Pearl’s system for an automated certification process. Pearl provides marketing tools and sales training for introducing homeowners to Pearl Certification.

Pearl provides ongoing support to its customers by sharing best practices, providing conference and industry discounts, and awarding certifications for their high-quality work.

Pearl Certification’s assistance continues well into the future by aiding contractor customers at the time of sale. Whether the Pearl Certification Report was issued four months ago or four years ago, Pearl can supply the respective real estate package to highlight the home’s high-performing features to make the value visible to prospective buyers.

Currently, Pearl Certification accepts contractors operating within the continental United States into its elite Pearl Network.

Please call 1.844.PEARLØØ or complete the below form and a member of the Pearl Certification team will respond shortly.