These are minimum standards. Some Bureaus may add additional standards. Your local Better Business Bureau will inform you if any other standards apply.

To be a member of the Better Business Bureau, an applicant must, at a minimum:

1. Area Ties
   Be in business in the Bureau's service area for not less than six months, or such longer period of time as necessary to evaluate an applicant's record, unless:
   • The principals previously operated a firm with a satisfactory record in this or another Bureau's service area, or
   • The firm is a branch of an existing member or company which has met these standards, or
   • The company has signed a Pledge to Arbitrate agreement and/or an ADR pre-commitment program with the Bureau and is not engaged in a type of business that historically generates unresolved complaints or patterns of complaints.

2. Membership Dues
   Sign the Membership Application and pay the appropriate dues and fees as set by the BBB.

3. Background Info
   Supply background information about the company, its principals and/or other information deemed essential to the Bureau's responsibility to provide inquirers with factual reports which bear on the reliability of the business.

4. Licensing
   Fulfill all licensing and bonding requirements by applicable city, county, state and federal agencies and authorities, provide license numbers upon application for BBB membership and provide periodic updates on request of the local BBB..

5. Customer Service
   Promptly respond to any and all complaints forwarded by the Bureau, and make a good faith effort to resolve all such complaints in accordance with generally accepted good business practices.

6. Headquarters Record
   Be free from an unsatisfactory report at the BBB in whose service area the company is headquartered.

7. Arbitration
   Comply with any decisions rendered through Bureau arbitration programs in which the firm agrees to participate.

8. Complaint Prevention
   Cooperate with the Bureau in efforts to eliminate the underlying cause of patterns of customer complaints which the Bureau may call to the company's attention.

9. Self-regulation
   Cooperate with the Bureau's activities and efforts to promote voluntary self-regulation within the business's industry.

10. Policy Adherence
    Adhere to established Better Business Bureau standards of advertising and selling, and cooperate with the Bureau in matters relating thereto.

11. Non-action-ability
    Be free from any governmental action concerning the marketplace and its customers that demonstrates a significant failure of the company to support the principles and purposes of the Better Business Bureau. A membership must be suspended by the BBB's board when an action is filed if the allegations suggest such a failure.

12. BBB Logo Integrity
    Refrain from using the name or logo of the Better Business Bureau for commercial, sales or advertising purposes in any manner not specifically authorized in writing by the BBB.

13. Probity
    Support the principles and purposes of the Better Business Bureau and not engage in activity that reflects adversely on the Bureau or its members.