How DoneToCode Works

Give the job a name — “Kitchen renovation”, “Fence replacement” — pick the trade, and add the scope that matters for that trade: square feet for flooring, linear feet for fencing, unit counts for windows. Photos of the work area help pros quote accurately. We strip location data from every photo.

Before any contractor is involved, DoneToCode shows you a metro-wide estimate range built from your scope, build quality, and access difficulty at Salt Lake metro labor rates. It's the honest yardstick every quote gets measured against.

Every profile shows the badge state (DTC VERIFIED, VERIFIED SPECIALIST, or a loud NOT DTC VERIFIED warning), the public hourly rate, and the price integrity grade — the contractor's billing track record — before you contact anyone.

Contractors quote two ways: an hourly estimate (public rate × hours + receipted materials) and, optionally, a fixed-price alternative. You choose. Fixed price still requires an itemized materials list upfront and receipts at close — no hidden markup either way. Every quote is checked against your estimate range and flagged if it's far outside. Approving a quote is also the moment your ZIP and address are released — to that contractor alone.

Your payment goes into escrow: held by our payment partner, visible to both sides, touchable by neither. The contractor whose quote you approved already has your ZIP and address — now they can see the money is real too, and the work gets scheduled.

The contractor tracks time with a start-stop timer in the app, and every material receipt lands in your job file as it happens. If the scope changes, work stops first: photo and written description, a re-price through the same estimator, and a draw from your pre-approved contingency — with your notification, and your approval if it goes beyond.

Big jobs hold several contractors, each with their own quote, escrow, timer, and receipts. You confirm each one separately as their piece finishes; the job closes when all are confirmed. Each contractor's unused contingency returns to your card automatically when you confirm their scope — you never ask.

License, insurance, background check — and verification is per trade, not blanket. A plumbing license earns the plumbing specialist badge; it doesn't earn tiling. Customers see exactly which trades you're verified in.

Your rate goes on your profile, and it is never negotiated — not by customers, not by us. Customers who send you a request already saw your number and chose you anyway.

You see the work: job name, description, photos, trade, scope — plus a named service zone and a drive-time band for your own judgment. You never see the customer's name, address, street, or ZIP; never the other contractors on the job; never their quotes. The ZIP and address are released to you when — and only when — the customer approves your quote. Zones deliberately span expensive and modest areas, so the only thing left to price is the work itself.

Submit your hourly estimate — your public rate times your honest hours, plus an itemized materials list. Add a fixed-price alternative if you want; it still requires the itemized materials list upfront and receipts at close. The customer chooses which shape they prefer.

The customer funds materials before you spend a dime. Pick them up under your name from the job's funded materials budget, or we arrange delivery to the site. Photograph the receipt at the counter — it posts to the job file and the paperwork is done.

Start-stop timer. The customer sees your hours in real time, which means there is never an end-of-job argument about what you worked. The timer is your witness.

The customer confirms your scope, escrow releases minus our flat platform fee — the only fee we charge, and only on completed jobs — and funds land in your account the same day. No invoice, no net-30, no chasing.