An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or other form of business undertaking, applying for membership in the Better Business Bureau (BBB), shall meet and maintain the following requirements and standards:

• An applicant must have actively been engaged in business in the BBB service area for a period of six months. However, if the principals are known to the BBB and have operated with a satisfactory record for the required time in this or another Bureau service area; are a branch of an existing member; or, if they have pledged to arbitrate disputes under the BBB’s Rules for Arbitration (Binding) and operate in a type of business category/industry that is acceptable to the BBB, this requirement may be waived at the discretion of the BBB. Membership Identification Program (MIP) participants require twelve months of operations for eligibility.
• An applicant must provide general information on the nature of its business, the background of company principals and any other information deemed necessary by the BBB in order to develop factual reports relating to the reliability of the business.
• An applicant must fulfill all applicable licensing and bonding requirements, provide license numbers upon application and provide, when requested, evidence of required licensing.
• An applicant must agree to respond promptly to all complaints forwarded by the BBB, and make good faith efforts to resolve all such complaints in accordance with good business practices and abide by the terms and conditions of any special BBB programs it participates in, e.g., MIP; BBBOnLine, etc., including a pledge to arbitrate disputes. All applicants agree to abide by decisions rendered in arbitration.
• An applicant must be free from an unsatisfactory report at the Bureau in whose service area the company is headquartered.
• An applicant must cooperate with the BBB in attempting to eliminate the underlying cause(s) of serious and/or patterns of complaints.
• An applicant must support the principles and purposes of the BBB and its efforts to promote voluntary self-regulation in its industry.
• An applicant must enjoy a good business reputation in the community, and not be the subject of adverse or negative information in BBB files, to include government actions directly relating to their business practices, its customer relations or fraud in the marketplace.
• An applicant must adhere to established BBB standards of advertising and selling, including the Code of Advertising and the Code of Online Business Practices. Applicants must cooperate with the BBB in all matters relating to these standards and provide, when requested, substantiation of any claims upon which advertising or selling are based.
• An applicant must not use the Better Business Bureau name, initials or logo in any manner except as permitted in writing by the BBB.
• An applicant’s reputation or it’s activity, shall not be of such a nature that, in the opinion of the BBB, it would reflect adversely upon the BBB, its members or its objectives.
• Applicants for membership must complete the Standard Business Questionnaire, sign an application and submit any applicable dues or program fees.