To check an Oregon electrician or plumber, look up two licenses: the trade license from the Building Codes Division (BCD) and the contractor license from the Construction Contractors Board (CCB). A company doing electrical work for hire needs a BCD electrical contractor license (a number starting with C), a CCB license and a licensed signing supervisor; a plumbing company needs a BCD plumbing contractor license (starting with PB) and a CCB license. The BCD license shows the company is licensed for the trade; the CCB license carries the bond, insurance and residential or commercial endorsement.
In BCD’s list of active licenses, we found 1,418 electrical contractors and 1,875 plumbing contractors. By business name, 96.1% of the electrical contractors and 97.0% of the plumbing contractors match an active CCB license. Among those matches, about 1 in 10 had CCB liability insurance ending within 60 days of our download, so the insurance date is worth checking on the day you sign.
| Item | Electrical contractors (C) | Plumbing contractors (PB) |
|---|---|---|
| Active BCD contractor licenses | 1,418 | 1,875 |
| Matched to an active CCB license by name | 96.1% | 97.0% |
| CCB residential endorsement (alone or with commercial) | 86.1% | 92.8% |
| CCB insurance ending within 60 days | 10.5% | 9.0% |
| CCB license ending within 60 days | 5.8% | 5.4% |
| Business address outside Oregon | 20.0% | 12.9% |
How to look up an Oregon electrical or plumbing license
- Ask for both numbers: the BCD license (for example C1234 or PB1234) and the CCB number. They are separate licenses from separate agencies.
- Search the BCD number in BCD’s license records, or filter BCD’s active contractor and individual license list on Oregon’s open data portal by name. Confirm the license type matches the job: C for general electrical work, PB for plumbing, and limited types such as LHR (HVAC/R maintenance) or CLE (limited energy) for narrower work.
- Search the CCB number on the CCB site and read the license status, the residential or commercial endorsement, the bond and the insurance expiration date.
- For electrical work, ask who the signing supervisor is. That person holds an individual license, usually a general supervising electrician (S).
- Check that the permit for your job is pulled under the same company. Portland’s contractor license requirements show how a city applies these licenses at the permit counter.
What each license means
- Electrical contractor (C): the Oregon License Directory entry lists the prerequisites as a business registered with the Secretary of State, an active CCB license and a full-time signing supervisor. Under OAR 918-282-0010, the contractor must continuously employ at least one full-time general supervising electrician unless exempted.
- Supervising electrician (S): an individual license. Under OAR 918-282-0140, if the supervising electrician leaves, work that requires one stops until a replacement is employed and BCD is notified.
- Plumbing contractor (PB): Portland’s permit rules require a CCB license and a BCD plumbing license with PB in it to buy the full range of plumbing permits online.
- Journeyman licenses (J, JP): individual licenses for the electricians and plumbers doing the work. They do not make a person a contractor.
- Limited licenses: Portland lists limited contractor types (such as LMS, LEA, LR and LHR) that can buy permits only for narrower work.
What 45,452 active Oregon BCD licenses show
We downloaded BCD’s Active Contractor/Individual Licenses list (updated October 2, 2026) and the CCB active license list on October 24, 2026. These are our calculations. We matched BCD contractors to CCB licenses by business name after removing punctuation and endings such as Inc. and LLC, so a company that uses a different name with each agency shows up as unmatched even if it holds both licenses.
| License type | Active | Address outside Oregon |
|---|---|---|
| General journeyman electrician (J) | 13,384 | 36.0% (3,331 in Washington) |
| Journeyman plumber (JP) | 4,440 | 18.0% |
| General supervising electrician (S) | 2,728 | 26.2% |
| Plumbing contractor (PB) | 1,875 | 12.9% |
| Electrical contractor (C) | 1,418 | 20.0% |
| Limited maintenance HVAC/R contractor (LHR) | 466 | 14.4% |
| Limited residential electrician (LR) | 424 | 26.2% |
| Limited energy contractor (CLE) | 320 | 33.8% |
- More than half of plumbing contractors are residential-only. Of the 1,819 matched plumbing contractors, 56.1% have a residential endorsement only, 36.7% both residential and commercial, and 7.1% commercial only. For electrical contractors the split is 40.2%, 46.0% and 13.9%, so about 1 in 7 electrical contractors holds a commercial endorsement only.
- Insurance dates turn over fast. 143 matched electrical contractors (10.5%) and 163 plumbing contractors (9.0%) had CCB insurance ending within 60 days. CCB licenses ending within 60 days were 5.8% and 5.4%, and bonds 5.4% and 4.0%.
- Washington is the second home market. 147 electrical contractors and 191 plumbing contractors list Washington addresses; Clark County, Washington has more Oregon plumbing contractors (128) than any Oregon county except Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, Marion and Lane.
- Supervisors outnumber contractors. There are 2,728 active supervising electricians for 1,418 electrical contractors, so a supervisor license alone does not mean a person runs a contracting business.
One limit of this file: every license of the same type shows the same expiration date (all electrical contractor licenses show July 1, 2029, and all general journeyman licenses October 1, 2027), so it cannot show who is about to renew. Use it to confirm a license is active and of the right type, then read the live record.
Checklist before you hire an Oregon electrician or plumber
- BCD contractor license number, type (C, PB or a limited type that fits the job) and active status.
- CCB license active, with a residential endorsement for work on a home.
- CCB insurance and bond expiration dates after your project ends.
- For electrical work, the signing supervisor’s name and license.
- The same company name on the bid, the BCD license, the CCB license and the permit.
- The trade permit pulled before work starts and the final inspection on the permit record before the last payment.
For bonds, insurance and complaint history on the CCB side, see our Oregon CCB contractor lookup. Our contractor license lookup guide covers other states, and our trade permit records guide explains how to find the electrical or plumbing permit itself.
For the same trades in a state with one renewal date for everyone, see our Delaware electrician and plumber license lookup.
Counts are our calculations from Oregon BCD’s Active Contractor/Individual Licenses (updated October 2, 2026) and the Oregon CCB active license list on data.oregon.gov, downloaded October 24, 2026. Agency pages checked October 25, 2026.