To check a contractor’s license, take the license or registration number from the contract or the building permit and search it in the state or city agency’s own lookup tool. Confirm three things: the status is active today, the name matches the business on your permit, and the license type covers the work. Where the agency publishes them, check the bond, insurance, and complaint history too.
Start with the contractor named on the permit
A building permit record often names the contractor who pulled the permit, sometimes with a license number. That is the best starting point, because it ties a specific license to specific work on the house. Don’t count on the permit data to have it, though. In Seattle’s open permit data (see our Seattle permit guide), only 200 of 9,608 building permits applied for in 2023 and 2024 and later issued list a contractor company (2.1%), and only 72 of 4,287 single-family remodel permits do (1.7%) (our count from Seattle Open Data, Building Permits, pulled October 24, 2026). When the record is blank, ask the seller or the contractor for the number, then look it up yourself.
Once you have the permit, our permit status decoder explains whether the work reached a final inspection, and our certificate of occupancy lookup guide covers the last record for new construction.
Where to check a contractor license in five places
| State or city | Agency | What the official lookup covers |
|---|---|---|
| California | Contractors State License Board (CSLB) | License status by license number, business name, or personnel name, with complaint disclosure |
| Florida | Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) | Verify a License by license number, individual name, or business name |
| Texas | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) | Licenses for electricians and air conditioning and refrigeration contractors |
| Washington | Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) | Contractor registration, bond, insurance, and infractions |
| New York City | Department of Buildings (DOB) and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) | DOB contractor registrations for permit work; DCWP Home Improvement Contractor licenses for residential work |
- California: use CSLB’s Check a License. California license numbers are numbers only, up to eight digits, and appear on the contractor’s pocket license.
- Florida: go to MyFloridaLicense.com and choose Verify a License. A certified contractor holds a state certificate of competency, while a registered contractor met local competency requirements for a specific jurisdiction, so check that a registered contractor is authorized where the house is.
- Texas: TDLR asks consumers hiring electricians and air conditioning and refrigeration contractors to confirm the license in its license search. For general building work, ask the city’s building department what registration it requires.
- Washington: use L&I’s Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business tool. L&I requires registered construction contractors to keep a bond, liability insurance, and a Washington business license, and the tool shows all three.
- New York City: DOB requires general contractor registration for many permit jobs, and any person or business doing construction, repair, remodeling, or additions to a residence needs a DCWP Home Improvement Contractor license. DOB’s Know Your Construction Professional page explains which credential applies.
How to read a CSLB license record in California
In California, take the license number from the permit or contract and enter it in CSLB’s Check a License. The record page shows the data date at the top and then these parts, which are worth reading in this order.
- Business information and entity: the name and entity type (sole owner, corporation, LLC, partnership) should match the contractor on your contract and permit. A record can also note when a license was reissued to another entity.
- Issue, reissue, and expire dates: check that the expire date is after the date the work was done, not just after today.
- License status: look for a clear, active status. A status such as a contractor’s bond, workers’ compensation, or liability insurance suspension means the license was suspended; ask when it started and whether it covered the dates of your work.
- Classifications: “B” is general building, “A” is general engineering, and “C-” numbers are specialty trades. Check that a class covers the work on the permit; CSLB’s classification list explains each one.
- Bonding information: CSLB requires a $25,000 contractor’s bond or cash deposit before it issues a license, and a separate $25,000 bond of qualifying individual may apply (CSLB licensing requirements). The record shows the surety and bond number.
- Workers’ compensation: the record shows either an insurance policy or an exemption. CSLB lets contractors with no employees file an exemption, except for some classes that must carry coverage, including C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39, and C-61/D-49. An “Exempt” contractor who sends a crew to your house is a question to raise before work starts.
- Complaints and judgments: CSLB notes on the record that complaint disclosure is limited by law and that only construction-related civil judgments reported to CSLB are shown. A clean page is not proof that no dispute ever happened.
CSLB also publishes free statewide files through its Public Data Portal: a license master list, a workers’ compensation list, and a personnel list, in CSV or Excel. The master list covers licenses that are current or expired but still renewable; cancelled and revoked licenses are left out, so use Check a License for any single contractor. CSLB pages checked October 24, 2026.
What 149,320 Washington contractor registrations show
We counted every construction contractor registration in L&I’s public data (Washington Open Data, L&I Contractor License Data – General, pulled October 24, 2026). Electrical, plumbing, and elevator contractor licenses are separate types and are left out. The numbers are our own calculation from L&I’s records, not figures published by L&I.
| Registration status (L&I label) | Registrations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Active | 68,389 | 46% |
| Expired | 58,410 | 39% |
| Suspended | 9,149 | 6% |
| Re-licensed | 8,982 | 6% |
| Out of business | 4,272 | 3% |
| All construction contractor registrations | 149,320 | 100% |
Three things stand out for anyone checking a Washington contractor.
- Fewer than half the registrations in the system are active. A business name that turns up in a search may belong to an expired or out-of-business registration, so match the registration number, not just the name. Of the 68,389 active registrations, 52,022 (76%) list General as their first specialty.
- Suspensions are recent. Of the 9,149 suspended registrations, 7,297 (80%) were suspended in 2026 and 1,833 in 2025. A contractor who was active when the permit was pulled can be suspended months later, so check the status on the day you sign and again before the final payment.
- One in 13 active registrations expires within 90 days. 5,104 active registrations (7.5%) expire between October 24, 2026 and January 22, 2027. Compare the expiration date with your project schedule.
Limits of this count: the data set lists registrations, and one business can hold more than one. Status labels are L&I’s on the pull date, and the reasons for a suspension are not in this data set. Use the Verify tool for the current record of any one contractor.
For Oregon, our Oregon CCB contractor lookup explains the endorsement types, bond and insurance minimums, and what the state’s 44,127 active construction licenses show.
What to check once the number matches
- Status: active today, not expired, suspended, or inactive.
- Name: the business on the license matches the contract and the permit.
- License type: the classification covers the work, such as general building work versus a single trade.
- Location: for Florida registered contractors and city-level licenses, the license applies where the house is.
- Bond and insurance: where the agency shows them, they are current.
- Complaints or discipline: read any public complaint or citation history the agency lists.
If the house already has the work done, the permit record matters as much as the license. A licensed contractor’s permit that never reached a final inspection still leaves the work unapproved, so read the permit status before closing.
Agency pages checked October 24, 2026.
In Washington, contractors register with L&I instead of holding a state license; our Washington contractor license lookup covers the Verify tool and what the bond and insurance records show.
California licenses contractors through CSLB; our CSLB license lookup guide covers the Check a License tool, the $25,000 bond and what workers’ comp exempt means. Virginia licenses them through DPOR’s Board for Contractors, where the class (A, B or C) caps the job size; see our Virginia contractor license lookup.
Three more state checks: Connecticut registers home improvement contractors (Connecticut HIC lookup), Texas licenses A/C and electrical contractors through TDLR (Texas contractor license lookup), and Colorado registers electrical and plumbing contractors with DORA (Colorado contractor license lookup). Illinois licenses roofing contractors (Illinois roofing contractor license lookup) and home inspectors (Illinois home inspector license lookup).
For state- and county-specific checks, see our Oregon electrical and plumbing license lookup our Montgomery County, MD new home builder lookup, our New York mold license lookup our New York elevator license lookup, our New York asbestos certificate lookup and our Delaware electrician and plumber license lookup.
Contractors bidding on public work in New York also need a Department of Labor registration certificate; our New York Contractor Registry lookup shows how to check one.
More from our permit data: what public permit records show across seven places.