To check an Oregon contractor, search the Construction Contractors Board’s CCB license search by CCB number or business name. The record shows whether the license is active, its endorsement, the surety bond and liability insurance on file, and up to 10 years of complaint and disciplinary history, including unpaid debts, as a CCB consumer handout describes.
Two dates on that record deserve the most attention. In the state’s CCB Active Licenses data on October 24, 2026, 44,127 businesses held a construction endorsement; 10.2% of them had a liability insurance policy ending within 60 days, and two in three residential general contractors were registered as exempt, meaning they have no employees.
How to check an Oregon contractor in the CCB license search
- Open the CCB license search and enter the CCB number from the bid or contract. A name search works too, but the number points to one license.
- Confirm the license reads Active and note its expiration date.
- Check that the endorsement fits your job (next section).
- Read the bond and liability insurance amounts and their end dates. Each one runs on its own date, separate from the license.
- Open the complaint history and disciplinary history, which cover the past 10 years, and the unpaid claims and unpaid civil penalties lines.
- Check the workers’ compensation status. The CCB’s status change form defines Exempt as having no employees and Nonexempt as having employees or leased workers, which requires a workers’ compensation policy.
If the online search is down, the CCB gives the same information by phone at 503-378-4621.
Which Oregon CCB endorsement fits your project
The endorsement decides what a contractor may build. Under the CCB Endorsement Chart (November 2024), a residential endorsement covers homes, apartments and condos four stories or less, and small commercial structures. A large commercial project needs a commercial endorsement, and a business doing both needs both endorsements, two bonds and one liability policy at the higher amount.
- Residential General Contractor (RGC): any number of unrelated trades on a residential or small commercial project.
- Residential Specialty Contractor (RSC): one or two unrelated trades per project. Three or more trades on one property are allowed only when the contract for labor and materials is $2,500 or less.
- Residential Limited Contractor (RLC): any trades, but contracts of $5,000 or less, no more than $5,000 of work per job site per year, and gross construction sales under $40,000 a year.
- Commercial General and Specialty (CGC, CSC): Level 1 requires 8 years of key-employee experience and Level 2 requires 4; both levels may do the same work.
| Endorsement | Bond | Minimum liability insurance | Active holders, Oct. 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential General (RGC) | $25,000 | $500,000 per occurrence | 30,621 |
| Residential Specialty (RSC) | $20,000 | $300,000 per occurrence | 7,549 |
| Residential Limited (RLC) | $15,000 | $100,000 per occurrence | 916 |
| Commercial General Level 1 (CGC1) | $80,000 | $2 million aggregate | 2,300 |
| Commercial General Level 2 (CGC2) | $25,000 | $1 million aggregate | 5,531 |
| Commercial Specialty Level 1 (CSC1) | $55,000 | $1 million aggregate | 989 |
| Commercial Specialty Level 2 (CSC2) | $25,000 | $500,000 per occurrence | 2,497 |
Bond and insurance figures are the CCB chart’s minimums; holder counts are ours from the CCB Active Licenses data. Bond amounts rose by $5,000 for every endorsement on January 1, 2024, under House Bill 2922, according to the CCB’s licensing page.
What 44,127 active Oregon contractor licenses show
The CCB Active Licenses data lists licenses the state considers able to work, one row per license and endorsement: 56,605 rows on October 24, 2026, including home inspectors, locksmiths and lead-based paint renovation firms. We kept the 44,127 businesses holding at least one residential or commercial construction endorsement and counted them ourselves.
- Residential work dominates: 39,188 businesses (88.8%) hold a residential endorsement. Of those, 78% are general contractors, 19% specialty contractors and 2% limited contractors. 11,366 hold a commercial endorsement, and 6,427 (14.6%) hold both kinds.
- Most small firms have no employees: 51.8% of all businesses are registered Exempt. Among businesses whose only endorsement is RGC, the share is 66.7% (17,279 of 25,913).
- Insurance well above the minimum: 93.2% of residential-only businesses report liability coverage of $1 million or more, twice the RGC minimum.
- Expiring dates: 2,094 businesses (4.7%) had liability insurance ending within 30 days and 4,486 (10.2%) within 60 days. A bond ended within 60 days for 2,293 (5.2%), and the license itself expired within 60 days for 2,298 (5.2%).
- Time in business: the median business was first licensed 7.6 years ago. 4,503 (10.2%) were first licensed in the past 12 months, and 8,685 (19.7%) 20 years ago or more.
- Out-of-state addresses: 6,723 businesses (15.2%) list an address outside Oregon, 3,552 of them in Washington.
For a homeowner, the expiring dates are the practical finding. A one-month kitchen remodel that starts in three weeks can outrun a policy listed as active today, so compare the insurance end date with your schedule and ask for the renewal before work starts. The CCB told legislators in 2025 that a license is suspended when its required protections lapse (CCB presentation).
An Exempt contractor with a crew on site is a mismatch to ask about. The same presentation lists claiming Exempt status while having employees among the violations the CCB finds most often.
If a job goes wrong: CCB complaints and the bond
The CCB’s dispute resolution staff review a complaint to decide whether it falls within the board’s jurisdiction, and most complaints carry a $50 statutory processing fee, paid when the CCB asks for it (CCB complaint page). The CCB’s 2023 overview for legislators describes mediation as voluntary for both sides. If mediation fails, the consumer can go to court; once a judgment is entered, the contractor has 30 days to pay, after which the CCB orders payment from the bond and suspends the license.
Checklist before you sign with an Oregon contractor
- License Active, with an expiration date after your project ends.
- Endorsement that fits the job: RLC only for contracts of $5,000 or less, RSC for one or two trades, RGC for a multi-trade remodel, commercial for a large commercial building.
- Bond on file, and its end date.
- Liability insurance amount and end date compared with your schedule.
- Exempt or Nonexempt status that matches the crew who will show up.
- Ten-year complaint, disciplinary and unpaid claims history.
- The building permit for the work, pulled with your city or county before work starts.
For other states, see our contractor license lookup guide and our analysis of Washington contractor registrations, where 10.6% of active contractors had insurance ending within 60 days. To check the permit side in Oregon’s largest city, use our Portland permit history guide.
Electricians and plumbers also need a trade license from the Building Codes Division; our Oregon electrical and plumbing license lookup shows how to check both licenses together.
Counts are our calculations from the CCB Active Licenses data on data.oregon.gov, pulled October 24, 2026. The data covers active licenses only; complaint and disciplinary history stay in the CCB license search. CCB pages checked October 24, 2026.