Verify a contractor's license

How to check a contractor's credential yourself, in each state we cover: the official lookup, what it shows, and the traps that catch homeowners.

• Start here

  How to Verify a Contractor's License Before You Hire

  What a state license lookup shows and cannot, the five fields to read on any record, and the official lookup for each of ten states.

• Part 2

  How to Check a Contractor's Insurance Before Work Starts

  Why the state file is not enough, what a certificate of insurance must show, the five fields to read on one, and the red flags that mean keep asking.

• Part 3

  What to Ask a Contractor Before Work Starts

  Seven questions a public record can settle: the number and the name it is held under, the classification, whether it is current today, bond against insurance, who pulls the permit, and what goes in writing before money moves.

• Part 4

  When a Contractor's License Turns Out to Be False

  Confirm the mismatch first, then the board complaint, then the state recovery or guaranty fund where one exists, then court. Six of ten states run a fund, and every one of them pays only where the contractor was licensed.

• Part 5

  How to Verify a Texas Contractor's License

  Where to check a Texas plumber, HVAC or electrical contractor, roofer or pest control company: the TSBPE, TDLR, RCAT and TDA lookups and their traps.

• Part 6

  How to Verify a Washington Contractor's License

  Where to check a Washington plumbing, electrical, HVAC or pest control contractor: the L&I Verify tool, the WSDA lists, what each field means, and the traps.

• Part 7

  How to Verify a California Contractor's License

  Where to check a California contractor license with CSLB, what CLEAR means, how to read the classification, bond and workers' comp fields, and the traps.

• Part 8

  How to Verify an Oregon Contractor's License

  Oregon splits a contractor's credential across two agencies. How to check the BCD trade license and the CCB registration, bond and insurance.

• Part 9

  How to Verify a Florida Contractor's License

  Which Florida agency licenses each trade, how to run the DBPR licensee search and the FDACS pest lookup, what Current and Active mean, and the traps.

• Part 10

  How to Verify a Minnesota Contractor's License

  How to check a Minnesota plumbing or electrical contractor's DLI license, or an HVAC contractor's mechanical bond, in the state lookup, and the traps.

• Part 11

  How to Verify a Virginia Contractor's License

  Where to check a Virginia contractor's DPOR license, what the class letter and specialty mean, how to read the expiration, and the traps.

• Part 12

  How to Verify a Connecticut Contractor's License

  Connecticut licenses people, not companies. How to run a DCP eLicense lookup on the holder, what it shows, and the traps in a Connecticut record.

• Part 13

  How to Verify an Arizona Contractor's License

  How to check any Arizona contractor at the ROC search: what the record shows, why class and residential or dual scope outrank the word Active.

• Part 14

  How to Verify a New Jersey Contractor's License

  New Jersey issues electrical businesses a permit and telecom firms a registration, not a license. How to verify either on the DCA portal, and the traps.

All guides: the full index. Every number in them is computed from state data or cited to its source; how we verify.