Bellingham contractor license lookup: L&I registration, electrical licenses and the City permits

Which license each job needs in Bellingham

Registration requires a bond of "$30,000 for general contractors" or "$15,000 for specialty contractors" and liability insurance of "$200,000 in public liability and $50,000 property damage" or $250,000 combined. A specialty contractor works only in its specialty: "They cannot hire subcontractors" (L&I). An electrical contractor needs "A certified, assigned electrical administrator or master electrician" and "An original, $4,000 electrical/telecommunication contractor's surety bond" (Electrical Contractor, read 23 October 2026).

The bond is small next to Bellingham prices: the usual new-home permit carries $274,940 and the usual ADU $140,755. Treat a valid bond as a sign of a real business, not as your protection.

How to run the lookup in five minutes

1. Ask for the L&I registration number (and the electrical contractor license number for electrical or solar work).
2. Search L&I Verify. L&I says it shows "an active contractor registration; an active and paid-to-date workers' comp account covering any employees", "safety violations" and "lawsuits against their surety bond" (Verify).
3. Check the registration type. A specialty registration on a whole-house remodel is the wrong one.
4. Permits: search the address on eTRAKiT (below) and check the contractor's name on past permits.
5. Track record: open the firm on our Bellingham electrician list, HVAC list or ADU builder list.

How to search Bellingham permit records

The City's Permit Activity page links to "Online Permitting" at permits.cob.org/etrakit. The eTRAKiT site has public searches for permits, projects, properties and parcels, business licenses and violations (read 23 October 2026). Start with the property search for your address, then open each permit to see the contractor and whether it passed final. City Hall: 360-778-8000.

The portal is organised by permit. Ours is organised by firm: each firm's Bellingham permits, the share that passed final inspection and the days it took, on the Bellingham permit statistics page and the compare lists.

What 8,682 Bellingham permits show

"Passed final" uses permits a year or more old. Trade permits usually close: among the 44 electricians with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile one passed final on 74.7% and the 90th on 97.2%. Remodels are the weak spot: only 48.6% passed final, 13 remodel firms matched an L&I record that was not active, and 14.9% matched nothing. HVAC is concentrated, with the five busiest firms filing 76.9% of the permits.

See every Bellingham electrician by permits passed final →

Red flags in Bellingham

• A registration that is expired or suspended on Verify, or a workers' comp account that is not paid to date.
• Lawsuits against the bond listed on the Verify record.
• A specialty contractor running a whole remodel with subcontractors. L&I says specialty contractors cannot hire subs.
• An electrical or solar firm with no electrical contractor license, only a general registration.
• A firm that has gone quiet: 7 electricians and 7 home builders with 5+ permits filed none in the last 12 months of our data.

What this lookup does not tell you

Bellingham's permits record the contractor's business name but no state registration number, so we match firms to L&I by name, and a slightly different name can stay unmatched; check any blank on Verify yourself. Only building and fire sprinkler permits record a job value, so trade permits show no typical cost. Locations are by City neighborhood, because neither the City nor the county records a ZIP code. Our data stops at September 2026. Bond claims and statewide rules are in How to check a contractor's license in Washington.