How to check a contractor's license in North Carolina

Which board licenses which trade in North Carolina?

The general contractor's limitation is a job-size cap. G.S. 87-10(a1): Limited "up to seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000)", Intermediate "up to one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000)", Unlimited "without restriction as to value of any single project". Land cost is excluded.

One wrinkle. The board's consumer FAQ says a license is needed at "$30,000 or higher". The statute as published by the General Assembly says "forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or more", and G.S. 87-14 uses the same $40,000 for building permits. We cite the statute. Below either figure, a general contractor can legally be unlicensed, so the license tells you nothing about a $25,000 bathroom.

How to look a contractor up, step by step

1. Decide the board from the table. A whole-house remodel is the general contractors' board; the HVAC sub inside it is the plumbing and heating board.
2. General contractors: open portal.nclbgc.org/Public/Search. Fields are "License Number", "Qualifier Number", "Company Name", first and last name, phone, address, and "Classification Type". "All fields are optional, but at least one must be entered." Tick "Include like sounding names" if the permit spelling looks off.
3. Results list "the license number, license name, and status, with a button for more details" (board FAQ). Open the details for the classification, the limitation and the qualifier.
4. Electricians: arls-public.ncbeec.org/Public/Search, same layout, with "License Type" options such as "Unlimited Classification License" and "Intermediate Classification License".
5. Plumbing and heating: public.nclicensing.org/Public/Search.
6. Compare the qualifier (the person who passed the exam) with the people you are dealing with. The board says it is "illegal for one contractor to use another contractor's license".
7. Call the board about complaints. The plumbing and heating board suggests asking "if there have been serious complaints against any of them"; the online record does not list them.

What "active", "expired" and "revoked" mean on the NC boards' records

The boards do not publish a glossary of status words; if a status is unclear, call NCLBGC on 919-571-4813, the number its consumer FAQ gives. In practice the search shows a current license as valid with an expiry date, and a lapsed one as expired or invalid. The boards "can suspend or revoke a license for cause" (plumbing and heating board), so Revoked means the board took it away, not that it lapsed. Anything other than a current, valid status on the day you sign is a no.

Penalties for unlicensed contracting in North Carolina

Unlicensed general contracting, bidding or "falsely claiming to be licensed" is "a Class 2 misdemeanor" (G.S. 87-13). The board investigates complaints on projects at the threshold and above and "may seek injunctive action in the Superior Court", but the board "has no authority to require a contractor to make repairs" or to reimburse you, and "no specific authority to impose civil fines or penalties" (board FAQ); getting money back is a court matter. The plumbing and heating board "prosecutes unlicensed contractors through the courts".

What the license does not tell you

A license says the qualifier passed an exam and the firm is in good standing with its board. It does not say whether the firm pulled permits, passed inspections or finished. That is in the county and city permit files, and we read four of them: Raleigh, Greensboro, Cary and Wilmington. In Cary, 9,909 HVAC permits from 372 firms, 77.9% finished; in Wilmington, 2,576 from 293, 89.2% finished; Greensboro electrical 93.9%; Raleigh HVAC permits take 121 days to final for the usual job, and Raleigh builders pulled 1,703 new-home permits. We have not yet matched North Carolina firms to the three boards' license files, so our North Carolina pages show no license status. Check it yourself at the links above; it takes two minutes.

Red flags on a North Carolina license record

• No result under the company name, only under a person's name. Ask whether the business is actually the licensee.
• A Limited license ($750,000 cap) on a firm bidding a job near or above it.
• A qualifier who does not work for the firm you are hiring.
• A general contractor's license offered as proof for electrical or HVAC work. Those are different boards.
• A license number that returns a different company name from the one on the contract.
• A job quoted at $39,000 that keeps growing. Below $40,000 no general contractor license is required; above it, one is.
• Expiry date in the next few weeks and no renewal.

See every Raleigh HVAC contractor by their permit record →