How to check a contractor's registration in Vermont

Which record does the contractor need in Vermont?

Three state bodies hold the records, and which one you check depends on the work.

"Residential" means a building with four or fewer dwelling units (26 V.S.A. § 5501(b)). Tradespeople licensed by the Department of Public Safety do not need to register with OPR while they work within their license, and a subcontractor hired by another contractor rather than by you does not need to register either (OPR FAQs). So on a kitchen job, the general contractor should show up on OPR and the electrician and plumber on Fire Safety's lists.

What registration requires

The statute says "more than $10,000"; OPR's own pages say "$10,000 or more". At exactly $10,000, ask for the registration anyway. The law was added by Act 182 of the 2021 adjourned session, effective 1 July 2022 (§ 5503 history). Registration is not a test of skill: the statute says it is "not intended to establish standards for professional qualifications or workmanship".

OPR told a Senate committee on 16 April 2026 that it had 1,400 registrations, 565 individuals and 835 businesses, "a decrease of apprx. 275 registrants from previous cycle" (OPR testimony on H.718, 16 April 2026). The law also allows optional OPR certifications in specialties, but in the same testimony OPR said "Specialty certifications have not yet been implemented". A contractor who claims a Vermont state "certified residential contractor" credential today is claiming something that does not exist yet.

How to look a contractor up, step by step

1. Ask for the full business name and the OPR registration number. A registered contractor has both.
2. Open OPR's Find a Professional page and click through to the license lookup. OPR says "Most searches are successful using only the name field."
3. In the results, pick the record whose profession is Residential Contractor. The same lookup covers every OPR profession.
4. Read the status and expiration date. The record also shows discipline where there is any; for every decision, use OPR's Conduct Decision Search, linked from the same page.
5. Ask for the certificate of insurance and check the limits against $1,000,000 and $2,000,000.
6. Search the fraud registry for the owner's surname. It is one table on one page, so press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac).
7. For electrical or plumbing work, find the individual on Fire Safety's electrician or plumber list, or ask the Division at DPS.DFSLicensing@vermont.gov or 802-479-7564 (Fire Safety licensing).

That is about five minutes for a firm with one owner.

The home improvement fraud registry

The Attorney General keeps a registry of every person "criminally convicted by the State of Vermont for committing home or land improvement fraud", with docket, county and conviction date (AG registry). The law behind it, 13 V.S.A. § 2029, reaches much smaller jobs than registration does: any contract of $1,000 or more with an owner, or $2,500 or more across several owners.

Source: 13 V.S.A. § 2029(d), read 20 October 2026. A person on the registry who wants to keep doing paid home improvement work must either file a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit of at least $250,000 with the Attorney General, or work for a firm with no fraud record and give the Attorney General notice of it (§ 2029(e)). The registry has "Compliance required" and "Compliant" columns. "Yes" then "No" on someone quoting your job is a reason to stop.

Penalties for working without registration

Contracting without a required registration is unauthorized practice under 3 V.S.A. § 127: an injunction or a civil penalty of up to $5,000, and as a crime a fine of up to $5,000, up to one year in prison, or both. For a registered contractor, failing to use a written contract when one is required is unprofessional conduct, and OPR can restrict or revoke the registration (26 V.S.A. § 5510). Since 2022 OPR has received "over 130 complaints regarding construction projects"; 12 led to public disciplinary charges, of which 4 ended in discipline, 1 was dismissed and 7 were pending (H.718 testimony, April 2026).

OPR cannot get you money back. Its homeowner page says it cannot review contracts, inspect work quality, seek damages or mediate; billing disputes go to the Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program, which can also tell you about earlier complaints against a firm.

What the file shows in Burlington

City of Burlington Permitting & Inspections recorded 4,863 permits from 1,052 firms in our window. Set the usual filed value for each trade against the $10,000 line:

Deck and remodel jobs usually sit above $10,000, so expect an OPR registration and a written contract. Among the 44 remodel firms with three or more permits, the middle half usually filed between $10,050 and $38,000 a job. A usual roofing job is just over the line and a usual window job is under it, so a window installer can be lawfully unregistered on a small job; the fraud statute still applies from $1,000. Electrical work is a Fire Safety license question, not an OPR one. The filed value is what went on the permit, not always the contract price; use your quote.

What this does not tell you

We did not match Burlington firms to an OPR registration or a Fire Safety license, so the firm pages there show the permit record only, with no registration status. OPR offers a "Profession Roster Download" from Find a Professional; we have not linked it to the permits yet. Until then, run the lookup above yourself before you sign. What our file adds is what the registry leaves out: whether the firm's Burlington permits were closed out, and how long they took. 69.9% of remodel permits in the window have a recorded completion; compare a firm's own share with that.

Red flags on a Vermont contractor

• A quote over $10,000 from a firm you cannot find as a Residential Contractor on OPR's lookup.
• No written contract, or a deposit asked for before the contract is signed, on a job over $10,000.
• A contract with no estimated start and completion dates or no change-order process.
• A certificate of insurance below $1,000,000 per occurrence.
• The owner's name on the AG fraud registry, especially with "No" in the "Compliant" column.
• A deposit above half the labour cost or half the materials price on a fixed-price contract.
• One job split into several contracts that each come in under $10,000.
• An electrician or plumber who is not on Fire Safety's lists.

See every Burlington remodeler by their permit record →