Which license each job needs in Chicago
| Work | Who licenses it | Where to check | Chicago permits in our file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remodels, additions, new homes, porches, garages | City general contractor license, class by project value | Licensed Trade Contractors: General | 7,764 renovation, 1,090 new home |
| Electrical | City electrical contractor license (DOB also licenses supervising electricians) | Licensed Trade Contractors: Electrical | 12,436 |
| Plumbing | City plumbing contractor license (DOB also licenses plumbers) | Licensed Trade Contractors: Plumbing | 6,680 |
| Masonry and tuckpointing | City mason contractor license | Licensed Trade Contractors: Mason | 5,706 |
| Roofing | Illinois IDFPR roofing license | IDFPR license lookup | 1,586 |
| Sewer construction and repair | City drainlayer license | DOB Trade Licensing | not a trade we rank |
The general contractor license is the one with a twist: its class caps the project value, counting "materials and labor from all contractors and subcontractors on related work at the same site" (City of Chicago DOB, read 22 October 2026).
| GC class | Maximum project value | Demolition | Minimum insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Unlimited | Ordinary or complex | $5 million per occurrence |
| B | $10 million | Ordinary or complex | $3 million per occurrence |
| C | $5 million | Ordinary | $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate |
| D | $2 million | Ordinary | $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate |
| E | $500,000 | None | $1 million per occurrence |
Licensed electrical, plumbing, mason, drain layer, elevator and board-up contractors do not need a GC license for work inside their own license, and neither do subcontractors working under a licensed GC's supervision. A Class E firm cannot take on demolition, so a remodeler who also proposes to knock down your garage needs a higher class or a licensed sub.
How to run the lookup in five minutes
- Ask for the license number and class on the quote. For a roofer, IDFPR says the number and licensee's name must be on "all of his or her contracts, bids".
- Search the city site. Open Licensed Trade Contractors, pick General, Electrical, Mason or Plumbing, and filter by name. The site shows "currently licensed contractors and contractors with recently expired or inactivated licenses", so an expired license shows up rather than disappearing.
- Roofer: search the name on IDFPR's license lookup, or call IDFPR on 1-800-560-6420.
- Check the class against your job. A $650,000 gut rehab is beyond a Class E license.
- Read the record. Open the firm on our Chicago remodel and renovation list or masonry list to see how many permits it pulled, when, and how many the city marked complete.
How to search Chicago permit records
The city's Building Permit and Inspection Records site searches permits and inspections by address (accept the user agreement first). The same permits are downloadable as the Building Permits dataset on the Chicago Data Portal, which is where ours come from. The city's tools are organised by address; ours are organised by contractor, so you can see a firm's whole Chicago record, its busiest months and its usual job value on the Chicago permit statistics page, the compare pages, or by ZIP code.
What 51,700 Chicago permits show
| Trade | Permits | Firms | Marked complete | Usual filed value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical | 12,436 | 855 | 38.4% | $3,500 |
| Renovation | 7,764 | 2,592 | 34.4% | $65,000 |
| Plumbing | 6,680 | 645 | 26.9% | $6,350 |
| Masonry | 5,706 | 563 | 40.8% | $9,600 |
| HVAC | 5,358 | 1,139 | 21.2% | not filed |
| Solar | 5,027 | 58 | 74.6% | $17,784 |
| Garage | 1,821 | 286 | 67.1% | $26,312 |
| Roofing | 1,586 | 433 | 64.7% | $18,693 |
| Fence | 1,583 | 303 | 83.9% | $5,000 |
| New home | 1,090 | 458 | 37.8% | $440,000 |
"Marked complete" is the share of permits a year or more old that the city shows as complete. Many Chicago permits are never marked complete, so these shares run low across the board: compare a firm with others in its own trade, not with another city.
Within a trade the spread is still wide. Among the 154 masonry firms with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile firm had 23.7% marked complete and the 90th 67.1%. For electricians it is 17.4% to 56.3%.
See every Chicago masonry contractor by permits and completion →
Red flags in Chicago
- No city license number, or a class too small for the job. The class caps are in the table above.
- "You pull the permit." The homeowner exception covers your own work on your primary residence, one property a year; it is not a way for an unlicensed contractor to work under your name. Our HVAC file has permits filed with the owner as contractor; check who will actually do the work.
- A firm that has gone quiet. 54 renovation firms with 5 or more permits filed none in the last 12 months.
- A roofer with no IDFPR number on the contract, which the state requires.
What this lookup does not tell you
We do not match Chicago firms to licenses, so our pages show no license status here: run the city search yourself. The city search shows license status, not complaints or insurance certificates. A license says the firm may do the work, not how its last job went, and Chicago's completion data is rough for the reason above. The suburbs license differently; How to check a contractor's license in Illinois covers the state rules, and our Wheaton guide covers one suburb.
How we know this
Permits are City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal), 2023-10 to 2026-09, grouped into the trades above. "Marked complete" uses permits a year or more old; the percentile figures use firms with 10 or more permits. We do not match license status in Chicago. License classes and rules are quoted from the City of Chicago Department of Buildings pages and the IDFPR roofing brochure, read 22 October 2026.
Numbers come from City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal), data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Does Chicago license general contractors?
Yes. The Department of Buildings issues a general contractor license in five classes by project value: A unlimited, B up to $10 million, C up to $5 million, D up to $2 million and E up to $500,000. Class E also allows no demolition and needs $1 million per occurrence in insurance.
- How do I look up a Chicago contractor's license?
On the city's Licensed Trade Contractors site (webapps1.chicago.gov/licensedcontractors), which has tabs for general, electrical, elevator, mason and plumbing contractors and lists recently expired or inactivated licenses as well as current ones.
- Who licenses roofers in Chicago?
The State. Illinois roofers hold an IDFPR roofing license and, per IDFPR, must put the license number and the licensee's name on all contracts and bids. Check it on IDFPR's license lookup.
- Can I do work on my own house in Chicago without a license?
Usually. The city's GC page exempts individuals working on their primary residence, except excavation and demolition, if the building is three stories or fewer with six or fewer units and no nonresidential use. The exception can be claimed for one property per calendar year.
- Where can I see the permits on a Chicago address?
On the city's Building Permit and Inspection Records site, or the Building Permits dataset on the Chicago Data Portal. Our Chicago pages group the same permits by contractor.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- How to check a contractor's license in Illinois
- How to check a contractor's license in Florida
- How to check a contractor's license in Massachusetts
- How to check a contractor's license in Minnesota
- How to check a contractor's license in New York
- Is tuckpointing worth it? Chicago costs by permit record, and the permit rules
- General Contractor License — City of Chicago Department of Buildings (2026-10-22)
- Trade Licensing — City of Chicago Department of Buildings (2026-10-22)
- Licensed Trade Contractors — City of Chicago (2026-10-22)
- Building Permit and Inspection Records — City of Chicago (2026-10-22)
- Building Permits dataset — Chicago Data Portal (2026-10-22)
- Roofing contractor consumer brochure — IDFPR (2026-10-22)
- Check License — Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (2026-10-22)