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Contractor license lookup by state: the official search in 24 states, and where there is none

To look up a contractor's license, search the state licensing board's free lookup by license number or business name: CSLB in California, DBPR in Florida, L&I in Washington, and so on in the table below. In 7 of the 24 states we cover there is no state license for general contractors at all (Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas), so the check moves to a city license or a state registration, and in Iowa and Vermont the state registers contractors rather than licensing them. Each state and city has its own guide below.

By Contractor Records · data through October 25, 2026

The official lookup in each state

State Who licenses home contractors Free lookup
Arizona Registrar of Contractors, every contractor ROC Contractor Search
California Contractors State License Board, every contractor CSLB Check a License
Colorado No state GC license; DORA licenses electricians and plumbers, cities license the rest DORA Verify a License
Florida DBPR, certified and registered contractors DBPR Verify a License
Hawaii DCCA Professional and Vocational Licensing PVL public license search
Illinois No state GC license; IDFPR licenses roofers, Public Health licenses plumbers IDFPR license lookup
Iowa Registration with DIAL for anyone earning $2,000 a year from construction DIAL records
Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License (person) plus Home Improvement Contractor registration (business) CSL verification, HIC search
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractors DLI lookup
Missouri No state GC license; an optional statewide electrical license, everything else local Local (St. Louis: License Collector)
Nevada State Contractors Board, every contractor, with a dollar limit per job NSCB License Search
New Mexico Construction Industries Division (lookup run by PSI) PSI license search
New York No state license; counties and cities license (NYC: DOB and DCWP) NYC DCWP search
North Carolina Three boards: general contractors ($40,000 and up), electrical, plumbing/heating NCLBGC Verify License
North Dakota Secretary of State, any job over $4,000 FirstStop contractor search
Ohio No state GC license; OCILB licenses electrical, HVAC, plumbing, hydronics, refrigeration OCILB License Lookup
Oregon Construction Contractors Board, every contractor CCB License Search
Pennsylvania No state license; Attorney General registration for $5,000+ a year of home improvement HICPA registration search
Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance verify.tn.gov
Texas No GC license; TDLR licenses electricians and AC contractors, TSBPE plumbers TDLR License Search
Utah Division of Professional Licensing, by classification DOPL Verify a License
Vermont Registration with OPR for residential jobs over $10,000 (since 1 April 2023) See the Vermont guide
Virginia DPOR Board for Contractors, Class A, B or C DPOR License Lookup
Washington Labor & Industries registration, every contractor L&I Verify

State and city guides

Each state guide covers the board, classifications, bonds and recovery funds; each city guide adds the local license or registration and that city's permit search.

State State guide City guides
Arizona Arizona license check Mesa, Scottsdale
California California license check Anaheim, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Marin County (unincorporated), Palo Alto, Sacramento County (unincorporated), San Diego, San Diego County (unincorporated), San Francisco
Colorado Colorado license check Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver
Florida Florida license check Cape Coral, Miami, Orlando
Hawaii Hawaii license check Honolulu
Illinois Illinois license check Chicago, Naperville, Wheaton
Iowa Iowa license check Ames
Massachusetts Massachusetts license check Cambridge, Somerville
Minnesota Minnesota license check Minneapolis, Saint Paul
Missouri Missouri license check St. Louis
Nevada Nevada license check Henderson
New Mexico New Mexico license check Albuquerque
New York New York license check New York City
North Carolina North Carolina license check Cary, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington
North Dakota North Dakota license check Bismarck
Ohio Ohio license check Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus
Oregon Oregon license check Bend, Medford
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania license check Pittsburgh
Tennessee Tennessee license check Nashville
Texas Texas license check Austin, Denton, Sugar Land, Tyler, Waco
Utah Utah license check Provo
Vermont Vermont license check Burlington
Virginia Virginia license check Arlington
Washington Washington license check Bellevue, Bellingham, Seattle

What to check on the record, in five minutes

  1. Search by license number from the quote or the contractor's truck. A name search can return a different firm with a similar name.
  2. Status: active, not expired, suspended or revoked. Our suspended license guide covers what to do if it is not.
  3. Classification: does it cover your job? A Utah R100 can build a house but not a four-storey office (Utah Code 58-55-102); a Virginia Class C firm's ceiling is a single job under $30,000 (Code of Virginia 54.1-1100).
  4. Dollar limit, bond and insurance, where the board shows them. Nevada licenses carry a monetary limit per job (NRS 624.220); Oregon's CCB record shows bond, liability insurance and workers' comp.
  5. Recovery fund. Some states pay homeowners when a licensed contractor takes their money and cannot be collected from: up to $30,000 in Arizona (A.R.S. 32-1132.01) and up to $25,000 from the Massachusetts Guaranty Fund for registered home improvement contractors. Hire someone unlicensed and that door is shut.

A license is not a track record

A license says a firm may do the work. The permit record says what it did. In our files, 99.4% of Cape Coral roofing firms that pulled permits match an active Florida license, against 83.5% of Seattle electrical firms matching an active L&I record and 75.9% of Minneapolis roofers matching a current DLI license; Minneapolis also has 171 roofing firms whose matched license is no longer current. Across cities, our license match study ranks every market. Each firm's page shows its license match next to its permits and finished share; see how to verify a contractor and does a contractor need a license.

What our numbers cannot tell you

We match firms to license files by license number where the permit carries one and by name otherwise, so a firm trading under another name can show as unmatched. Some states' files are not matched yet (Arizona, Nevada and Utah among them), and the board's own lookup is always the live record. States not in the table: search "[state] contractor license lookup" and use the result on the state's .gov site.

How we know this

Board names, what each state licenses, dollar thresholds and lookup links are quoted from the official board and statute pages listed under Sources and in each state guide, read 20 to 24 October 2026. License-match shares come from our city permit files matched to each state's license file, as described in the license match study.

Numbers come from City of Seattle (SDCI) building, trade and electrical permits on single-family and duplex homes (the city's open-data exports); City of Cape Coral building permits (the city's open permit table starts January 2025); City of Austin issued construction permits; City of Minneapolis construction permits (CCS), data through October 25, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

Pick your city and see each contractor's license match and permits →

Questions

  • How do I look up a contractor's license?

    Use the free lookup of the state board that licenses contractors where the job is, and search by license number first, then by business name. In 15 of the 24 states we cover, the state licenses contractors and its lookup is the place to start; in 7 there is no state license for general contractors and the license, if any, is local; in Iowa and Vermont the state registers contractors instead of licensing them.

  • Which states don't license general contractors?

    Of the 24 states we cover: Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas have no state license for general contractors or remodelers. Most still license electricians and plumbers at state level, and cities such as Chicago, Denver, New York City and St. Louis run their own contractor licenses.

  • What should a license lookup show?

    At least the name, license number, status (active, expired, suspended), the classification or trade, and the expiry date. Many boards also show bond and insurance: Oregon's CCB record says whether the contractor has a surety bond, liability insurance and workers' compensation, and lists complaints from the past 10 years.

  • Is a license lookup enough to hire someone?

    No. It tells you the firm may legally do the work, not how it does it. Check the classification covers your job (a Virginia Class C firm cannot take a single job of $30,000 or more), any dollar limit (Nevada licenses carry one), and the firm's permit record, which shows how many jobs it pulled permits for and how many it finished.

  • Is it free to check a contractor's license?

    Yes. Every state lookup in our table is free, and so are the city and county license searches our city guides link.

Build your own list

Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.

Seattle electricalSeattle roofingSeattle furnace & heatingCape Coral electricalCape Coral roofingCape Coral HVACAustin electricalAustin HVAC

Related guides

For one city

All guides →

Sources
  1. Before You Hire — Arizona Registrar of Contractors (accessed 2026-10-22)
  2. Check a License — CSLB (accessed 2026-10-22)
  3. Verify a License — DBPR Online Services (accessed 2026-10-22)
  4. Hire a Licensed Contractor — DCCA Professional and Vocational Licensing (accessed 2026-10-22)
  5. Home Repair and Construction: How to Choose a Contractor — Illinois Attorney General (accessed 2026-10-22)
  6. Construction Contractor Registration — Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, & Licensing (accessed 2026-10-22)
  7. Check if your contractor is a registered Home Improvement Contractor — Mass.gov (accessed 2026-10-22)
  8. License and registration lookup — Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (accessed 2026-10-22)
  9. Contractor License Search — Nevada State Contractors Board (accessed 2026-10-22)
  10. Verify a License — Construction Industries Division, NM RLD (accessed 2026-10-22)
  11. Consumer alert: hiring a home improvement contractor — NYS Department of State, Division of Consumer Protection (accessed 2026-10-22)
  12. Verify License Search — NC Licensing Board for General Contractors (accessed 2026-10-22)
  13. Contractors — North Dakota Secretary of State (accessed 2026-10-22)
  14. Verifying licensed contractors — Ohio Division of Industrial Compliance (OCILB) (accessed 2026-10-22)
  15. Consumer Tools — Oregon Construction Contractors Board (accessed 2026-10-22)
  16. Verify a Contractor's HICPA Registration — Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General (accessed 2026-10-22)
  17. Verify a License — Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (accessed 2026-10-22)
  18. License Search — Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (accessed 2026-10-22)
  19. Verify a License — Utah Division of Professional Licensing (accessed 2026-10-22)
  20. Residential Contractor FAQs — Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (accessed 2026-10-22)
  21. License Lookup — Virginia DPOR (accessed 2026-10-22)
  22. Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business — Washington L&I (accessed 2026-10-22)