Nashville contractor license lookup: which license, where to search, and what the permits show

Which license each job needs in Nashville

The state rules, from the Board for Licensing Contractors (read 22 October 2026): a license is needed "for projects $25,000 and up (includes materials and labor), as a prime (general) contractor", before bidding; electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC and roofing subcontractors need their own license when their part is "$25,000 or more", masonry at $100,000 (Who is Required to be Licensed). Each license carries a monetary limit, "10 times the lesser of working capital or net worth", and an unlimited license needs $300,000 of both (Contractor).

The home improvement license applies in nine counties, Davidson among them, to residential projects "in excess of $3,000 to less than $25,000" (county list). That band is where most Nashville trade work sits: the middle half of electrical firms have a usual permit value between $3,000 and $20,000.

Metro's side: its Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical Examiners & Appeals Board examines and issues the master electrician's certificate, the equipment installer's and low-voltage wiring installer's licenses, master, journeyman and apprentice plumber's certificates, and the master mechanical, HVAC&R and gas and appliance certificates. It also "shall also examine applicants for homeowner permits" (Metro Codes, read 22 October 2026).

How to run the lookup in five minutes

1. Get the numbers from the quote: the Tennessee license number (or home improvement license number on a $3,000–$24,999 job), and for trade work the name of the master electrician, plumber or mechanical certificate holder.
2. State: open verify.tn.gov and search the number or business name. The search covers every Commerce & Insurance license, so pick the contractor or home improvement record. Read status, classification and monetary limit; the limit must be above your contract price.
3. Metro: Metro does not publish a public search of its trade certificates that we could find. Ask the firm which master's certificate the permit will be pulled under, and call Codes on 615-862-6500 to confirm it is current.
4. Track record: open the firm on our Nashville electrician list, HVAC list or plumber list to see its permits, the share that reached a final and its license match.

How to search Nashville permit records

• Parcel Viewer: Metro's own steps are to search the address, click the map/parcel link, then pick Permit History in the left-hand options; click a permit number to open its documents (Property Permit History, read 22 October 2026).
• ePermits: Metro says it lets you "find construction, trade, and short-term rental permits as well as property standards violations for a given property address" (Public Records and Information). Only "Registered licensed contractors" can open an account to file.
• The older Codes Permit Search on documents.nashville.gov now says that as of 18 May 2026 "Codes Permits reports will no longer be available via this portal" and sends you to ePermits. Bookmarks to it no longer work.

Trade permits show who held the license. Metro's trades page says "Only licensed contractors with an e-permit account can apply for a trade permit using our online system"; everyone else applies in person (Obtaining a Trades Permit). If your plumber's name is not on the plumbing permit, ask whose license it was pulled under.

Metro's tools are organised by address. Ours is organised by firm: every Nashville permit a firm pulled in three years, on the Nashville permit statistics page and the compare lists.

What 121,932 Nashville permits show

"Reached final" is the share of trade permits a year or more old with a recorded final. Metro's building permits in our file carry no final date, so for new homes, pools and the other building trades we show counts, values and license match only.

HVAC is the trade to read firm by firm. Among the 245 HVAC firms with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile firm reached a final on 56.5% of its permits and the 90th on 100.0%; 36 were under 70%. Electricians run 71.4% to 100.0%, and plumbers 72.1% to 100.0%.

See every Nashville HVAC contractor by finals and license match →

Red flags in the Nashville record

• No state license on a $25,000+ quote, or no home improvement license on a $3,000–$24,999 house job. Both are on verify.tn.gov; a contractor without one was out of line when it bid.
• A monetary limit below your contract price. The limit is on the state record next to the classification.
• A pool or new-home builder with no state match. At usual values of $100,000 (pools) and $264,404 (new homes), these jobs are well over $25,000, yet only 47.7% of pool firms and 43.8% of builders matched an active license by name. Ask for the number and look it up.
• An HVAC firm finishing well under the city's 75.6%, or one of the 59 HVAC firms with 5+ permits that filed none in the last 12 months.
• A contractor who asks you to pull the permit as homeowner. Metro's examiners board tests homeowner permit applicants, and the permit then names you, not the firm, so the firm's record never shows the job.

What this lookup does not tell you

We match the state license file to Metro permits by business name. 42.0% of electrical firms and 51.9% of HVAC firms had no match; many of those work under $25,000, where the state contractor's license is not required, so unmatched is not unlicensed. We do not hold the home improvement license file or Metro's trade certificates, so neither appears on our pages; check them yourself. A license says the firm may work, not how its last job went. Our copy of Metro's permits runs to September 2026. The statewide rules and penalties are in How to check a contractor's license in Tennessee.