Which license each job needs in Sacramento
| Work | CSLB classification | City permits, Oct 2024–Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Furnace, AC or heat pump | C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning | 8,690 |
| Plumbing, water heaters | C-36 Plumbing | 8,247 |
| Electrical, panels, EV chargers | C-10 Electrical | 6,413 |
| Roofing | C-39 Roofing | 5,269 |
| Remodels and repairs | B General Building | 3,378 |
| New homes | B General Building | 1,791 |
| Solar | C-46 Solar (or C-10) | 1,669 |
| ADUs | B General Building | 625 |
| Pools and spas | C-53 Swimming Pool | 302 |
Classifications are from CSLB's list, read 26 October 2026. The license line is $1,000: CSLB's AB 2622 release says an unlicensed person may complete "small projects up to $1,000 without obtaining a contractor's license if they do not hire workers and no building permits are needed."
How to run the lookup in five minutes
- Get the license number from the bid, or search CSLB by business name.
- Search it on Check a License. The status should be active and the classification should fit the job: C-20 for a heat pump, C-36 for a water heater.
- Search the City portal by license. The building search takes a "Contractor License" as well as a permit number, address or parcel. A firm with a long Sacramento record will show it here; one with none has not pulled City permits under that license.
- Look up your address in the same search before work starts, as the Sacramento building permit search guide shows.
Doing the work yourself
California lets an owner act as owner-builder. CSLB's guide for building officials says no license is needed if the owner does the work "himself or herself or through his or her own employees, with wages as their sole compensation, and the structure(s) is/are not intended for sale", or contracts "with properly licensed subcontractors" (CSLB Building Official Information Guide, 2009). The permit is then in your name, so a contractor who asks you to pull it for work they will do is putting their job under your name.
What our Sacramento pages add
CSLB answers "is this firm licensed". Our Sacramento page shows what the City permitted, October 2024 to September 2026:
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Permits issued | 40,507 |
| Share on homes | 84% |
| Permits naming a contractor | 89% |
| Finished, permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025 | 81% |
| Solar permits, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 vs the year before | 1,158 vs 511 |
The landing and each kind-of-work page list the contractors named on the most permits, a count of volume only. The permit statistics page has the months. City rules: HVAC and plumbing permits. For the unincorporated county see the Sacramento County contractor license lookup; statewide rules are in How to check a contractor's license in California.
What this lookup does not tell you
We have not matched the City's contractor names to CSLB records, so our Sacramento pages show no license status and do not rate or rank firms. A license says the firm may do the work, not how its last job went.
How we know this
License rules are quoted from CSLB's Check a License page, classification list, AB 2622 press release and 2009 Building Official Information Guide, and the City of Sacramento's permit portal search form, read 26 October 2026. Counts are the City of Sacramento Building Division's issued building permit layers, read 18 October 2026: permits issued October 2024 to September 2026; the finished share uses permits issued October 2024 to September 2025.
Numbers come from public permit records in 57 cities, data through October 18, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Does the City of Sacramento license contractors?
No. California licenses contractors through the Contractors State License Board (CSLB). The City's Community Development Department issues the permits, and its permit portal can be searched by a contractor's state license number.
- How do I see every permit a contractor pulled in Sacramento?
In the City's Public Permit Portal, choose the building search and enter the contractor's state license number. The search also takes a permit number, site address or parcel number.
- When does a Sacramento job need a licensed contractor?
When it is over $1,000, or it needs a building permit, or the worker hires help. CSLB says since 1 January 2025 an unlicensed person may do projects up to $1,000 only "if they do not hire workers and no building permits are needed".
- Which CSLB license fits an HVAC job in Sacramento?
C-20, Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor. HVAC was the City's busiest kind of permit, 8,690 from October 2024 to September 2026. Plumbers hold C-36, electricians C-10, roofers C-39.
- Is the City of Sacramento the same as Sacramento County?
No. Sacramento County permits the unincorporated area outside the city limits through its own portal. Our Sacramento County contractor guide covers it.
Build your own list
Pick your city and the kind of work. Every firm with a permit on record, sorted by what you value.
Related guides
- Albuquerque contractor license lookup: the CID license, its classification and the City permits
- Ames contractor license lookup: Iowa registration, electrical and PMSB licenses, and the City permits
- Anaheim contractor license lookup: CSLB classifications, the City's permit report and what it shows
- Arlington, VA contractor license lookup: DPOR class and specialty, the County permit search, and what the permits show
- Check a License — CSLB (2026-10-26)
- CSLB Licensing Classifications (2026-10-26)
- Handyperson Exemption to Increase to $1,000 in 2025 — CSLB press release (AB 2622) (2026-10-26)
- Building Official Information Guide (2009), Owner-Builder exemption (B&P 7044) — CSLB (2026-10-26)
- Building permit search — City of Sacramento Public Permit Portal (Accela) (2026-10-26)