Does Seattle license contractors itself?

For three trades. SDCI issues refrigeration licenses (to install, repair or alter refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment), gas piping licenses and steam engineer and boiler licenses. Every other contractor registers with the State through L&I.

How do I check a Seattle contractor's registration?

On L&I's Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business tool (lni.wa.gov/Verify). Washington requires all construction contractors to register with L&I and carry a bond ($30,000 general, $15,000 specialty) and liability insurance.

Who needs a license to install a heat pump in Seattle?

The firm needs an L&I registration, and the electrical work needs an L&I electrical contractor. SDCI's refrigeration contractor license covers installing, repairing or altering refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment, with a journeyman refrigeration mechanic assigned; SDCI's page does not name heat pumps, so ask SDCI (206-684-5174) if the installer says it does not need one.

Who issues plumbing permits in Seattle?

Public Health – Seattle & King County, not the City. Its page says a plumber you contract with must be a registered contractor; homeowners can get a homeowner's plumbing permit for their own work.

Where do I see the permits on a Seattle address?

On the Seattle Services Portal (services.seattle.gov), which searches records by address or record number. Plumbing and gas piping permits are with Public Health's Permit Center.

Seattle contractor license lookup: L&I, SDCI and the permits

Which license each job needs in Seattle

Work	Who licenses it	Where to check	Seattle firms matched to an active L&I record
Any contracting: remodels, roofing, siding, decks	L&I contractor registration (general or specialty)	L&I Verify	86.9% of 61 roofing firms
Electrical, EV chargers, solar wiring	L&I electrical contractor license, with an assigned administrator or master electrician	L&I Verify	82.6% of 749 electrical firms
Heat pumps, A/C, furnaces	L&I registration; SDCI refrigeration contractor license for refrigeration and A/C equipment	L&I Verify and Seattle Services Portal	76.1% (heat pump), 78.5% (furnace and HVAC)
Gas piping from the meter to the appliance	SDCI gas piping mechanic license	Seattle Services Portal	not matched by us
Boilers	SDCI steam engineer and boiler licenses; L&I for boiler contractors	both	86.5% of 37
Plumbing	L&I registration plus L&I's plumbing licensing; permits from Public Health – Seattle & King County	L&I Verify	not in our Seattle data

What the L&I registration means in dollars: a $30,000 bond for a general contractor, $15,000 for a specialty contractor, and liability insurance of either $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage or $250,000 combined. A specialty contractor "can work only in the specialty they're registered for and cannot hire subcontractors" (L&I, read 22 October 2026). The electrical contractor bond is $4,000 (L&I). Bonds are small against a remodel's price, so treat them as a sign of a real business, not as your protection.

Seattle's refrigeration contractor license "allows your business to install, repair, or alter refrigeration or air conditioning equipment", and the business must have a journeyman refrigeration mechanic assigned to the work (SDCI, read 22 October 2026). The gas piping license covers piping "from the meter to the appliance or to the point of use".

How to run the lookup in five minutes

Get the L&I registration number (and, for electrical work, the electrical contractor license number) from the quote.
Search L&I Verify by name or number. Check the registration is active and its type (general or specialty, and which specialty) fits the job. L&I says the same record shows whether workers' comp is active and paid up, any "lawsuits against their bond", and safety citations or other infractions.
Heat pump, A/C or gas line: on the Seattle Services Portal, use "Find Trade Licenses by Last Name" for the refrigeration or gas piping license.
Read the record: open the firm on our Seattle heat-pump list, electrical list or roofing list.

How to search Seattle permit records

The Seattle Services Portal searches SDCI building, trade and electrical permits "by Address or Record Number", with status and inspections. Plumbing and gas piping permits in Seattle come from Public Health – Seattle & King County, whose Permit Center tracks permit and inspection status (Public Health, read 22 October 2026).

The portal is organised by address and record. Ours is organised by firm: each firm's Seattle permits in three years, the share completed and the usual days to completion, plus the Seattle permit statistics and Seattle ZIP code pages.

What 57,209 Seattle permits show

Trade	Permits	Firms	Completed	Usual days to completion	Active L&I match
HVAC (furnace, ducting)	18,668	316	86.2%	66	78.5%
Heat pumps	15,441	272	85.6%	105	76.1%
Electrical	15,130	749	94.6%	44	82.6%
EV chargers	2,602	311	94.1%	20	85.9%
Solar	1,858	69	97.0%	43	87.0%
Low voltage	1,830	122	95.0%	25	85.2%
Re-roofing	633	61	88.6%	67	86.9%

"Completed" is the share of permits a year or more old that the City completed or closed; permits that expired without a final count against it. Usual filed values: heat pump $8,000, HVAC $7,550, re-roof $19,345.

Heat pumps are where to look hardest. Among the 118 heat-pump firms with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile firm completed 64.8% and the 90th 96.7%; 17 were under 70%. Electricians are tighter: 85.1% to 99.0%.

See every Seattle heat-pump installer by completion and L&I status →

Red flags in Seattle

An L&I record that is not active. 77 electrical firms and 36 heat-pump firms in our file matched an L&I record that is no longer active.
A specialty registration that does not fit the job, or a specialty contractor proposing to hire subcontractors, which L&I says it cannot do.
A firm that has gone quiet: 102 electrical firms with 5 or more permits filed none in the last 12 months.
A heat-pump or A/C installer with no Seattle refrigeration license and no answer when you ask about it.

What this lookup does not tell you

Seattle's building permits name a contractor on only about 1 in 100 residential permits for new homes, additions, remodels and demolition, so we have no general-contractor or remodel rankings here; re-roofing is the one building trade we rank. Plumbing permits are not in our Seattle data. Permits carry no L&I number, so firms are matched by business name; we do not match SDCI trade licenses. A registration says the firm may work, not how its last job went. The statewide rules and penalties are in How to check a contractor's license in Washington, and the heat-pump decision itself in Heat pump vs furnace in Seattle.

How we know this

Permits are City of Seattle (SDCI) building, trade and electrical permits on single-family and duplex homes, 2023-10 to 2026-09, grouped into the trades above. "Completed" uses permits a year or more old, adjusted for permit age; the percentile figures use firms with 10 or more permits. License status is our name match against the Washington L&I contractor license data file. Rules are quoted from L&I, SDCI and Public Health – Seattle & King County pages, read 22 October 2026.

Numbers come from City of Seattle (SDCI) building, trade and electrical permits on single-family and duplex homes (the city's open-data exports), data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

Questions

Does Seattle license contractors itself?
For three trades. SDCI issues refrigeration licenses (to install, repair or alter refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment), gas piping licenses and steam engineer and boiler licenses. Every other contractor registers with the State through L&I.
How do I check a Seattle contractor's registration?
On L&I's Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business tool (lni.wa.gov/Verify). Washington requires all construction contractors to register with L&I and carry a bond ($30,000 general, $15,000 specialty) and liability insurance.
Who needs a license to install a heat pump in Seattle?
The firm needs an L&I registration, and the electrical work needs an L&I electrical contractor. SDCI's refrigeration contractor license covers installing, repairing or altering refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment, with a journeyman refrigeration mechanic assigned; SDCI's page does not name heat pumps, so ask SDCI (206-684-5174) if the installer says it does not need one.
Who issues plumbing permits in Seattle?
Public Health – Seattle & King County, not the City. Its page says a plumber you contract with must be a registered contractor; homeowners can get a homeowner's plumbing permit for their own work.
Where do I see the permits on a Seattle address?
On the Seattle Services Portal (services.seattle.gov), which searches records by address or record number. Plumbing and gas piping permits are with Public Health's Permit Center.