United States · Contractor licensing
Verify a contractor license by state.
There is no national contractor license register. Each state, and in some places each city, keeps its own. Pick a state to reach its official register, or open a full guide.
Short answer: find the state's licensing board below and search its official register by license number or name. Then compare status, class, bond and insurance to the job. This page links out; it never queries a register.
Pick a state
Result and official links
Fifteen states and where to check
Six states have a full guide drawn from the board's own pages and statutes. For the others, this page names the regulator and links to its site; we have not summarized their rules, so read the board's pages for formats, bonds and reciprocity. Some state sites block automated checks, so a link there was not machine-verified.
| State | Regulator | Register | Our guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Contractors State License Board (CSLB) | Official site ↗ | Guide |
| Florida | Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) | Official site ↗ | Guide |
| Texas | Dept. of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), specific trades | Official site ↗ | Guide |
| New York (NYC) | NYC Dept. of Consumer and Worker Protection: Home Improvement Contractor license | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| Washington | Dept. of Labor & Industries (L&I) | Official site ↗ | Guide |
| Arizona | Registrar of Contractors | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| Nevada | State Contractors Board (NSCB) | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| Oregon | Construction Contractors Board (CCB) | Official site ↗ | Guide |
| Colorado | Dept. of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| Georgia | Secretary of State, licensing boards | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| North Carolina | Licensing Board for General Contractors | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| Virginia | Dept. of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) | Official site ↗ | Guide |
| Massachusetts | Office of Public Safety and Inspections | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| Illinois | Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
| New Jersey | Division of Consumer Affairs, home improvement contractors | Official site ↗ | Board link only |
A short checklist for any state
- Get the exact business name and license number from the contract or advertising, and search the board's register with them.
- Read the status and the license class or classification, and match both to the work.
- Look for bond and insurance details on the record, and ask for a certificate of insurance naming you if you want one.
- Check for disciplinary history where the board shows it; a licence check alone often does not cover it.
- If a name is missing, try fewer letters or the number. Oregon's CCB, for one, warns not to assume a missing name means unlicensed.
What these guides cannot do
They do not confirm any individual's license, do not scrape or proxy a state register and do not collect personal data. Rules change; each guide cites the board pages it came from and the month it was read (October 2026).
Sources
- NYC DCWP: Home Improvement Contractor License Application Checklist (retrieved October 2026)
- Oregon CCB: Contractor License Search (retrieved October 2026)
- DPOR: Consumer Guide, Hiring a Contractor (retrieved October 2026)
Frequently asked questions
Is there a national contractor license search?
No. Contractor licensing is handled state by state, and in some places by cities or counties, so you search the register of the state or locality where the work happens.
How do I verify a contractor license?
Find the state board, search its official register by license number or business name, and compare the status, license class and bond or insurance details to the job.
Why does a state not show up in the full-guide list?
We published full guides for California, Florida, Texas, Washington, Oregon and Virginia first. The rest link to the board only.
Does a clean search mean the contractor is good?
No. A license record shows regulatory status, not workmanship. Check references and get a written contract.
A guide, not a verification
TNAADO is not a licensing board and this page does not check anyone's license or imply official verification. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere. Use the official links to confirm status, and check the board's site for current rules.