How we verify contractor licenses
Refreshed monthlyUpdated 3 state license files
We load the public license files that California, Texas and Florida publish, match each license to a business by phone or by name and location, and show “License verified” only when the match holds and the license is active.
Where license data comes from
Free bulk files published by the licensing agencies themselves. We do not buy license data or scrape lookup pages.
| State | Agency and file | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| California | Contractors State License Board (CSLB) License Master (CSV) | Every contractor classification (B general building, C-10 electrical, C-20 HVAC, C-36 plumbing, C-39 roofing and the rest), license status, expiry, contractor bond and workers’ compensation. |
| Texas | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) License files (CSV, updated daily) | Electrical contractors and air conditioning and refrigeration contractors, with expiry dates. No bond or insurance data. |
| Florida | Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Construction and electrical licensee extracts (CSV) | Certified and registered construction contractors (general, building, residential, roofing, plumbing, air conditioning, mechanical, solar, specialty) and electrical contractors, with status and expiry. No phone, bond or insurance data. |
Other states are added in order of traffic. Canada has provincial and trade-specific bodies and is not covered yet.
How a license is matched to a business
Three steps, tried in order. The first that gives one clear answer wins.
- Phone. The business phone equals the license phone (both normalised to +1 and ten digits), and the names share a distinctive word or the ZIP code agrees. A phone shared by several license holders, such as an answering service, needs the name to agree.
- Name and ZIP code. The normalised names are the same and the ZIP codes agree. Normalising drops “LLC”, “Inc”, “Corp”, punctuation and “&”, and checks both the legal name and the doing-business-as name on the license.
- Name and street address. The normalised names are the same, the house number and street agree, and the city agrees.
- We never match on a name alone. “Pacific Roofing” in another ZIP code with no phone in common is not a match.
- Names made only of trade words, such as “Plumbing Services LLC”, are never matched by name.
- Trade words must agree: “Torres Electric” is not matched to a license held by “Torres Roofing”.
- If two different license holders fit, or one license fits two different businesses, nothing is matched. A person reviews the list.
What “License verified” means
The chip shows the month of the license file we checked.
“License verified {month}” appears next to a business only when all of these hold:
- A license in that month’s state file matched the business by one of the three steps above.
- The state file lists that license as active (California: status “Clear”; Florida: current and active; Texas: not yet expired).
- The match was not ambiguous.
Where the file says so, we also show the license number, its classification, the expiry date, and whether a bond and workers’ compensation are on file (California only).
A license can lapse between our monthly checks. Always confirm it with the state lookup before you sign a contract.
Why we never say “unlicensed”
A missing match usually means missing data, not a missing license.
- We load license files for three states. Everywhere else we have no license data at all.
- Many trades are licensed by cities or counties, not the state, and those lists are not published in bulk.
- Florida publishes no phone numbers, and many businesses trade under a name the license file does not show.
- Some work needs no license, for example jobs under a state’s dollar threshold.
So a business without the chip is shown without any license statement. We never print “unlicensed”, “not licensed” or “no license found”.
How licenses affect the CR Score
Credentials carry 15% of the CR Score.
An active state license that covers the trade on the page scores 0.6, a bond on file 0.2 and workers’ compensation on file 0.2. Where the state publishes no license file we load, the credentials factor is left out of the score, not counted as zero. See how we rank.
Counts toward credentials
- Active license matched this month
- License covers the trade being ranked
- Contractor bond on file (California)
- Workers’ compensation on file (California)
Never counts
- A license we could not match
- An expired, inactive or suspended license
- Paid Featured placement or a Pro plan
- A license number typed into a profile without a match
How to check a license yourself
- California: Contractors State License Board (CSLB) license lookup
- Texas: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) license lookup
- Florida: Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) license lookup
Every trade × city page has a “How to check a license” block that names the state body and links its lookup.
State license rules by trade
221 state × trade entries across 50 states and DC, each with its source, checked October 2026. A dash means we have not sourced that entry yet.
| State | Roofers | Plumbers | Electricians | HVAC contractors | General contractors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | State license | — | — | — | State license |
| Alabama | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Arkansas | State license | State license | — | — | State license |
| Arizona | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| California | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Colorado | Local only | State license | State license | Local only | Local only |
| Connecticut | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| District of Columbia | — | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Delaware | — | State license | State license | State license | — |
| Florida | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Georgia | — | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Hawaii | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Iowa | — | State license | State license | State license | — |
| Idaho | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Illinois | State license | State license | Local only | Local only | Local only |
| Indiana | Local only | State license | Local only | Local only | Local only |
| Kansas | State license | Local only | Local only | Local only | Local only |
| Kentucky | — | State license | State license | State license | Local only |
| Louisiana | State license | State license | — | State license | State license |
| Massachusetts | State license | State license | State license | — | State license |
| Maryland | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Maine | No state license | State license | State license | — | No state license |
| Michigan | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Minnesota | State license | State license | State license | — | State license |
| Missouri | — | Local only | Local only | Local only | Local only |
| Mississippi | — | — | — | — | State license |
| Montana | — | State license | State license | — | — |
| North Carolina | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| North Dakota | State license | State license | State license | — | State license |
| Nebraska | State license | Local only | State license | Local only | State license |
| New Hampshire | Local only | State license | State license | — | Local only |
| New Jersey | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| New Mexico | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Nevada | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| New York | Local only | Local only | Local only | Local only | Local only |
| Ohio | — | State license | State license | State license | Local only |
| Oklahoma | State license | State license | State license | State license | Local only |
| Oregon | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Pennsylvania | State license | Local only | Local only | Local only | State license |
| Rhode Island | State license | State license | State license | — | State license |
| South Carolina | — | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| South Dakota | Local only | State license | State license | Local only | Local only |
| Tennessee | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Texas | No state license | State license | State license | State license | No state license |
| Utah | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Virginia | State license | State license | State license | State license | State license |
| Vermont | State license | State license | State license | — | State license |
| Washington | State license | State license | State license | — | State license |
| Wisconsin | State license | State license | State license | — | State license |
| West Virginia | State license | — | State license | — | State license |
| Wyoming | Local only | Local only | State license | Local only | Local only |