Checking a Contractor’s License Tip

Before contracting with any California contractor (Plumber, Painters, Remodelings, Landscapers, etc), here area few tips to help educate you a bit on a Contractor's Longevity and Legal Requirements:

1. You can check the licensed status here: Licensed Look Up
2. When checking the status, make sure you check their worker's compensation and insurance status too. It is easy for certain contractors to work around worker's comp. and cut corners in their hiring process.
3. Ask a company about their hiring process and how long their employees have been with them. Do they do drug testing might be a good question to ask.
4. You can sometimes tell how long a contractor has been around based on the first digit of their licensed number. For example, our licensed number, #491884, was issued in 1982. You can tell by the number "4." Licensed numbers that started with a "4" seemed to be issued beginning in 1978 to about 1983. If a company's licensed number begins with an "8", it is very likely that the company is 5-7 years old. This "rule of thumb" is not 100% accurate in determining the age of a company, but it does help a consumer if they are more comfortable hiring an older company.
5. Make sure that the company you hire has a legal license. California has strict standards in obtaining an licensed. If they will not provide you with a licensed number, just move on. You don't want to hire an unlicensed contractor in California. There are too many so called contractors that do not follow the requirements and take advantage of homeowners who don't do their homework.
6. Check their status with groups like the Better Business Bureaus to see what types of complaints they have outstanding and/or how they were taken care of.
7. Ask to speak with 2-3 clients of theirs in your area and call them. Don't just read a testimonial, though that is helpful. We encourage you to call our clients when you have questions about if we are a good fit. You can ask them questions you won't ask us!

We hope you will find this information helpful. If you have further questions before hiring a contractor, email or call us. We have been in the business a long time, and we tend to know very high quality companies that will treat you well.