How to actually
vet a contractor.

Start with the CSLB license lookup

Every legitimate California contractor has a license number they should give you without hesitation. Take it to the Contractors State License Board's Check a License tool at cslb.ca.gov and confirm two things: the status reads Active (not expired, suspended, or inactive), and the license classification actually matches your project's scope — a license classification that doesn't cover your project type is worth asking about directly.

Check the bond

Every active California contractor is required to carry a $25,000 contractor's license bond. On the same CSLB license detail page, look for the bonding section — it should show an active bond filed with a specific bonding company. No bond information showing means the bond has lapsed, which is a real problem, not a technicality: that bond is what protects you up to $25,000 if the contractor abandons the job, breaches the contract, or commits fraud.

Confirm workers' compensation

The same CSLB lookup shows whether a contractor carries active workers' comp coverage, or has filed a certificate of self-insurance or an exemption. If they have employees on your jobsite with no active coverage, that's a liability that can land on you as the property owner if someone gets hurt.

Read the complaint and disciplinary history

CSLB makes complaint and disciplinary history public on the same license lookup. This is one of the most genuinely useful data points available to you — not because every contractor with a past complaint is bad, but because how a complaint was resolved tells you something a sales conversation won't.

What to do beyond the CSLB check

Get more than one bid, and treat a bid that's dramatically lower than the others with real skepticism rather than relief — it's a common way corners get cut before you've noticed. Ask directly who will actually be on your jobsite for each trade, and confirm those subs are licensed for their specific work too, not just the general contractor.

What this means for your project

We're a CSLB-licensed, bonded, and insured general contractor under California license #1094201 — checkable through the exact process above, not just a claim on our own site. If you're vetting us alongside anyone else, we'd rather you run this exact check than take our word for it.