The short version
- Search the contractor on L&I's Verify tool by business name, owner name, UBI, or registration number.
- Check four things. An active registration, the bond, the liability insurance, and whether any lawsuits have been filed against the bond.
- Contractors should check their own record twice a year, because homeowners read it before they call.
Washington does not issue a general contractor license the way some states do. What you look up is a contractor registration with the Department of Labor and Industries, usually called L&I. It proves the business registered with the state, posted a bond, and carries liability insurance. Plumbers and electricians also hold trade licenses on top of it, and those show in the same place.
I build sites for contractors in Washington and Oregon, and the registration number goes on every one of them. Homeowners look it up. Contractors should too, before a homeowner does.
Where to look
The state tool is called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and it lives at secure.lni.wa.gov/verify (opens in a new tab). It is free and needs no account. You can search by any one of these.
- The business name, full or partial
- An owner's name
- The UBI number, which is the nine digit business number from the Department of Revenue
- The contractor registration number or the L&I account ID
A partial name is the fastest start. Type one distinctive word from the business name instead of the whole thing, because a missing "LLC" or a different spelling of "and" will hide the record you want.
If you need to check a contractor in both Washington and Oregon, I built a lookup at llcsearchwa.com (opens in a new tab) that searches L&I registrations and Oregon CCB licenses together. It is copied from the state files and links every record back to the agency, so the agency page stays the final word.
What the record shows
Open a result and the record is broken into sections. The names shift a little over time, but the content stays the same.
| Part of the record | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Registration status | Whether the registration is active today, and when it expires |
| Registration type | General or specialty, plus the specialty code for trades like roofing or painting |
| Bond | The bond company, the bond amount, and the bond number |
| Insurance | The liability insurer, the policy dates, and the amount |
| Lawsuits against the bond | Claims homeowners or suppliers filed against the bond, and how they ended |
| Workers' comp | Whether the business has an active L&I workers' comp account |
| Violations and citations | Safety citations and contractor infractions L&I issued |
| Owners | The names of the owners or officers on file |
Registration status
This is the first line to read. Active means the registration is current. The record also shows the effective date and the expiration date. A registration runs for two years, so an expiration date a few weeks out is normal and says nothing bad about the business, as long as it gets renewed.
A suspended registration usually means the bond or the insurance lapsed. An expired one means it was not renewed. Either way, the business should not be doing work that requires registration until it is fixed.
General or specialty
A general contractor registration covers work across two or more trades. A specialty registration covers one trade, and the record shows which one. A roofer registered as a specialty contractor in roofing is exactly what you want to see on a roofer. A specialty painter bidding a kitchen remodel is a question worth asking.
The bond
Every registered contractor posts a bond with L&I. As of this writing, the required amount is $30,000 for a general contractor and $15,000 for a specialty contractor. The bond is there for homeowners, subcontractors, and suppliers with a claim against the business. It is not insurance for the contractor, and it is not a warranty on the work.
Insurance
L&I requires liability insurance of at least $200,000 for public liability and $50,000 for property damage, or $250,000 combined. The record shows the insurer and the policy dates. If the policy end date has passed and nothing replaced it, the registration will not stay active for long.
Lawsuits against the bond
This section matters more than any other for a homeowner, and it is the one contractors forget. A lawsuit here means someone went to court against the bond. One old claim that was dismissed is a different story from three recent ones, so read the dates and the outcomes before drawing a conclusion.
Workers' comp and violations
A business with employees needs an L&I workers' comp account, and the record shows whether it is active. Safety citations and contractor infractions show here too, with dates. Some are paperwork, some are serious, and the record usually says which.
What a homeowner should check before hiring
If you are a homeowner reading this, four minutes on the Verify page covers most of the risk.
- The name on the record matches the name on the bid and the contract.
- The registration is active, and the type fits the work.
- The bond and the insurance are current.
- The lawsuits section is empty, or the claims are old and resolved.
Washington also has a law with teeth on the contractor's side. Under RCW 18.27.080, a contractor who was not registered cannot go to court to collect payment for work that required registration. That is one more reason a legitimate business keeps its registration current.
What a contractor should check on their own record
Homeowners are not the only ones reading your record. Bid reviewers, general contractors hiring subs, and suppliers opening an account read it too. Twice a year, pull up your own page and look for these.
- The business name matches everything else. Your site, your truck, your Google Business Profile, and your invoices should use the name on the registration. Washington law says advertising that shows your name or address has to show your registered name and your current registration number.
- The expiration date is on your calendar. Put a reminder sixty days out. A registration that lapses over a long weekend costs you jobs and, under the statute above, your right to sue over an unpaid invoice.
- The insurance dates roll over cleanly. When you switch insurers, confirm the new certificate reached L&I. A gap between policies shows up on the record.
- The owners are right. A partner who left three years ago should not still be listed.
- The specialty code fits the work you sell. If your site says remodeling and your registration says painting, a careful homeowner will notice.
If something on the record is wrong, the fix goes through L&I, not through the Verify page. Call the contractor registration line or update the account online, and keep a note of the date you asked.
Putting the number where homeowners look
Once your record is clean, show it. The registration number belongs in the footer of every page, on the about page, and next to the quote form. On the sites I build, it goes in all three places by default. I wrote a separate guide on where the license number goes on a contractor website and how to write it.
A homeowner who searches your number and finds an active registration, a current bond, and a clean lawsuit section is most of the way to calling you. Make sure the page they find says what you want it to say.
