HOUSERULES
GUIDE · UPDATED AUGUST 2026

How to verify a contractor’s license in Oregon and Washington

Every legitimate contractor in Oregon is registered with the Construction Contractors Board (CCB), and every legitimate contractor in Washington is registered with Labor & Industries (L&I). Both registries are free, public, and searchable in about two minutes. Checking them before you sign anything is the single highest-value step in hiring — it is exactly the check we run on every contractor before they can bid on HouseRules.

Oregon: the CCB registry

Search at search.ccb.state.or.us by business name or CCB number. Oregon requires contractors to put their CCB number on ads, bids, and contracts — if you can’t find a number anywhere, that itself is the answer. Then confirm:

  • ·Status is Active — not expired, suspended, or lapsed.
  • ·The business name on the license matches the name on your bid or contract.
  • ·Bond and insurance are current. The bond is what you recover against if things go wrong.
  • ·Complaint and disciplinary history. One old, resolved complaint is normal; a pattern is not.

Washington: the L&I verify tool

Search at secure.lni.wa.gov/verify by name, license number, or UBI. Washington shows more detail than Oregon in one screen. Confirm:

  • ·Registration is Active, with the right business entity behind it.
  • ·Bond amount on file, and whether anyone has sued against the bond.
  • ·Insurance is current.
  • ·Safety infractions and any past suspensions.

Red flags a registry check catches

  • ·No license number on the ad, bid, or contract — Oregon requires it, and pros are proud of theirs.
  • ·A license under a different business name than the one on your contract.
  • ·A recently reinstated license after a bond lapse — ask what happened.
  • ·Asking you to pull the permits yourself. Licensed contractors pull their own.
  • ·Cash only, no written contract, or a large deposit before any materials arrive.

What a license doesn’t tell you

A license screens out the worst outcomes — unbonded, uninsured, unaccountable operators — but it says nothing about craft or communication. For that you still want photos of past work, a written scope, and more than one bid, because prices for the same job routinely vary by thousands of dollars.

Or skip the homework: we verify every contractor against these exact registries before they can bid.

Post your project

Questions about a specific license situation? Ask a real person. Guide updated August 2026.