The Verified Register Bethesda · Chevy Chase · Potomac

Guide

How to check a contractor's license yourself

This is the single highest value two minutes in hiring anyone for work on your home. It is free, the registries are public, and almost nobody does it.

Start by asking for two things

The exact legal name the business is licensed under. It is often not the trading name on the van, and searching the wrong name is the most common reason a genuine license appears not to exist.

A certificate of insurance sent directly from the insurer or broker, not forwarded by the contractor. A forwarded PDF proves nothing about whether the policy is still in force today.

Then check the right registry

There is no single national list. Each trade is governed by a different body, and a license from one does not authorize work covered by another. This is the part people get wrong: they confirm a general contractor license exists and assume it covers the electrical work.

Search the registry for the legal name. You are looking for four things: that a record exists, that its status is active rather than expired or suspended, the expiry date, and whether the license class actually covers the work you are commissioning.

What a license number does not tell you

It does not tell you the work will be good. It tells you the business met the state's threshold and can be held to account by a body that can remove that license.

It also does not stay true. A license confirmed three years ago tells you nothing today. Write down the date you checked, next to the number, and check it again before the next job.

Two distinctions worth more than any review

A license to do home improvement is not a license to do a trade. A general home improvement license does not authorize rewiring a panel or moving a gas line. Ask which license covers the specific work, not whether the company is licensed in general.

Employees and contractors are not the same thing. If a company employs its workers it carries workers compensation and is responsible for their conduct in your home. If it dispatches independent contractors, much of that can land on you, and a homeowner's policy may not fill the gap. Ask before anything else, in every category, and get the answer in writing.

The registries to search

Each of these is a public record you can search yourself at no cost.

Common questions

Is checking a license really free?
Yes. State license registries are public records and searching them costs nothing. Any service charging you to look up a contractor license is charging for something you can do yourself in a browser.
The contractor says they are bonded and insured. Is that the same as licensed?
No. They are three separate things and a business can have one without the others. Bonded means a surety bond exists. Insured means a policy exists, which is why you want the certificate from the insurer. Licensed means a state body has authorized them and can discipline them.
What if I cannot find them in the registry?
Most often you have the wrong legal name, so ask for the exact registered name and search again. If a record genuinely does not exist, that is the answer, and it usually means the work you are about to commission carries no consumer protection at all.
How often should I re-check?
Before each new job, and at minimum once a year for anyone working in your home regularly. Licenses lapse quietly, insurance is canceled for non-payment, and neither event generates a notice to you.

This page is general information, not legal, medical or financial advice. Program terms and statutory figures change. Confirm anything you intend to rely on with the issuing authority.