Check a Washington contractor before you sign

Type the licence number from the advert or the contract, the 9-digit UBI, or the business name. 161,230 registrations, 75,676 of them active.

Checking more than one? Bulk checks, monitoring and API — or take the register itself as a dataset, with published prices.

The number is on the advert — the law puts it there

RCW 18.27.100 requires any advertising that shows a contractor's name or address to carry their current registration number. So the number is on the van, the flyer, the website and the estimate. This site turns it back into a licence, a bond, an insurance policy and a list of the people behind the business.

L&I says check three things. They live in three files.

Before you sign, L&I tells you to check the registration, the surety bond and the liability insurance. Those are three separate datasets, and nobody puts them on the same line.

Here is what happens when you do: of the 75,676 active registrations, 632 have no current bond in L&I's file and 5,388 have no current liability policy. The whole picture.

Why it is not a formality

Under RCW 18.27.040, a property owner who uses a contractor that is not registered is not protected by the bond — the bond that is $30,000 for a general contractor and $15,000 for a specialty. And subcontracting to an unregistered contractor is itself unlawful, which is why general contractors check their subs.

⚠️ 52,655 registrations have been suspended in the past

Only 9,749 are suspended right now. But 52,655 more carry a suspension date without being suspended today — a third of the register has been suspended at least once.

L&I publishes the date and never the reason. A suspension can follow a lapsed bond, an unpaid tax account or an unsatisfied judgment, and the file does not say which. This site shows the date and stops there. What each status means.

The same people, a new registration

19,695 registrations have a principal who also appears in another registered business. That is ordinary — people run several companies, and companies get restructured. It is also what happens when a contractor closes under one name and opens under another: the registration is new, the people are not. The link is in L&I's own data; we show it and draw no conclusion.

By trade

• General — 115,598
• Painting/Wallcovering — 5,671
• Floor Covering and Counter Tops — 4,276
• Landscaping — 3,238
• Tile, Ceramic, Mosaic, Natural and MFG Stone — 2,279
• Cabinets, Millwork and Finish Carpentry — 2,046
• Journey Level — 1,926
• Residential — 1,787
• Concrete — 1,786
• Handyman — 1,455
• Heating/Vent/Air-Conditioning and Refrig (HVAC/R) — 1,420
• Tree Removal Service — 1,271
• Plumbing — 1,241
• Roofing — 1,209
• Framing and Rough Carpentry — 969
• Dry Wall — 960
• Limited Energy — 880
• Siding — 875
• Excavation, Grading and Land Clearing — 831
• Hvac/Rfrg — 777
• Masonry — 694
• Pressure Washing — 595
• Fencing — 535
• Welding and Ornamental Metal — 517

By city

• Seattle — 8,178
• Vancouver — 6,504
• Spokane — 6,224
• Tacoma — 5,148
• Everett — 3,908
• Kent — 3,281
• Auburn — 3,199
• Renton — 2,751
• Puyallup — 2,566
• Olympia — 2,523
• Lynnwood — 2,357
• Federal Way — 2,345
• Bellingham — 2,276
• Bellevue — 2,156
• Kennewick — 2,068
• Snohomish — 1,932
• Yakima — 1,850
• Bothell — 1,821
• Pasco — 1,739
• Marysville — 1,736
• Kirkland — 1,500
• Spokane Valley — 1,439
• Arlington — 1,207
• Lake Stevens — 1,207

All 68 trades · 175 cities · Statuses · Bond and insurance · Expiring registrations

Getting work done?

Being registered is the legal minimum to contract for construction work in Washington — it is not a recommendation, and this site makes none. Tell us what you need done and where, and we will put the enquiry in front of contractors who are registered, bonded and insured. We are not contractors and we do not vouch for anyone; how we are paid is set out on the privacy page.

We read every message ourselves. Your email is used to reply and to pass the enquiry on, and nothing else — see the privacy page.

Bulk checks and API · Buy the prepared dataset · What this site is and is not