Five steps, start to finish
Get the license number, or the exact business name
Every California contractor must put the license number on contracts, bids, business cards and advertising — that is the law, not a courtesy (Business and Professions Code §7030.5). If a contractor will not give you the number, you already have your answer and you can stop here.
A California license number is digits only, up to eight of them. Letters in a “license number” mean you are looking at something else — a city business tax certificate, a trade association ID, a DBA filing.
Open the state lookup
Go to the Contractors State License Board and use Check a License. It is the only source that is current: a screenshot, a PDF, a badge on a website and a photo of a plastic pocket card are all copies of a record that may have changed this morning.
The page has two searches: by license number and by business name. Use the number when you have it — names match loosely and you can land on a different company with a similar name.
Open the CSLB lookup →Read the status line before anything else
You want one sentence: This license is current and active. Anything else — expired, inactive, suspended, revoked — means the person in front of you cannot legally take a job over $500 in labor and materials today, whatever the rest of the page says.
Expired is not a paperwork detail. An expired license suspends the bond and leaves you without the routes a licensed job gives you if the work goes wrong.
Check the classification against your actual job
A license is issued for specific trades. A roofing license does not cover your deck, and a general B license does not automatically make someone a decking specialist. Decks, railings and siding sit under C-61/D41. Match the classification to the work you are buying, not to the word “licensed.”
A contractor may legally hold several classifications. More is not better — what matters is whether the one you need is on the list.
Read the bond, the workers' comp line and the complaint disclosure
The record shows the surety company, the bond number and the amount — $25,000 for every active California license since January 1, 2023. Below it, the workers' compensation line reads either as a policy on file or as an exemption. If there is a disclosable complaint or a construction-related civil judgment reported to the board, a link appears on that same page.
The board states its own limits at the top of every record: complaint disclosure is restricted by law, arbitrations are not listed unless the contractor fails to comply, and recent items may not be entered yet. A clean record is good news, not a guarantee — keep asking questions.
What the record actually shows
- License Status
- Current and active, or not. The single most important line on the page.
- Entity
- Sole ownership, partnership, corporation or LLC. It tells you who you are actually contracting with.
- Issue and Expire Date
- Licenses renew every two years. An expiry date in the past means the license is not active right now.
- Classifications
- The trades this license covers. Match them to your job.
- Qualifier
- The person who passed the exams and is answerable for the license. Their name should be one you recognize from the proposal — if the license is qualified by somebody you have never heard of, ask who that is.
- Contractor's Bond
- Surety company, bond number, amount and effective date. $25,000 is the required amount statewide since January 1, 2023.
- Workers' Compensation
- Either a policy with a carrier and expiry date, or a certified exemption for an owner with no employees. Both are lawful. Ask who will physically be on your property and how they are covered — the answer should be easy.
Five things that should stop you
- No license number on the bidIt belongs there by law. An estimate without it is a document you cannot check.
- The name on the record is not the name on the contractCompanies trade under a brand and hold the license under a legal name — that is normal and we do it too. What is not normal is a contractor who cannot explain the connection in one sentence.
- A large deposit asked for up frontCalifornia caps the down payment on a home improvement contract at $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less. This one is a bright line.
- Cash only, no written contractHome improvement work over $500 requires a written contract. No contract means no scope, no schedule and nothing to hold anyone to.
- “Licensed and insured” and nothing elseIt is a phrase, not a fact. Ten seconds in the state lookup turns it into one or the other.
What to do when the record looks wrong
- The license is expired, inactive or suspendedStop before money changes hands. An unlicensed contractor cannot sue you to enforce a contract, and you may be able to recover what you already paid (Business and Professions Code §7031). Ask the contractor to show you the record themselves — sometimes a renewal really is in the post. If they cannot, that is the whole conversation.
- The work is already going badlyCSLB takes consumer complaints directly and mediates many of them. The bond is there for exactly this. File while the license is active if you can — an expired license makes every route slower.
- The name on the record does not match the contractAsk which legal entity is signing and check that one. A brand name and a licensed business name can differ legally; what may not differ is who is responsible when something needs fixing.
Four things to check besides the license
- A certificate of insurance, sent by the insurerGeneral liability covers damage to your property. Ask for the certificate to come from the insurance company or broker, not as a photo — that is normal practice and no honest contractor minds.
- A written contract with a scope you recognizeRequired above $500. It should name the work, the materials, the schedule, the payment steps and what happens to changes. If you cannot picture the finished job from reading it, it is not specific enough yet.
- The city permit, where the job needs oneDecks over a certain height or attached to the house usually need one, and the rules differ between San Jose, Los Gatos and Saratoga. Ask who pulls it. The answer should be the contractor.
- Work you can go and look atPhotographs of finished projects, and ideally an address you may drive past. A license says somebody is legal; finished decks say they are good.
Now use it on us
A guide like this is worth nothing if the people who wrote it will not be measured by it. Here is our record, in the same seven fields you just read about. The button below opens it on the state’s own site, in a new tab.
- License number
- 1148079
- Name on the record
- MS Decking and Services
- Status
- Current and active
- Classification
- C-61 / D41 — Siding and Decking
- Entity
- Sole ownership
- Contractor's bond
- $25,000 on file
- Workers' compensation
- Exempt — owner-operator, no employees
- Expires
- December 31, 2027
The name on the record is MS Decking and Services — the licensed entity behind the brand. That difference is exactly the kind of thing this page tells you to ask a contractor about, so we say it before you find it.
Licensed is the first question. Cost is the second.
Once a contractor checks out, the next thing you want is a number — before anyone walks your property. Our calculator asks for size, material and site access and gives you the range we would build to.
Questions people actually ask
Is checking a contractor's license free?
Yes. The CSLB lookup is a free public service of the State of California. Any site that charges you to “run a contractor check” is reselling a record you can read yourself in under a minute.
What work requires a license in California?
Any job where labor and materials together come to $500 or more. Below that threshold a person may work unlicensed, and must say so in their advertising.
Does an active license mean the contractor is good?
No. It means they are legal: they passed the exams, carry a bond and are accountable to the board. Quality is a separate question, answered by photographs of finished work, references and a written scope.
What does an exemption from workers' compensation mean?
The license holder certified to the board that they have no employees at this time. It is lawful and common among owner-operators. Ask any contractor who will be on site and how they are covered — before work starts, not after.
Can a landscaping contractor build my deck?
Sometimes, and the answer is narrower than either side usually claims. A C-27 landscaping license covers a deck that is part of an overall landscaping project and is not watertight or enclosed. A standalone deck, or one whose framing and footings call for general building work, needs a B license or C-61/D41 — the decking classification. If in doubt, ask the building department that will issue the permit: they decide.
What is the difference between bonded and insured?
They protect different things. The $25,000 contractor's bond is the state's instrument: it answers for violations of license law and for some unpaid claims, and it is capped for every job the contractor takes during the life of the bond. Liability insurance answers for damage to your property and injury on site, and its limits are far higher. A contractor can be bonded and carry no liability cover at all — ask for both.
How much should a deck cost in the Bay Area?
Between roughly $55 and $95 per square foot built and finished, depending on material, height, stairs and railings. Our calculator gives you a range for your own numbers in about thirty seconds.
Checked us out? Let's talk about the deck.
Tell us the scope, the ZIP and roughly when you want it built. If it is a fit you get a written fixed price that does not change mid-job.