Oregon CCB License Lookup: Verify a Contractor (2026)

An Oregon CCB license lookup is the check you run on the Construction Contractors Board's official search before hiring or onboarding any contractor who will work on real property in Oregon. Enter the contractor's CCB number, or search by business name, and the record shows whether the license is active, which endorsement it carries, the bond and insurance on file, and any complaint or disciplinary history. The whole check takes a few minutes, and it is the only way to confirm the "licensed, bonded, insured" claim on a bid is real.

Oregon licenses contractors at the state level through the CCB, and the board's own search is the authoritative record. This guide walks through the search, explains what each field on the record means, and shows how to read endorsements, bond amounts, and insurance limits without guessing.

Last reviewed October 14, 2026. This is an operational guide, not legal advice. Bond amounts, insurance minimums, and education rules change; confirm current requirements with the CCB before relying on them.

How do you run an Oregon CCB license lookup?

Start at the CCB's official Contractor License Search. The board says the most accurate way to look up a license is with the CCB license number. Oregon law requires contractors to put that number on advertising, estimates, contracts, invoices, and business cards, so ask for it directly.

If you do not have the number, search by all or part of the business name, or by the contractor's last name. The CCB's own advice is that less is better: search for "Schmitt" instead of "Schmitt Contracting Inc." Business telephone numbers can be searched in some cases; enter digits only. If a name search comes up empty, do not assume the contractor is unlicensed. A mismatch in spelling or punctuation, "Andy's" versus "Andys," is enough to miss a real record. Try the variations, then the phone number, then call CCB customer service at (503) 378-4621.

Two details about the data itself are worth knowing. CCB license records are updated every 6 hours daily, so a bond or insurance change filed this morning can show up the same day, but not the same minute. And the search result is only the first screen: select the contractor and open the CCB License Summary, then the business detail page, to see the full record.

What does the CCB record show?

The CCB License Summary shows whether the contractor has any unpaid claims, unpaid civil penalties, and a history of complaints or disciplinary sanctions. That history is the part most people skip, and it separates a clean record from an active-but-troubled one. The CCB publishes up to ten years of history on a license, so a pattern of complaints is visible even when the current status reads active.

The business detail page shows the endorsements the contractor holds, how long the business has been operating, and the bond and insurance on file. Read all of it together:

• Status and expiration. The license must be active, with a renewal date in the future. CCB licenses run on a two-year cycle.
• Endorsement. The endorsement defines what work the license covers. A contractor with the wrong endorsement for your job is unlicensed for that job.
• Bond and insurance. Both must be current. Read the amounts and dates, not just the status line.
• Business name and Responsible Managing Individual. The business name on the license should match the bid and contract exactly. Each license also names a Responsible Managing Individual, the person whose experience and exam stand behind it.
• Complaint and disciplinary history. One old, resolved complaint is context. A string of recent complaints, unpaid claims, or a prior suspension is a pattern.

At volume, automate this read: pull the CCB record on the same cadence you use for other states (see how often to recheck a contractor license), and flag bond and insurance expirations as you would in your COI tracking process).

What do the Oregon CCB endorsements mean?

Oregon licenses carry endorsements, and the endorsement is the scope of work. There are two families, residential and commercial, and a contractor who holds both needs a separate bond for each. The CCB's endorsement chart is the authoritative reference for what each endorsement allows and what bond and insurance it requires.

Residential endorsements cover homes and small commercial structures. Bond and general liability per endorsement:

• Residential General Contractor (RGC). Unlimited unrelated trades on residential or small commercial projects. Bond $25,000, liability $500,000 per occurrence.
• Residential Specialty Contractor (RSC). One or two unrelated trades per project; most trade specialists sit here. Bond $20,000, liability $300,000 per occurrence.
• Residential Limited Contractor (RLC). Part-time contractors, including handyman services, certifying gross construction sales under $40,000 for the coming year. Bond $15,000, liability $100,000 per occurrence.
• Residential Developer (RD). Coordinates construction without performing the work. Bond $20,000, liability $500,000 per occurrence.
• Restricted residential endorsements. Narrow licenses for services such as locksmith work and home inspection: $10,000 bond, $100,000 per occurrence liability.

Commercial endorsements cover commercial structures and split by level. Level 1 requires eight or more years of experience, Level 2 four or more, and both levels can perform the same work:

• Commercial General Contractor, Level 1 / Level 2. Unlimited trades. Level 1 carries the largest bond in the Oregon system and $2 million aggregate liability; Level 2 carries $1 million aggregate.
• Commercial Specialty Contractor, Level 1 / Level 2. At most two trades per project. Level 1: $1 million aggregate liability; Level 2: $500,000 per occurrence.
• Commercial Developer. Coordinates construction without performing the work. Liability $500,000 per occurrence.

Commercial bonds scale with level, from $20,000 at Level 2 up to $75,000 or more for Commercial General Contractor Level 1. Confirm the current figure on the CCB's endorsement chart; Oregon raised its bond tiers in 2024, and older guides still show the pre-increase amounts.

Plumbers and electricians hold separate trade licenses from the Building Codes Division, and many also hold a CCB license. A CCB license alone does not authorize electrical or plumbing work, and a trade license alone does not authorize general construction. When the scope crosses that line, verify both credentials.

How do bond and insurance work on an Oregon license?

Oregon requires both a surety bond and general liability insurance before the CCB will issue a license. That combination is what "licensed, bonded, insured" means in Oregon. The bond protects consumers and the state against license-law violations, unpaid wages, and defective work up to the bond amount. The liability policy covers property damage and injuries caused by the contractor's work. Neither substitutes for workers' compensation, which contractors with employees must carry separately.

The practical failure mode is a lapse, not an absence. A contractor whose bond or policy is canceled mid-term can keep working for a short window before enforcement catches up, and the CCB record is where the lapse first becomes visible. That is why our contractor license bond guide tells you to read the bond line on the record, not just the status, and to ask for the bond number and surety's name at onboarding alongside the COI and W-9, as in the contractor onboarding verification checklist.

Residential contractors also complete continuing education every two-year renewal period: three hours of CCB law and practices courses plus five hours of approved courses, with eight additional hours when the responsible managing individual has less than six years of experience. A contractor who falls behind on education cannot renew, so an approaching expiration date with no renewal activity is an early warning.

What are the red flags in an Oregon CCB record?

Run the lookup before the bid meeting, not after you have chosen a contractor. Pause or walk away when you see any of these:

• No CCB number offered. Hesitation to share the number is itself the answer.
• No record found. After trying name variations and the phone number, a missing record means the contractor is not licensed.
• Status is anything but active. Expired, suspended, and revoked all look the same on a business card. They are very different on a board record.
• Endorsement mismatch. A residential specialty contractor bidding a large commercial project, or a general contractor bidding electrical work, is unlicensed for that job.
• Bond or insurance lapse. An expired bond or a missing policy means the financial protection behind the license is gone, even if the status line has not caught up yet.
• Unpaid claims or recent discipline. Unpaid claims, unpaid civil penalties, or a recent suspension outweigh a currently active status.

Hiring a contractor whose license is expired, suspended, or missing can void permits, invalidate insurance, and leave you without the CCB's dispute resolution services: homeowners who hire unlicensed contractors have no access to CCB mediation.

Oregon CCB lookup checklist

1. Get the CCB number from the bid, estimate, or business card. Search by number first.
2. If searching by name, use the shortest version of the name, and try spelling variations before concluding there is no record.
3. Open the CCB License Summary and read the complaint, claim, and disciplinary history, not just the status.
4. Confirm the endorsement matches the work, and that the bond and insurance on file are current for that endorsement.
5. Match the business name on the license to the bid, the contract, and the COI.
6. Note the expiration date, and recheck before the next phase of work, or put the contractor on continuous license monitoring if you manage a vendor roster.
7. If anything on the record is ambiguous, call the CCB at (503) 378-4621 before signing.

For a single hire, the CCB search is the whole process. For a roster of vendors across states, the same checks run faster through an aggregated lookup. StateLicense offers a free public license lookup covering OR along with CA, FL, TX, VA, WA, and NYC, with each record linking back to the issuing board.

Frequently asked questions

What is a CCB number?

A CCB number is the unique license number the Construction Contractors Board assigns to each licensed Oregon contractor. Oregon law requires contractors to display it on all estimates, contracts, invoices, and advertising. It is the fastest and most accurate way to search the CCB lookup.

What does "licensed, bonded, insured" mean in Oregon?

It means the contractor holds an active CCB license, has posted the surety bond the endorsement requires, and carries the general liability insurance the endorsement requires. All three show on the CCB record. If a bond or policy lapses, the financial protection behind the license is gone even if the status line has not caught up yet, so read the bond and insurance lines themselves.

Sources

• Oregon CCB Contractor License Search - Search by CCB number, business name, or phone; records updated every 6 hours daily; customer service (503) 378-4621.
• CCB License Endorsements chart - Residential and commercial endorsements, bond amounts, and insurance minimums by endorsement.
• CCB Continuing Education for providers - Residential continuing education requirements per two-year renewal period, including CCB law and practices hours.