Contractor license data methodology
StateLicense combines supported public licensing datasets into a searchable format. The issuing authorities remain the official sources of record.
Sources and coverage
The schedules below are expected refresh cadences, not guarantees that every attempted update succeeds. Individual results show available source and record timestamps.
| Jurisdiction | Licensing authority | Source | Expected refresh | Coverage | Known limitations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (CBPL) | CBPL Search and Database Download | Manual browser-export snapshots | Statewide Construction Contractors professional licenses | The CSV has no publication timestamp. Residential Contractor Endorsement records and separate business licenses are excluded; Limited status has unknown scope. |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board (CLB) | CLB contractor lookup and roster | Manual snapshot imports | Statewide numbered commercial, residential-builder, and home-improvement or remodeler licenses | Registrations and numberless entries are excluded. Roster membership and expiration do not establish active status; confirm with CLB. |
| Arizona | Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) | ROC All Current Contractors posting list | Manual snapshot imports | Statewide active ROC contractor licenses | The posting list contains active records only. Status reflects the dated snapshot; inactive and adverse history is excluded. |
| California | California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) | CSLB license check | Daily | Statewide CSLB contractor classifications | Field availability depends on the CSLB record; confirm consequential decisions with CSLB. |
| Colorado | Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Professions and Occupations | Colorado DORA credential lookupOfficial bulk data | Daily at 7:00 AM Pacific; operational polling, not a publisher update guarantee | Statewide EC electrical and PC plumbing contractor business registrations, including historical and adverse records | EC and PC are contractor business registrations, not individual trade licenses. General contractors, other trades, and municipal programs are excluded. A bare number can match both EC and PC registrations. Conditional, cannot-practice, and inconsistent term statuses remain unknown; review every returned type. Regulatory-action presence is not proof of a final disciplinary finding. Missing action, insurance, bond, or phone data remains unavailable. Source freshness is the acquisition date. |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) | State Licenses and CredentialsConnecticut eLicense lookup | Daily | Statewide HIC and NHC registrations and MCO licenses, including historical and adverse records | HIC and NHC are registrations; MCO is a license. Historical matches do not establish current authority to work. |
| Delaware | Delaware Division of Revenue | Delaware Business Licenses dataset | Weekly Thursday at 10:20 AM Pacific | Statewide resident and nonresident contractor business licenses | A business license does not establish trade qualification. The current-only source omits historical and adverse records; status is inferred from the current term. |
| Florida | Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) | DBPR license search | Weekly | Construction and electrical contractor datasets | Registered licenses may have local jurisdiction limits; other DBPR professions are outside this coverage. |
| Iowa | Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) | Active Iowa Construction Contractor Registrations | Weekly Tuesday at 10:00 AM Pacific | Statewide active construction contractor registrations | A registration is not a trade license. The current-only dataset excludes expired and adverse history. |
| Illinois | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) | IDFPR Professional Licensing dataIDFPR License Look Up | Weekly Monday at 6:00 AM Pacific | Statewide roofing contractor licenses, including identified historical and adverse records | Qualifying-party credentials, plumbing registrations, and local contractor programs are excluded. Unidentified historical rows are omitted; some numbered records lack holder names. Administrative statuses may be unconfirmed. Street address, phone, bonding, and workers’ compensation are not supplied. |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) | DLI license and registration downloads | Daily | Statewide residential business contractor licenses and construction contractor registrations | Individual qualifying-person credentials and exemptions are excluded. Registration does not replace a required contractor license. |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs | New Jersey Consumer Affairs verificationOfficial bulk data | Weekly Monday at 7:20 AM Pacific; operational polling, not a publisher update guarantee | Statewide Home Improvement Business Contractor registrations, including identified historical and adverse records | This program issues business registrations, not trade licenses. Other trades, home elevation, and municipal programs are excluded. Numberless applications and administrative placeholders are excluded. Reused numbers return separate holder records with unknown status; inspect every match. Insurance, bonding, phone, and disclosure facts are not supplied. Source freshness is the acquisition date, not a publication timestamp. |
| New York City | NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) and Department of Buildings (DOB) | DCWP issued licensesDOB license information | DOB daily; DCWP weekly | DCWP home improvement contractors and DOB construction-trade licenses | These credentials are New York City only; the focused lookup searches DCWP home improvement contractors. The separate statewide NYSDOL public-work registration is a different dataset. |
| New York State public work | New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) | Contractor Registry Certificate | Daily at 5:40 AM Pacific | Statewide public-work and covered Article 8 private-project contractor registrations | Registration is required for covered projects only; it is not a general-contractor license. The active-only source excludes inactive and adverse history. |
| Ohio | Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB) | OCILB official roster serviceOCILB license lookup | Weekly Monday at 6:20 AM Pacific; operational polling, not a publisher update guarantee | Statewide commercial electrical, HVAC, hydronics, plumbing, and refrigeration trade credentials and company associations from the active-status roster | General/residential contractors, municipal registrations, and adverse-status history are excluded. Licenses belong to individuals. ESCROW/status conflicts make every association for that credential unconfirmed; a company label alone does not establish current authority. Missing results do not establish adverse status. |
| Oregon | Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB) | CCB active-license dataset | Daily | Statewide active CCB license endorsements | Inactive CCB history, Building Codes Division trades, and Landscape Contractors Board licenses are not included. |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors | Contractor and Qualifying Agent dashboard | Manual dashboard snapshot imports | Statewide Board contractor business licenses, including historical statuses | Home Improvement, LLE, and LLP programs are excluded. The dashboard export does not report a source update timestamp. |
| Texas | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) | TDLR license search | Daily | Six TDLR-regulated contractor categories | There is no statewide general-contractor license in this dataset; the focused lookup covers electrical contractors. |
| Virginia | Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), Board for Contractors | DPOR regulant listsDPOR License Lookup | Weekly on Tuesday after DPOR publication | Current Class A, B, C, and temporary contractor business licenses | Published current lists do not contain inactive or disciplinary history. |
| Washington | Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) | L&I contractor verification | Daily | Statewide construction, electrical, plumbing, and elevator contractor records | Fields differ across the four L&I datasets; confirm scope and status with L&I. |
Ingestion and normalization
StateLicense ingests the listed public source datasets on jurisdiction-specific schedules or through manual imports, as shown above and maps common identity, license, status, date, authority, and location information into a normalized API response. Source-specific fields remain available where supported. A missing field is unavailable; it should not be treated as a favorable finding.
Freshness and failed updates
The expected schedule describes when a source is normally refreshed. It does not establish that a particular record is current. Check source_updated_at and last_updated when present. If an update fails or an authority changes a record between refreshes, a StateLicense result may lag the official source. We do not publish a site-wide last-successful-refresh timestamp without trusted pipeline metadata.
Multiple matches and corrections
A name search can return several possible records, and a license number can match more than one license type. Compare the authority, identity, type, and jurisdiction before selecting a result. If a StateLicense record appears wrong, first check the official source and then send us the source link and details so the mapping can be reviewed.
Limits on use
Coverage is limited to the datasets in the table; StateLicense does not issue licenses. A match does not prove identity, insurance adequacy, or suitability for a project. Confirm material hiring, legal, and compliance decisions with the issuing authority and use its current record and disclosures.