Washington Contractor License Lookup
161,093 license records from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), refreshed daily. 84,977 of them are not valid right now.
Type at least three characters. Searching Washington only.
Construction Contractors
148,739
80,425 expired · registered with L&I as a general or specialty construction contractor
Electrical Contractors
9,203
3,668 expired · licensed by L&I for electrical work
Plumbing Contractors
3,029
843 expired · licensed by L&I for plumbing work
Elevator Contractors
122
41 expired · licensed by L&I to install and service elevators and lifts
How licensing works in Washington
Washington registers construction contractors with L&I rather than licensing general contractors by trade, and publishes a live status for each. Around a third of the register is expired or suspended at any time, so the status matters more here than the expiry date alone.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries publishes its licensee file as public record, and we reload it every day. A license belongs to a named individual or company and stops being valid when it lapses, is suspended, or is not renewed. The record usually stays in the published file after that, which is exactly why lapsed licenses are visible here rather than quietly disappearing.
Washington contractor license questions
How do I check if a contractor is licensed in Washington?
Search the name or license number in the box on this page, or open the trade you need below. Every record comes from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) file and shows whether the license is active, expiring, expired or suspended today. Confirm anything important directly with L&I before you sign.
How do I look up a L&I license number?
Type the number straight into the search box. L&I license numbers are indexed here alongside business and owner names, so a partial number works too. The result links to the full record, including the county, the trade and the expiry date.
Which trades does L&I license in Washington?
The trades tracked on this site are construction contractors, electrical contractors, plumbing contractors, elevator contractors. Washington registers construction contractors with L&I rather than licensing general contractors by trade, and publishes a live status for each. Around a third of the register is expired or suspended at any time, so the status matters more here than the expiry date alone.
What happens if I hire a contractor whose license has expired?
An expired license can invalidate the permit for your job and complicate an insurance claim if the work goes wrong, and it removes whatever recourse the licensing board would otherwise give you. 84,977 of the 161,093 Washington records on this site are not valid today, so it is worth the thirty seconds.
Does a Washington contractor license mean the contractor is insured?
No. Licensing and insurance are separate. L&I licensing does not certify that a contractor carries liability coverage or workers' compensation, so ask for a certificate of insurance as well as the license number.
How current is this Washington license data?
The L&I file is reloaded every day and each page shows the date its statuses were computed. Records are not deleted when a license lapses, which is why expired licenses stay visible here instead of quietly disappearing.
Official L&I verification: L&I license search · file a complaint