Anyone can print a business card and call themselves a licensed contractor. The only way to know if that's actually true is to check the license against the state agency that issued it — not against anything printed on a truck, an invoice, or a website. Every state that licenses trades keeps a public lookup tool, usually run by a licensing board or department of professional regulation, and it's free to use.
Start by getting the exact license number, not just a name. Most legitimate contractors will give you this without hesitation — it's public information and they know you can check it. If someone is reluctant to share a license number, that alone is a warning sign worth taking seriously.
Once you have the number, search it on the state's official licensing lookup rather than a general web search, which can surface outdated directory listings or the contractor's own marketing pages. On TrustedTradesFinder, every profile pulls its license number and status directly from the same official state dataset, refreshed on a recurring schedule, so you can cross-check what you see here against the state's own site in under a minute.
Pay attention to three fields once you find the record: status, scope, and expiration. Status tells you whether the license is currently active, expired, or has been revoked or suspended — a license can exist and still not be valid to work under today. Scope tells you what kind of work the license actually covers; a general contractor registration is not the same as an exam-backed electrical or plumbing trade license, and the difference matters for both safety and, in many states, for insurance and permit purposes. Expiration tells you how much runway is left before the contractor needs to renew.
It's also worth checking how long the license has been held. A license issued eight months ago isn't automatically a red flag — everyone starts somewhere — but it's a data point worth weighing alongside reviews, references, and your own conversation with the contractor. A longer license history, especially one with no gaps or status changes, generally reflects a business that has stayed in continuous good standing with its regulator.
Finally, remember that license verification is necessary but not sufficient. A valid license confirms the state has tested or registered this person or business — it doesn't confirm they'll show up on time, communicate well, or do a clean job on your specific project. Use the license check to eliminate the businesses operating outside the law, then use reviews, references, and a written estimate to pick the best one among the businesses that are actually qualified to be there.