Hiring · 6 min read
How to vet a remodeling contractor in California (in about 15 minutes)
Anyone can build a good-looking website. The state of California publishes the things that are harder to fake — and checking them takes less time than reading a single proposal.
September 15, 2026
1. Look the license up yourself
Every contractor doing more than $500 of work in California must hold a license from the Contractors State License Board. Ask for the number, then check it at cslb.ca.gov rather than trusting a number printed on a truck.
What you want to see: the license is active, not expired or suspended; the business name matches the company you're signing with; and the classification fits the work. A Class B general building license covers projects involving two or more trades. A specialty license — tile, plumbing, painting — does not make someone a general contractor for your whole remodel.
2. Open the complaint disclosure page, not just the summary
This is the check almost nobody runs. The CSLB license summary page will sometimes not display a notice even when there is disclosable disciplinary history — but the complaint disclosure link on that license still returns it. Open it and read what's there.
Finding something isn't automatically disqualifying. A citation from years ago that was resolved says something different from an open, unresolved action. The point is that you know, and that the contractor can explain it without flinching.
3. Ask who is covered by workers' compensation
A contractor can hold a valid license while being exempt from workers' compensation, which means they have certified to the state that they have no employees. That's legal. It also means the people in your house are subcontractors or day labor, and if someone is hurt on your property, the question of who carries the coverage matters a great deal.
Ask directly: do you carry workers' compensation, and which trades does it cover? A contractor with carpenters on payroll will have carpentry classifications on the policy and can show you the certificate.
4. Read the contract before any money moves
California's home improvement contract rules exist because of how often this goes wrong. The contract must be in writing, must describe the work, and must include a payment schedule tied to work completed. The down payment on a home improvement contract is limited by law.
Two more things worth insisting on: an allowance list so you know which numbers are placeholders, and a written change-order process so mid-project decisions don't become an argument about what was agreed verbally.
What this looks like for us
18 Remodeling Group holds CSLB license 1088081, a Class B general building license, with the required contractor bond and workers' compensation coverage that includes carpentry classifications. Every one of those facts is verifiable on the state's website without asking us for anything.
Run these four checks on us and on whoever else you're considering. The contractors who make homeowners' lives difficult are almost always the ones who fail at least one of them.
18 Remodeling Group Inc is a licensed California general building contractor (CSLB License #1088081, Class B — General Building Contractor) based in Woodland Hills, CA. Questions about your own project? Get in touch.