CSLB Contractor License Scraper

Look up California contractor licenses on the CSLB (Contractors State License Board) public "Check A License" tool. Search by license number, business name, personnel name, or Home Improvement Salesperson (HIS) registration number. Get license status, trade classifications, bond and workers' compensation information, and expiration dates. HTTP-only against cslb.ca.gov -- no login, no API key, no CAPTCHA.

What this actor does

• Four search modes: byLicenseNumber, byBusinessName, byPersonnelName, byHISNumber
• Full license detail: business info, entity type, issue/expiration dates, current status
• 44+ classification codes: every CSLB trade classification (A, B, B-2, C-2 through C-60) with full titles
• Bond and workers' compensation info: surety company, bond number/amount, insurer, policy number, effective/cancellation dates (or the exemption reason when a license has none)
• Status and classification filters: narrow results to a specific license status or trade
• Empty fields are omitted

Output per license (mode = byLicenseNumber / byBusinessName / byPersonnelName)

• licenseNumber -- CSLB license number
• businessName, dba -- registered name and DBA (if any)
• addressLine1, addressLine2, city, state, zip, phone
• entityType -- Sole Ownership / Partnership / Corporation / LLC / Joint Venture
• issueDate, expireDate
• licenseStatus -- CSLB's own status sentence
• licenseStatusCode -- normalized: active / expired / inactive / revoked / suspended / cancelled / other
• classifications[] -- { code, title }, e.g. {"code": "C-10", "title": "Electrical Contractor"}
• bond -- { bondStatus, suretyCompany, bondNumber, bondAmount, effectiveDate, cancellationDate } -- bondStatus is CSLB's own plain-language sentence (e.g. "filed a Contractor's Bond with X", "No bond information on file for this license"); the rest are only present when CSLB shows structured bond details
• workersComp -- { workersCompStatus, insuranceCompany, policyNumber, effectiveDate, cancellationDate } -- workersCompStatus is CSLB's own sentence (e.g. an exemption reason); the rest are only present when CSLB shows a structured policy
• matchedBusinessName, matchedNameType -- which business-name search result this record came from (mode=byBusinessName only)
• personnelName, personnelNameType, personnelAssociationStatus -- which person and association this record came from (mode=byPersonnelName only)
• personnel[] -- { name, title, associationDate, classification } for every owner/officer/RMO/RME associated with the license (e.g. SOLE OWNER, CFO, RMO); included when includePersonnel is on (default)
• sourceUrl -- the license's canonical cslb.ca.gov page
• recordType: "license", scrapedAt

Output per HIS registration (mode = byHISNumber)

• hisNumber, name, addressLine1, city, state, zip, phone
• issueDate, expirationDate
• registrationStatus, registrationStatusCode
• currentEmployers[] / formerEmployers[] -- { licenseNumber, businessName, phone, effectiveDates }
• sourceUrl, recordType: "hisRegistration", scrapedAt

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	string	byLicenseNumber	byLicenseNumber / byBusinessName / byPersonnelName / byHISNumber
licenseNumbers	array	["1100000"]	License numbers to look up (mode=byLicenseNumber)
businessName	string	Swinerton	Business name search (mode=byBusinessName)
personnelLastName	string	Smith	Last name search (mode=byPersonnelName)
personnelFirstName	string	John	Optional first name to narrow the search (mode=byPersonnelName)
hisNumber	string	100000	HIS registration number (mode=byHISNumber)
statusFilter	string	any	Only emit records with this license/registration status
classificationFilter	string	any	Only emit license records carrying this trade classification
includePersonnel	boolean	true	Attach owners/officers/RMO/RME to each license record
maxItems	int	20	Hard cap on emitted records (1-200)
proxyConfiguration	object	off	Optional Apify proxy (not required; CSLB has no CAPTCHA)

Example: look up specific license numbers

{
  "mode": "byLicenseNumber",
  "licenseNumbers": ["1100000", "801206", "993242"]
}

Example: search by business name, active licenses only

{
  "mode": "byBusinessName",
  "businessName": "Swinerton",
  "statusFilter": "active",
  "maxItems": 25
}

Example: search by personnel name, filtered to a trade

{
  "mode": "byPersonnelName",
  "personnelLastName": "Garcia",
  "personnelFirstName": "Maria",
  "classificationFilter": "B",
  "maxItems": 15
}

Example: HIS registration lookup

{
  "mode": "byHISNumber",
  "hisNumber": "100000"
}

Use cases

• Vendor / subcontractor vetting -- verify a contractor's license is active before signing a contract
• Insurance and surety due diligence -- check bond and workers' compensation coverage on file
• Lead generation -- pull active licensed contractors by trade classification
• Compliance monitoring -- periodically re-check a portfolio of license numbers for status changes
• Background checks -- confirm a qualifying individual's licensing history by personnel name

Data source / limitations

• Data comes from CSLB's public "Check A License" tool (cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII). This actor is not affiliated with CSLB or the State of California.
• businessName and personnelLastName searches match CSLB's own alphabetical "starts here" browse behavior (the same behavior as the live site's search box), narrowed down to names that actually start with your query so a nonsense query cleanly returns 0 records instead of unrelated alphabetical neighbors.
• HIS "by name" search (a 5th CSLB search mode, mechanically similar to byPersonnelName but against the separate Home Improvement Salesperson registry) is out of scope for this version; use byHISNumber if you already have the registration number.
• Bond and workers' compensation history (beyond the currently-on-file entry) is not included -- only the current bond/WC record shown on the license detail page.
• classificationFilter and statusFilter only affect records that actually carry that data; records CSLB doesn't return a classification or status for always pass through.

FAQ

Is this an official CSLB tool? No. This is a third-party actor that reads the same public, unauthenticated "Check A License" pages available to anyone at cslb.ca.gov.

Do I need a login or API key? No. CSLB's license lookup requires no account, no API key, and has no CAPTCHA.

How fresh is the data? Every run fetches live pages from cslb.ca.gov -- data is as current as CSLB's own database at request time.

Why do some licenses have no bond number or policy number? CSLB's license classifications determine bonding/insurance requirements. Some licenses (e.g. certain exempt or inactive licenses) show only a plain status sentence instead of structured bond/insurance data -- in that case bond.bondStatus / workersComp.workersCompStatus still carries CSLB's own wording (e.g. an exemption reason) even though the structured sub-fields are absent.

What does classifications mean? Each license can carry one or more of CSLB's ~46 official trade classifications (general engineering, general building, and dozens of C-series specialty trades like electrical, plumbing, or roofing). See the classificationFilter dropdown for the full list.

Why did my business name / personnel name search return fewer results than I expected? CSLB's own search is a "starts here" alphabetical browse, not a full-text search. Try fewer letters (e.g. Swinerton instead of Swinerton Builders Inc) if you don't find the license you're looking for.