Minnesota DLI Contractor & Tradesman License Scraper

What does Minnesota DLI License Scraper do?

Minnesota DLI License Scraper extracts contractor and tradesman license records from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). It downloads bulk CSV exports and returns structured data including license numbers, business names, license types/subtypes, status, phone numbers, enforcement actions, and renewal flags.

The scraper covers 10 license categories: electricians, plumbers, residential contractors, contractor registrations, mechanical contractor bond holders, boiler engineers, high pressure piping installers, residential roofers, manufactured home installers, and elevator mechanics — totaling 200,000+ records across all categories.

No browser required. No API keys. No login. Just direct CSV download and parsing.

Why scrape Minnesota DLI license data?

Minnesota has one of the strictest contractor licensing regimes in the United States. The state operates a Contractor Recovery Fund that requires all residential contractors to be licensed, and HVAC contractors must post a $25,000 surety bond — making bond verification a unique data point unavailable from most other state regulators.

Here's why this data is valuable:

• 🏗️ Subcontractor due diligence — Verify contractor license status and registration before awarding contracts in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area
• 🛡️ Insurance underwriting — Validate license status and mechanical contractor bond coverage for HVAC contractors
• 📞 Marketing & lead generation — Build targeted lead lists of active electricians, plumbers, roofers, and contractors filtered by category, location, and phone number
• 📊 Workforce analytics — Analyze license distribution, enforcement actions, and renewal patterns across Minnesota counties
• 🔄 Compliance monitoring — Schedule monthly runs to track expirations, revocations, new issuances, and enforcement action changes
• ⚡ Enforcement tracking — The enforcementAction flag uniquely identifies contractors with active disciplinary actions

The Apify platform adds scheduling, API access, webhook integrations, and proxy rotation — turning a one-time scrape into an automated compliance monitoring pipeline.

How to scrape Minnesota DLI license data

1. Go to the Minnesota DLI License Scraper on Apify Store
2. Click Try for free to open the Actor in Apify Console
3. Select which categories to scrape (or leave empty for all 10)
4. Optionally enable Download ZIP mode for faster full scrapes
5. Choose a status filter — Issued (Active) Only to get current licenses, or All Statuses to include expired/revoked
6. Set Max Records (0 = unlimited) and click Start
7. Download your dataset in JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML format — or connect it via API to your own systems

Each category downloads in 1–3 seconds. No proxies needed.

What data can you extract from Minnesota DLI?

Field	Description	Example
License Number	DLI license number (2-letter prefix + digits)	RT660070
License Type	License category	Electrical
License Subtype	Specific license classification	Registered Unlicensed Power Limited Technician
Entity Type	Business or Personal	Personal, Business
Business Name	Firm name (when entity = Business)	MIDWEST TV & APPLIANCE LLC
Individual Name	Person name (when entity = Personal)	MATT LOKKEN
DBA	Doing Business As trade name	BROADWAY HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING
Status	License status	Issued, EXPIRED, Voluntary Termination
Issue Date	Original issue date (YYYY-MM-DD)	2012-12-07
Expiration Date	Expiration date (YYYY-MM-DD)	2026-05-31
Address	Full street address	6688 Talmadge RD
City	City	Eau Claire
State	State abbreviation	WI
ZIP Code	ZIP code	54701
Phone	Phone number	7158351540
Enforcement Action	Active disciplinary action flag	0 (none), 1 (active)
Renewal in Progress	Currently renewing	Yes or null

Minnesota DLI license categories explained

Category	Description	Records
Electrical	Electricians — journeyman, master, contractor, power limited technician	~107,000
Plumbing	Plumbers — journeyman, master, contractor	~40,000+
Residential_Contractors	Residential building contractors & remodelers	~30,000+
Contractor_Registrations	Registered contractors (lower barrier than full license)	~20,000+
Mechanical_Contractor_Bond	HVAC contractor bond records ($25K bond requirement)	~5,200
Boiler	Boiler engineers & operators	varies
High_Pressure_Piping	High pressure piping installers	varies
Residential_Roofer	Residential roofing contractors	varies
Manufactured_Home_Installer	Manufactured/mobile home installers	varies
Elevator	Elevator contractors & mechanics	varies

Minnesota license number prefixes

All Minnesota DLI license numbers follow the pattern 2-letter prefix + digits. The prefix identifies the license type:

BC (Building Contractor), PM (Master Plumber), PJ (Journeyman Plumber), EL (Electrical Contractor), EM (Master Electrician), EJ (Journeyman Electrician), CR (Contractor Registration), RR (Residential Roofer), RT (Registered Technician), MB (Mechanical Bond)

Understanding Minnesota license status

In Minnesota's system, "Issued" is the equivalent of "Active" in other states. Other status values include: Expired, EXPIRED, Voluntary Termination, Revoked, Suspended, Pending, Cancelled. Note that the casing is inconsistent in DLI's source data — the Actor preserves the original values.

Output example

{
  "licenseNumber": "MB005562",
  "licenseType": "Mechanical Contractor Bond",
  "licenseSubtype": "Mechanical Contractor Bond",
  "sourceCategory": "Mechanical_Contractor_Bond",
  "entityType": "Business",
  "businessName": "MIDWEST TV & APPLIANCE LLC",
  "individualName": null,
  "name": "MIDWEST TV & APPLIANCE LLC",
  "dba": null,
  "responsibleIndividual": null,
  "status": "Issued",
  "issueDate": "2010-11-19",
  "expirationDate": "2028-03-23",
  "address": "PO BOX 429",
  "city": "LA CROSSE",
  "state": "WI",
  "zipCode": "54602",
  "county": null,
  "phone": null,
  "email": null,
  "bondAmount": null,
  "bondCompany": null,
  "enforcementAction": "0",
  "renewalInProgress": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-04-21T20:11:16.326Z"
}

How much does it cost to scrape Minnesota DLI?

Minnesota DLI License Scraper uses a pay-per-result pricing model. You only pay for the records you extract:

Plan	Price per 1,000 records	Full scrape (~200K records)	Example: Mech. Bond only (~5.2K)
Free (No discount)	$2.00	~$400	~$10.40
Bronze	$1.80	~$360	~$9.36
Silver	$1.50	~$300	~$7.80
Gold	$1.20	~$240	~$6.24

The Actor itself runs on ~0.001 CU per run — the file download and parsing cost is negligible. You can try it for free with a limited number of records on the Apify Free plan.

Input configuration

Click on the Input tab for full details. Key parameters:

Parameter	Default	Description
Categories	["Mechanical_Contractor_Bond", "Residential_Roofer"]	DLI categories to scrape. Leave empty for all 10
Download ZIP	false	Download combined ZIP instead of individual CSVs
Status Filter	all	issued = active licenses only
Max Records	200	Record cap. Set 0 for unlimited
Request Delay	200 ms	Delay between file downloads

Integrations and API access

You can connect Minnesota DLI License Scraper with almost any cloud service or web app via the Apify platform's built-in integrations. Connect with Make, Zapier, Slack, Airbyte, GitHub, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and more. You can also access datasets programmatically via the Apify API.

FAQ

Is it legal to scrape Minnesota DLI data?

Minnesota DLI publishes license data as public records in downloadable CSV format at a fixed URL. No login, no terms of service agreement, and no CAPTCHA. This Actor downloads the same files any browser would access. The data contains business names, addresses, and professional license information — all public record under Minnesota's Data Practices Act.

How often is DLI data updated?

DLI updates CSV export files regularly. For compliance monitoring, we recommend scheduling monthly runs using Apify's scheduling feature.

Why are bondAmount and bondCompany always null?

DLI's current CSV exports do not include bond detail columns. Bond amount and surety company information is only available through the iMS portal for individual lookups. These fields are retained in the schema for forward compatibility.

What does enforcementAction mean?

The enforcementAction field is a flag from DLI: "0" means no active enforcement action, "1" means the license has an active disciplinary action. This is a unique data point — most state license databases don't expose enforcement flags in bulk exports.

Can I download all categories at once?

Yes! Either leave the categories input empty (downloads all 10 individually) or enable Download ZIP mode, which fetches a single combined ZIP file and extracts all CSVs. ZIP mode is faster for full scrapes.

Where can I get support?

For issues or feature requests, use the Issues tab on the Actor page. I actively monitor feedback and respond promptly. For custom solutions, feel free to reach out.

Other license scrapers

Looking for license data from other states? Check out:

• 🏛️ Virginia DPOR License Scraper — 45K+ contractor and tradesman license records from Virginia with email addresses and specialty codes