California Contractor License Lookup & Verify (CSLB)

Pain points

• Verifying a contractor on the CSLB site is one manual lookup at a time.
• A plain name search won't surface every license a person is tied to across different businesses.
• Registry pages aren't structured for compliance workflows or CRM enrichment.

What we solve

• Verify any California contractor by license number, business name, or person — one search.
• Name search matches business AND owner/personnel names, so you find every license a person is on (deduped).
• Returns status, classifications, bond, and workers' comp from the official CSLB registry.
• Enrich a name or license number into a full record; pay per match, empty searches free.

Summary

Look up and verify any California contractor from a single search — type a CSLB license number, a business name, or a person's name and get back the licensed business, status, trade classifications, contractor's bond, and workers' comp, straight from the official CSLB registry. A name search matches both business names AND personnel/owner names (so you find every license a person is listed on), unioned and deduped. Built for fast verification, compliance checks, and enriching a name or license number into a full record.

Who it's for

• GCs and hiring managers vetting California subcontractors
• Insurance underwriters and lenders running KYC on contractors
• Compliance teams and marketplaces verifying CSLB licenses
• Recruiters and investigators tracing an owner's licenses

How to use

Set the input, run the actor, and collect results from the run's dataset (export to JSON/CSV/Excel, or pull via the Apify API). Example input:

{
  "query": "Ransome Company",
  "includeDetails": true,
  "maxResults": 25
}

See Inputs below for every available field.

What you get

One row per record:

Field	Description
license_number	CSLB license number
business_name	Licensed business name
name_type	How the name is held (e.g. DBA) — from name searches
matched_by	Which search surfaced this match: 'license_number' or 'business_name'
status	License status (e.g. 'Active', 'Expired', or the detail status sentence)
city	Business city
has_detail	True when the full license detail was fetched and merged
business_type	Entity type — Sole Owner, Corporation, LLC, Partnership… (detail)
address	Business street address (detail)
state	State (detail)
zip_code	ZIP code (detail)
phone	Business phone (detail)
issue_date	Original license issue date (detail)
expiration_date	License expiration date (detail)
classifications	Classification codes held, e.g. ["A","C10"] (detail)
surety_company	Contractor's bond surety company (detail)
bond_number	Contractor's bond number (detail)
bond_amount	Contractor's bond amount (detail)
workers_comp_type	Workers' comp coverage type — Insurance / Exempt (detail)
workers_comp_company	Workers' comp insurance carrier (detail)
source_url	Link to the official CSLB license detail page

Sample:

{
  "license_number": "22726",
  "business_name": "RANSOME COMPANY",
  "name_type": "DBA",
  "matched_by": "business_name",
  "status": "This license is current and active.",
  "city": "SAN LEANDRO",
  "has_detail": true,
  "business_type": "Corporation",
  "address": "1933 WILLIAMS STREET",
  "state": "CA",
  "zip_code": "94577",
  "phone": "(510) 686-9900",
  "issue_date": "07/01/1932",
  "expiration_date": "10/31/2027",
  "classifications": [
    "A",
    "C10"
  ],
  "surety_company": "HARCO NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY",
  "bond_number": "354811",
  "bond_amount": "25,000",
  "workers_comp_type": "Insurance",
  "workers_comp_company": "TRAVELERS PROPERTY CASUALTY COMPANY OF AMERICA",
  "source_url": "https://www.cslb.ca.gov/onlineservices/checklicenseII/LicenseDetail.aspx?LicNum=22726"
}

Inputs

Field	Required	Type	Default	Description
query	yes	string	"22726"	A CSLB license number (digits only, e.g. '22726') OR a name. Numbers are looked up directly. A name is searched against BOTH the business-name index AND the personnel/owner-name index, and the results are unioned (deduped by license #). For a person, enter 'First Last' (e.g. 'Phil Ransome') or 'Last, First' with a comma.
includeDetails	no	boolean	true	When on (default), each match is enriched with its full license record — entity type, issue/expiry dates, classifications, contractor's bond, and workers' comp. Turn off for a faster, lighter result list (license #, name, city, status only).
maxResults	no	integer	50	Cap on the number of matches returned (and enriched) in a single run. This is a lookup, not a bulk export — defaults to 50.
proxyConfiguration	no	object	{"useApifyProxy": false}	Optional. CSLB is usually reachable directly; enable a proxy (e.g. residential) only if a run is blocked or served a CAPTCHA challenge.

Pricing (Pay Per Event)

You pay per result (dataset-item) — no charge for empty runs. Example: 100 verified license records at $0.004/result ≈ $0.40.

Illustrative — the final per-result price is set at publish time. Apify platform usage (compute) is billed separately per your plan.

Use cases

• License verification — confirm a California contractor's status, classifications, bond, and workers' comp before hiring or onboarding.
• Owner / personnel search — recruiters or investigators find every license a person holds, even under different business names.
• Record enrichment — turn a license number or name into a full structured record for a CRM, marketplace, or vetting workflow.
• Lender / insurer due diligence — pull authoritative CSLB data on demand.

Why this actor

• Straight from the official CSLB registry — authoritative, not a stale third-party copy.
• Name search matches business AND owner/personnel (RMO/RME) names and dedupes — finds every license a person is on.
• Pay per match; searches with no results are free.

Limitations & updates

Covers California's CSLB public registry only (public record under Business & Professions Code §7000 et seq.). Results reflect the live registry and change as it updates. A name search unions the business-name and personnel/owner-name indexes; personnel matches return the licenses a person is currently associated with. Runs are bounded (default 50 results) — refine a broad name to narrow it.

FAQ

Where does the data come from?

The official California CSLB 'Check a License' registry — public, authoritative license data.

Can I find every license a person holds?

Yes — a name search matches both business names and owner/personnel records (RMO/RME) and dedupes, so you see every license that person is listed on.

What fields do I get?

License number, business name, status, classifications, issue/expiration, plus contractor's bond and workers' comp where CSLB publishes them.

How am I charged?

Pay-per-result — per license match returned. No charge for searches with no results.

Is this personal data?

It's public professional-license data (business and license-holder records as CSLB publishes them); we add no personal/PII enrichment.

How current is it?

It reflects the live CSLB record at lookup time.

Which actor to choose

Part of the contractor-license verification suite — pick the one that fits your goal:

• Florida Contractor License Lookup & Verify (DBPR) — You're verifying a Florida contractor or tradesperson — type, status, expiration, county (DBPR).
• Louisiana Contractor License Lookup — You want the full Louisiana roster — 50,000+ commercial, residential & specialty licenses as data (LSLBC).
• Multi-State Contractor & Trade License Lookup — You don't know the state, or want the same contractor checked across WA, OR, TX & CT in one run.
• Nevada Contractor License Lookup & Verify (NSCB) — You need a Nevada contractor's status, trade classifications, bond & principals (NSCB).
• New Mexico Contractor License Lookup & Verify (NM CID) — You're verifying a New Mexico contractor — license #, status, city/ZIP, expiry (NM CID).
• North Carolina Contractor License Lookup & Verify (NCLBGC) — You're verifying a North Carolina general contractor — classification, status, expiration (NCLBGC).
• Oregon Contractor License Lookup & Verify (CCB) — You're verifying an Oregon contractor — status, bond, insurance & RMI (CCB).
• South Carolina Contractor License Lookup & Verify (SC LLR) — You're searching or verifying South Carolina contractors — by name, license, city, or classification (SC LLR).
• Tennessee Contractor License Lookup & Verify (TN DOCI) — You're verifying a Tennessee contractor or tradesperson — type, status, city & county (TN DOCI).
• Texas Contractor & Trade License Lookup (TDLR) — You're verifying a Texas electrician, HVAC or trade license — type, expiration, county & owner (TDLR).
• Virginia Contractor License Lookup (DPOR Bulk) — You want the full Virginia roster — 50,000+ Class A/B/C and trade licenses as bulk data (DPOR).
• Washington Contractor License Lookup & Verify (L&I) — You're verifying a Washington contractor — type, status, expiration, principal (L&I).
• Alabama Contractor License Lookup & Verify (LBGC) — You're verifying an Alabama general contractor — classification, city, phone, expiration (LBGC).
• Arkansas Contractor License Lookup & Verify (ACLB) — You're verifying an Arkansas contractor — validity, type, expiration, city & county (ACLB).
• Michigan Contractor License Lookup & Verify (LARA) — You're verifying a Michigan builder or trade contractor — type, status, expiration (LARA).
• Minnesota Contractor License Lookup & Verify (DLI) — You're verifying a Minnesota residential contractor — subtype, status, expiration, enforcement flags (DLI).
• Massachusetts Construction License Lookup & Verify (CSL) — You're verifying a Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License — type, status, expiration (CSL).

Guides & use cases

Written up on scrapebench.dev — the bench that runs and verifies this actor against the live source every night:

• How-to: How to run California Contractor License Lookup & Verify (CSLB)
• Use case: Check a California Contractor's Bond & Workers' Comp
• Use case: Find Every CSLB License an Owner Holds by Name
• Use case: Verify a California Contractor by License Number

More actors, coverage and nightly verification results: scrapebench.dev