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	no	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.
queries	no	array	["22726", "1000001"]	Look up many licenses in ONE run instead of starting a run per lookup. Accepts the same values as 'Search query' — license numbers, business names, or person names, mixed freely. Combined with 'Search query' if you fill both, and duplicates are removed. Billing is unchanged: you are charged per matched record returned, not per query submitted.
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) PER QUERY, not per run — so a batch of 20 names cannot silently return only the first 50 rows overall and read as 'the rest don't exist'. Defaults to 50. A license-number query returns exactly one record regardless.
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

Works with n8n

Ready-made n8n templates that call this actor:

• Monitor contractor licences and alert 30 days before expiry — free template. Step-by-step guide
• Verify contractor licenses in your lead list — free template. Step-by-step guide
• Verify a subcontractor's licence when they submit your onboarding form — free template. Step-by-step guide

Works with AI assistants (MCP)

Callable as an MCP tool, so Claude, Cursor, VS Code Copilot and other MCP clients can run it directly. Grab the config from the MCP tab on this page — Apify hosts the server and keeps that snippet current, and OAuth signs you in on first connect, so no API token goes in your config file.

Then just ask:

"Check California CSLB licence 22726 — is it current, and when does it expire?"

A licence number returns one exact record, which makes it a good first call before trying name searches. Runs started this way bill exactly like any other run.