What a general contractor registration gives you

State law says every contractor must register with L&I. Without registration, a contractor may not advertise, offer to do work, submit a bid or perform work as a contractor, and each of those is a gross misdemeanor. The definition of contractor is wide: anyone who, as an independent business, constructs, alters, repairs, adds to or improves a building or other improvement attached to real estate. A general contractor is one whose business uses more than one building trade or craft on a single job or under a single building permit, or who superintends such work. Everyone else registers as a specialty contractor.

Registration does not measure skill. L&I's guide for people hiring a contractor points out that Washington does not require contractors to pass a skills test, though it does test and license electricians and plumbers. That is why we hold electrical contractor licensing in two specialties alongside the registration: the registration shows the business is bonded, insured and on record, and the electrical specialties cover the trade itself.

Most of our visits are repairs. The registration matters most on installs, where more than one trade meets on a single project. A furnace replacement can mean sheet-metal transitions and duct changes as well as the electrical connection. A heat pump or central AC install, or a ductless mini-split, brings an equipment pad or wall bracket, a line set through an outside wall and a route for condensate. The General specialty is the registration that matches that kind of multi-trade job.

It also means the bond and insurance described below stand behind that work, not only behind the wiring.

Since July 1, 2024 a general contractor posts a $30,000 continuous surety bond, up from $12,000; a specialty contractor posts $15,000, up from $6,000. The bond answers for amounts a court awards against the contractor for breach of contract, including improper work, along with unpaid wages, materials and state taxes. Because those claims compete for one bond, state law holds everyone other than residential homeowners to half of it in total.

To collect, a homeowner sues both the contractor and the bond. L&I's fact sheet sets out the path:

1. File a summons and complaint in the Superior Court of the county where the work was done.
2. Mail three copies to L&I's contractor registration unit with its processing fee; L&I then notifies the contractor and the bonding company.
3. Do this within two years of the date the contract work was substantially completed or abandoned, whichever came first.
4. Win a judgment. You may sue for more than the bond, but the surety pays only up to its amount. In a residential homeowner's breach-of-contract case, the prevailing party is entitled to costs, interest and reasonable attorneys' fees.

Insurance is a separate layer: registration requires $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage coverage, or a $250,000 combined single limit.

A construction registration is not an electrical license and cannot stand in for one; L&I notes that general contractors who take on electrical work face separate education, exam and licensing requirements. Our electrical work rests on the 06A and 07D licenses, and anything beyond them, such as new branch circuits or panel changes, goes to a general (01) electrical contractor and is priced separately. Plumbing likewise has its own L&I licensing.

The bond is not an insurance policy for every disappointment, either. It pays only after a court judgment, it is capped at the bond amount, and other claimants can share in part of it. If something about our work is wrong, calling us is the faster first step; the bond exists for when that fails.

Search L&I Verify by name or by WA UBI No. 605283205 and open the construction contractor record. It shows the General specialty with effective and expiration dates, then separate Bond and Insurance sections, and a list of Lawsuits against the bond or savings covering the previous six years. This registration, LARCHHA745PW, reads LARCH HVAC & APPLIANCE; records filed before our 2026 name change carry the former name, ADAM&SAM BROTHERS REPAIR. Compare the bond and insurance dates with the dates of your project, and check that the workers' comp account is active. Our licenses page lists all three credentials together.