Washington Contractor License Requirements
Registration is not a licence, but here it is still mandatory. Every figure below was read off the L&I or the statute, and the sentence it came from is listed at the bottom of this page. Where a figure could not be verified this page says so rather than showing a number.
What the state requires
- Licence
- General Contractor Registration (certificate of registration)
- Issued by
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Contractor RegistrationWash. Rev. Code ch. 18.27
- Exam
- No exam
- Exam fee
- No verified figureRegistration costs $150.20, which is not a whole-dollar amount, so the numeric fee fields are left null. That one payment covers the two-year registration; there is no separate application and licence fee. There is no exam fee because there is no exam.
- Application fee
- No verified figure
- Initial licence fee
- No verified figure
- Licence bond
- $30,000A $30,000 continuous surety bond for general contractors, running to the state of Washington for the benefit of claimants under RCW 18.27.040. Specialty contractors post $15,000 instead. An assigned account acceptable to the department may be filed in place of the bond.
- General liability
- $200,000L&I requires $200,000 in public liability and $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined single limit. RCW 18.27.050 states the same floor as $50,000 property damage, $100,000 for injury or damage including death to any one person and $200,000 for more than one person. Proof of workers' compensation coverage (an L&I account) is part of the registration application.
- Workers compensation
- Required
- Experience
- None requiredWashington sets no experience requirement for general contractor registration. Certain specialties - plumbing, electrical, elevators, mobile home installation, boilers, asbestos - carry their own education, examination and licensing requirements on top of registration.
- Continuing education
- No continuing education requiredThere is no continuing education requirement for a contractor registration; renewal is the fee plus current proof of bond and liability insurance.
- Renewal
- Every 2 years
- NASCLA exam
- Not acceptedWashington does not appear on NASCLA's list of agencies accepting the NASCLA Accredited Examination, and the question is moot: registration requires no competency examination at all.
What people get wrong
Washington does not license general contractors, it registers them: there is no exam, no experience requirement and no proof of competence. The gate is financial - a $30,000 bond and a liability policy - and it is a two-year registration, not a licence. Anyone comparing Washington to Oregon or California should understand the $30,000 bond is the whole barrier.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a contractor licence in Washington?
- Not from the state. Washington registers contractors rather than licensing them: General Contractor Registration (certificate of registration) through the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Contractor Registration. Washington does not license general contractors, it registers them: there is no exam, no experience requirement and no proof of competence. The gate is financial - a $30,000 bond and a liability policy - and it is a two-year registration, not a licence. Anyone comparing Washington to Oregon or California should understand the $30,000 bond is the whole barrier.
- Does Washington accept the NASCLA exam?
- No. Washington does not appear on NASCLA's list of agencies accepting the NASCLA Accredited Examination, and the question is moot: registration requires no competency examination at all.
Sources
“$30,000 for general contractors ... $15,000 for specialty contractors ... $200,000 in public liability and $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined single limit ... $150.20”
https://lni.wa.gov/licensing-permits/contractors/register-as-a-contractor“General contractors: $30,000 ... Specialty contractors: $15,000”
https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.27.040“fifty thousand dollars ... one hundred thousand dollars for injury or damage including death to any one person ... two hundred thousand dollars for injury or damage including death to more than one person”
https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.27.050“A certificate of registration shall be valid for two years and shall be renewed on or before the expiration date.”
https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.27.060“Type of contracting activity, whether a general or a specialty contractor”
https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.27.030“All states listed below will accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination For Commercial General Building Contractors.”
https://www.nascla.org/nascla-commercial-exam-participating-state-agencies