Before the visit
Ask for the licence number when you book, not when they arrive.
Licensing is a state matter and the requirements differ sharply, but every state publishes a way to look up who holds what. Ask for the number and the registered name while you are booking, which is also a useful test of how a firm answers.
- 00Ask for the number and the exact nameThe name on the licence and the name on the invoice are not always the same company.
- 01Check it is currentExpired is the most common finding, and the quickest to spot.
- 02Check the category covers the workA general contractor licence does not cover mould remediation in states that license it separately.
- 03Ask the broker to send the insurance certificateFrom the insurer or broker directly, rather than as a photocopy handed to you.
Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.
Where the register is
Whichever body your state uses — a contractors board, a labour department, a licensing agency — it publishes a searchable list. When you do not know which body that is, the association those agencies belong to, NASCLA, is the shortest way to find out.
New York and Texas both license mould work separately from general contracting, so in those states there are two registers to look in rather than one.
Why this matters to the claim, not only the work
Two things quietly depend on that licence existing: whether your insurer accepts the work, and whether any guarantee you are offered means anything at all. Both are discovered late and at your expense.
What a good answer sounds like
A number, a state, and a name, given without hesitation, plus an offer to have the insurance certificate sent by the broker. A firm that treats the question as routine has answered it many times. One that finds it awkward has told you something without meaning to.
What you are protecting
The check is the same; what it protects differs.
- 01You own and live hereCheck before the visit. Two minutes, and it is the only part of this you can do from a chair.
Ask them: what is your licence number and the exact name it is registered under? - 02You own and let it outYou carry the liability for who you send into an occupied home. Keep the licence and certificate on file.
- 03An insurer nominated the firmPreferred contractor programmes are optional, and the same checks are still worth making.
- 04You rentYou are not hiring anyone, but you may be alone in the house when they arrive. Ask at the door for identification and a company name.
Goes to an independent contractor. Nothing is booked until you say so. Calls may be recorded.
Where these figures come from
Published by someone other than us. Each link goes to their own words rather than to our summary of them.