About Contractor Lookout
Check a contractor license before you hire.
Contractor Lookout is a free, independent lookup for contractor licenses, starting with California. It is run by William through his company, Central Coast Digital Solution, LLC.
Why this site exists
Checking a contractor in California usually means piecing together a license status, a bond, workers' comp and a list of classifications from separate CSLB pages. CSLB already publishes all of it every week in a free public file, so this site puts it on one readable page and explains each status in plain English. It also keeps a lookout: every week it compares the new file with the last one and records what changed on each license.
What we do
- Download CSLB's public License Master file every week (243,988 licenses in the file dated November 1, 2026).
- Organize it by city, county and trade, and explain every status code in plain English.
- Compare each week's file with the last one, and keep a change history for every license.
- Point you to CSLB's Instant License Check to confirm the live record before you hire.
What we are not
We are not the Contractors State License Board, the Department of Consumer Affairs or any government agency, and nothing here is endorsed by them. We don't rate contractors, take reviews, or rank businesses for payment. A "red" or "amber" badge reflects what CSLB's file says. It is not our opinion of anyone's work. We are not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
How the site makes money
The site may show ads, some pages may link to quote-request services that pay a referral fee, and later we may offer clearly labeled sponsored listings. All of it is explained on the affiliate disclosure page. Money never changes a license's status, badge or position in a list.
Editorial standards
Our guides are written and maintained by Contractor Lookout. Every legal figure links to the statute or CSLB page it comes from, and we check those sources when we update a guide. If you spot an error, please tell us at corrections@contractorlookout.com.
Contact
Central Coast Digital Solution, LLC · hello@contractorlookout.com · Contact page