California licence: classes, bond, fees

California licences contractors through the Contractors State License Board, a body inside the Department of Consumer Affairs. One number covers one contractor; the classifications attached to that number decide what work it covers. A licence is not a business licence and it is not a permit — a city will still want both.

The statute that sets the classification scheme is Business and Professions Code Division 3, Chapter 9, Article 4, section § 7055. That section is worth reading before you pick a class, because it is the language a board reviewer applies when they decide your application asked for the wrong one.

CSLB sorts contracting into four families. Everything below C is a specialty class with its own two-letter-plus-number code, from C-2 insulation through C-10 electrical to the trades most people never think of.

Every active California licence carries a contractor licence bond of $25,000. The bond of qualifying individual and the disciplinary bond sit at the same figure. All three rose to that number on 2023-01-01 under Senate Bill 607; a bond written before that date had to be increased, not replaced.

Every figure below is the amount CSLB publishes on its own fee schedule, read on 2026-09-04. Fingerprinting is billed in two parts by the state and federal agencies, plus a rolling fee set by the Live Scan operator, which CSLB records as varies by Live Scan operator.

The total row adds the three fees every first-time applicant pays. It excludes the bond premium, the Live Scan rolling fee and any exam-prep spend. Our licence cost calculator adds those in.

An LLC licence carries two obligations a sole owner does not have. A separate $100,000 surety bond for employees and workers sits on top of the $25,000 contractor bond (B&P Code § 7071.6.5). And the LLC must carry liability insurance with a cumulative limit of at least $1,000,000 where five or fewer people are listed as personnel of record, plus $100,000 for each additional person, capped at $5,000,000 in total (B&P Code § 7071.19).

Since 2014-01-01 those liability policies must be written by an admitted carrier. If your broker offers a surplus-lines policy for the LLC requirement, that is the wrong instrument.

CSLB names 5 states it runs a reciprocity programme with: Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina. Reciprocity in California is not a transfer. You still file a California application, you still bond, and the programme addresses the examination — not the paperwork, and not the fee.