California Contractor & Trade Licensing Costs (2026)

The $1,000 rule: when California requires a license

California requires a license for any project where the combined cost of labor, materials and all other costs is $1,000 or more. That threshold changed in January 2025, when AB 2622 raised it from $500, and the old $500 figure still circulates on older guides and directory sites. If a page you are reading still says $500, it is out of date.

The threshold has two triggers people miss. A license is also required whenever a building permit is required for the work, and whenever employee labor is used, whatever the project costs. A $900 bathroom repair done by your own employee, or a $700 job that needs a permit, both need a licensed contractor even though the price sits under $1,000.

What the eight licenses on this page have in common

One of the more useful things about the CSLB system is how uniform its fee skeleton is. Across all eight classifications on this page, a sole-owner applicant pays the same first-time total: a $450 application fee, two examinations at $51.43 each through PSI, and a $200 initial license fee. That adds up to $752.86 before anything else, and it is the same whether you are applying for Class B, C-10, C-36, C-20, C-39, C-33, C-27 or C-5.

The non-fee requirements are uniform too. The qualifier needs four years of journey-level experience in the classification within the last ten years, and accredited education can substitute for up to three of those years. The applicant must be 18 or older, pass a Law and Business exam plus the trade exam, complete Live Scan fingerprinting, and file a $25,000 contractor bond before the license is issued.

The bond is a requirement, not a fee paid to the CSLB: the premium you pay depends on the surety provider. LLC licensees carry extra weight, a separate $100,000 bond and at least $1 million in liability insurance.

Licenses run for two years. There is no continuing education requirement for CSLB renewal, which surprises people who have heard a 32-hour figure quoted for California electricians. That figure belongs to a different credential, covered below. The renewal bill itself splits eight ways by business form and status, and our California renewal cost guide prices every cell of it.

The workers' compensation trap

Every applicant must file either a workers' compensation certificate or, if they have no employees, an exemption certification. The trap is that some classifications cannot claim the exemption at all, even with no employees. C-20 warm-air heating, ventilating and air-conditioning contractors are barred from it under Business and Professions Code section 7125, so a one-person HVAC shop still has to carry workers' compensation or a certificate of self-insurance.

Other classifications keep the exemption. C-33 painting and C-27 landscaping contractors with no employees can claim it. The position varies by classification, which is why each trade page on this site states its own exemption position rather than repeating a site-wide line. If you are applying in a classification where the exemption matters to your costs, read that page's notes before you budget.

Carpentry is the odd one out

There is no California license called carpentry. The work is split between C-5 Framing and Rough Carpentry, which covers form work, framing, sub-flooring, siding, exterior staircases and roof decking, and C-6 Cabinet, Millwork and Finish Carpentry, which covers cabinets, doors, trims and non-bearing partitions. The carpentry page on this site is built on C-5, with C-6 explained alongside it, because that is how the CSLB actually divides the trade.

Class B general building contractors can self-perform framing and carpentry, and can take a contract that involves only framing and carpentry. What a B license does not do is turn its holder into an electrician, a plumber or an HVAC contractor. On a multi-trade job, the B contractor primes the project and the specialty work goes to the classification that holds it. Carpentry does not count as one of the unrelated trades a B contractor otherwise needs to self-perform multi-trade work.

The exam nobody warns you about

Beyond the two PSI exams, every new applicant must complete an open-book asbestos examination before licensure, under Business and Professions Code section 7058.5. It is not a separate license and it carries no separate fee in the schedules here, but it is a required step, and applicants who have only budgeted for the Law and Business and trade exams sometimes discover it late.

The other confusion to clear up is the electrician one. The 32 hours of continuing education that get quoted for California electricians belong to the separate state electrician certification run by the Department of Industrial Relations, which individual electricians working for C-10 firms must renew every three years. It is not a CSLB license requirement, and it does not apply to the C-10 license itself.

What unlicensed work actually risks

Working without a required license in California is a misdemeanor. A first conviction can bring up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $5,000 under Business and Professions Code section 7028, and the CSLB can add an administrative fine of $200 to $15,000 under section 7028.7. Consumers harmed by unlicensed work can also sue for treble damages under Code of Civil Procedure section 1029.8, with the added award capped at $10,000.

For homeowners the practical lesson is simpler: verify the license number on the CSLB website before work starts, and check that the classification on the license matches the work being done. A C-33 painting license does not authorize a roofing job, and a Class B license does not authorize the contractor to wire your house himself.