Consumer affairs can give you a license info, if still active or has any type of complain.
You can always check for reviews and any type of info thats going to help you to make your best choice.
This is a two part question. First, to verify license: The “State Contractor Board”, is a good place to google search by state. I am in AZ, so in my search, the Registrar of Contractors (www.azroc.gov) came up. In CA, the site is http://www.cslb.ca.gov/ which is the contractors state license board. For example, an Arizona contractor’s name, license number or business name can be looked up directly on the azroc.gov website and this will list whether the license is current, expired, revoked, voluntary cancellation, etc. You can also determine what other names the business has used, owners, contact information, etc.
Part 2, contractor qualifications: There is no easy way to determine qualifications, as there is with licensing. Ways in which I have used to determine how qualified a contractor is would be to check out Angie’s List, The Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org), request names of prior customers so you can either call or visit to see the finished work, the contractor’s website for testimonials and reviews, to name but a few. I also agree with Masada, consumer affairs sites work well, but primarily for business with a LOT of customers or large income. When referring to local contractors, complaints seldom will hit consumer affairs or even the attorney general. Well, they might if the dollar amount is sufficiently large enough or if there are complaints from a great deal of past customers.
FIRST GO TO WWW. MY FLORIDA .COM TO VERIFY LICENSE OF A CONTRACTOR ,BY COMPANY NAME , PRESIDENT OF COMPANY NAME OR COMPANY LICENSE NUMBERS .
In South Carolina - Labor, Licensing and Regulation is the state wide governing body, they can also give you the ‘specialties’ for which the Contractor is licensed for ie - home building, electrical, HVAC, plumbing etc…
Typically you would contact your state’s Division of Labor in the Contractor Licensing Department, to confirm if the contractor you are considering in fact has a valid state contracting license. They should be able to tell you if the license is active or on hold and for what reason as well as the expiration date of their license and what type of license they have.
In the state of Pennsylvania you go to the Pennsylvania office of the Attorney General.
In most states in the US, the best place to start is with The Department of Consumer Affairs. They will not only give you licensing info, but in most cases they will give you information about complaints vs. the contractor.
The next best place I know of is to call your town/city building department. See if they have done any work in your town before. Find out if anyone has heard of them. Your a taxpayer and this information is deemed public. Good luck.
In California, it’s the State Contractors License Board. www.cslb.gov The info on the site will let you know the license status,license class, contact number, bonding,and whether the contractor is exempt or carries workmanship comp.