Contractor Licensing FAQs

The Capitol Connection is our weekly Q & A column for contractors that focuses on topics pertaining to contractor's licensing.

California General Building Contractor

The law is ‘alive’. By that, I mean the rules and regulations contractors must follow change and evolve as time goes by. As our contractors learn today, some of those laws change often, some not so much. However, as any fisherman knows from experience, ‘living’ things can be slippery and hard to hold onto… Q: One…

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Lowdown on Low License Numbers

I wouldn’t try to make a violin from scratch. That skill takes time, practice and hard work to learn, particularly those little ‘tricks of the trade’. It’s what we think of as ‘working’ knowledge. Working with contractors and the Board for more than 25 years has given me that same type of ‘skill’ when it comes…

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The 4-1-1 on BQI

The contractor that will build the first time machine hasn’t come along yet as far as I know. However did you know some contractors can ‘go back in time’ and retrieve their ‘original’ license number — even though that license expired years ago? What’s the ‘411’ on a BQI? How many corporate contractors know if they…

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New Law to Tighten Rules and Raise Penalties for Using Unlicensed

In life there are winners and losers. Those working as, or working with an unlicensed contractor usually fall in the latter category. From contractors to consumers everyone loses when unlicensed construction work is sub-standard, violates codes or leads to significant lawsuits when an unlicensed contractor or his workers are injured on your job. I will also…

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‘bureaucratese’; promotions

Q: I happened upon your website ( www.cutredtape.com) and thought you may have some advice and or answer to a particular licensing question. Here is the situation: My Original CA license was issued in1997 and I had three Additional classes added in 2006 and 2007. I will be applying to Nevada for all four of my…

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