Contractor Licensing FAQs

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

Legal vs. Illegal Electricians

Is the electrician wiring your project doing so illegally? You might be ‘shocked’ to learn that could easily be the case if some important deadlines for certification were missed. Another contractor hopes to shed ‘light’ on some other electrical work, but first we begin at the beginning. A question about how to structure a new business…

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A Landscape Contractor

A pat on the back is often the best praise, and I thank our first contractor for his. I will also help a landscape contractor with a ‘swimming’ lesson before sharing some news from CSLB about protecting seniors from fraudulent, unlicensed work… Q: To begin, I’d like to commend you on your columns! They are very…

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CSLB Meeting

Your seat at the CSLB meeting is waiting. You could have, should have and would have attended, except…something else always comes up. Let me share some of what you missed. I also help a contractor discover how wrong some advice can be, if not taken in context with a greater understanding of the ‘big’ picture… Q:…

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A Middle Showing

While this column is a contractor’s interactive resource featuring questions and answers based in real-world experience, the ‘Q&A’ also sometimes can tell a ‘story’. This time the questions begin with getting a California license, a middle showing how to help make it work and grow for you. And ends with, taking your license beyond the border…

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Using / Renewing Your License

Like so many situations in life, applying for, using and/or renewing your contractor’s license often depend on your individual history. While the rules and regulations are applied generally, every ‘problem’ can help illustrate the flexibility these laws provide individual contractors, as our first questions for 2007 demonstrate. I will also offer my ‘two cents’ on the…

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Interpretation of “B” Classification

While the rules and regulations guiding contractors licensing are written in black and white, there exist gray areas in the law. A sharp contractor has been ‘reading between the lines’ and discovered an ‘inconvenient truth’, with apologies to Al Gore, that may be of interest. Contractors can also benefit from learning about the new training available…

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