Every Verified listing was checked by a person: references, reviews, license and insurance. How we check

Get Listed

Hiring tips

How to Check a Contractor's License in South Carolina

Two state boards, three dollar amounts and one five-minute lookup. What to check before you sign anything.

By Ray Croft · Contributing editor

Most of the trouble I get called out to look at started with a handshake and no paperwork. The work was done by somebody who seemed fine, charged a fair price, and was gone by the time the problem showed up. Checking a license takes about five minutes, and it’s the cheapest five minutes you’ll spend on a job.

Two Boards, Not One

South Carolina splits contractors between two boards, both under the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR).

The Residential Builders Commission covers work on houses. A residential builder license applies when a job costs more than $5,000. Specialty trades that work on homes, like roofers and painters, register with the same commission once a job runs over $500. Some trades, plumbing and electrical among them, carry their own license requirements, so check the lookup for the right credential. If a company does more than three trade classifications at once, the state expects it to hold a residential builder license instead of a specialty registration. (LLR Residential Builders FAQ, Residential Specialty Contractor Registration)

The Contractor’s Licensing Board covers general and mechanical contractors, mostly on commercial work. Its threshold went up in 2023: a license is now required when the total cost of construction is more than $10,000. (LLR Contractor’s Licensing Board update, July 2023)

So a roofer replacing your whole roof should show up in the Residential Builders Commission records. A company building a restaurant on 278 should show up with the Contractor’s Licensing Board. If you can’t tell which one applies to your job, ask the contractor which board licenses them. They should know without thinking about it.

The Five-Minute Check

  1. Get the license or registration number and the exact business name. Write down both.
  2. Look it up on LLR’s site. The Residential Builders Commission and the Contractor’s Licensing Board both have a license lookup.
  3. Check that it’s active. Expired, lapsed or suspended means stop.
  4. Match the name. The name on the license should match the name on your contract. If the license belongs to a cousin, that’s not your contractor’s license.
  5. Match the work. A license or registration lists classifications. A painting registration doesn’t cover moving a wall.

What the License Doesn’t Tell You

A license means the state has the person on file. It doesn’t mean they’re good. Residential builders do post a $15,000 surety bond to get licensed, according to LLR, but on a big job that won’t go far. I’d still want:

  • Proof of insurance, sent to you by the insurance agent, not a photocopy from the truck. General liability, and workers’ comp if they have employees on your property.
  • Two or three recent references for the same kind of job, in this area. Call them. Ask if they’d hire the company again.
  • A written contract that names the business, the license number, the scope, the price, the payment schedule and who pulls the permit.

None of that is complicated. The contractors worth hiring won’t blink at any of it. That’s what the Verified badge on this site means, too: somebody on our team called the references, read the reviews, and checked the license and insurance for you.