The steps the state lists for registering as a contractor in Washington include no trade exam. That does not make registration casual: chapter 18.27 RCW opens by saying it “shall be strictly enforced” and that anyone doing contractor work “is presumed to know the requirements.” Registration runs through the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), and it rests on three things: a bond, liability insurance and a clean application. Here is who must register, general versus specialty, the bond and insurance, applying, the trades that need their own license, and what working without it costs.
Who must register
RCW 18.27.020 is one line: “Every contractor shall register with the department.” The definition of contractor in RCW 18.27.010 is wide. It covers anyone who, as an independent business, offers or bids to construct, alter, repair, improve, move or demolish any building or improvement attached to real estate, and it names carpet and floor covering, roofing and siding, tree removal and cabinet installation outright.
The exemptions in RCW 18.27.090 are narrow. The one small operators ask about covers work whose total price for labor and materials “is less than five hundred dollars,” treated as “casual, minor, or inconsequential.” It does not apply when the job is part of a larger one, when a job is split to stay under the limit, or to anyone who “advertises or puts out any sign or card or other device” suggesting they are a contractor. A handyman who advertises or hands out business cards is not exempt. Other exemptions cover employees paid wages, owners working on their own property (not to sell or lease it), and certified electricians and plumbers working within their certificates.
General or specialty
A general contractor is one whose work requires “more than one building trade or craft upon a single job or project or under a single building permit,” or who superintends such work. Everyone else is a specialty contractor, and under RCW 18.27.010 a specialty contractor “may only subcontract work that is incidental to the specialty contractor’s work.” L&I says it regulates 63 specialties, and WAC 296-200A-016 defines the specialty classifications.
Read your specialty’s definition before you register, because some reach a line you cannot cross. The “appliances, equipment” specialty, for one, covers appliances with minimal gas and water connections, but the rule says installing or replacing dishwashers, hot water tanks and garbage disposals “requires a plumber certification per chapter 18.106 RCW and/or an electrical license per chapter 19.28 RCW.”
The bond
Since 1 July 2024, RCW 18.27.040 requires a continuous surety bond of $30,000 for a general contractor or $15,000 for a specialty contractor, with the state named as obligee. An assigned savings account may stand in for it. The bond answers for unpaid wages and employee benefits, state taxes, suppliers and equipment rental, and amounts “adjudged against the contractor by reason of breach of contract including improper work.”
It is not insurance for you. A homeowner can sue on it for up to two years after the work was substantially completed or abandoned; when pending claims add up to more than the bond, they are paid in a set order, starting with employees’ wages and then breach of contract claims; and claimants other than residential homeowners can take no more than half of it. If the surety cancels or a judgment eats into the bond, your registration is suspended until the full amount is back. And from 1 July 2026, when a homeowner’s judgment against a registered contractor is more than the bond paid, the homeowner recovery program in RCW 18.27.410 may pay, at L&I’s discretion and subject to available funds, up to $25,000 per contractor per parcel on the homeowner’s primary residence, after which L&I may seek repayment from the contractor.
Insurance, and workers’ comp
L&I asks for a general liability policy of $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined single limit. The bond and the policy must show your exact business name, and L&I must be listed as a certificate holder on the insurance. If the policy expires or is canceled, RCW 18.27.050 suspends the registration automatically.
One trap: RCW 18.27.100 says no contractor may advertise that it is “bonded and insured” because of the bond and insurance the law requires. The advertising rules, including putting your registration number on ads, are in Your License Number in Ads.
If you have employees in Washington, RCW 18.27.030 has the application ask for evidence of workers’ comp coverage, such as your industrial insurance account number, and Washington is different from most states here: L&I says the state “does not allow private workers’ compensation coverage. You must purchase your coverage from L&I or be a certified self-insured employer.” How workers’ comp works elsewhere is in Workers’ Comp.
Applying
- Register the business with the Department of Revenue and get your Unified Business Identifier (UBI).
- Buy the bond (or set up an assigned savings account) and the liability policy, in the exact business name.
- Complete the Application for Contractor Registration (F625-001-000). All signatures must be original and notarized.
- Pay the $150.20 fee, in person at a local L&I office or by mail to the Contractor Registration section.
In October 2026, L&I’s page said that mailed applications were taking three to four weeks, and it carried a notice of a backlog with up to six weeks for documents sent in. Plan for that before you bid. Once registered, you appear in L&I’s Verify a Contractor tool, and your card follows in about two weeks. Under RCW 18.27.060 a registration is valid for two years; L&I lists renewal at $150.20 and reinstating a suspended registration at $70.90.
Electrical and plumbing need their own license
L&I notes that plumbing, electrical, elevators, mobile home installation, boilers and asbestos carry “additional requirements for education, examination, and licensing.” The two that touch the most small shops:
The customer notice and your subs
RCW 18.27.114 requires a written “NOTICE TO CUSTOMER” before work starts on any repair, alteration or construction of four or fewer residential units (or accessory structures) priced at $1,000 or more, and on commercial work priced at $1,000 or more but under $60,000. The statute prints the wording: your registration number, the bond amount, that the bond might not cover a claim, the option to withhold retainage, and the warning that the property may be liened. The customer signs it, you keep the signed copy for three years, and you cannot bring a lien claim on that job without proving you gave it. Contract basics are in What a Home Improvement Contract Must Say.
Keep a list of every direct subcontractor with a copy of its registration (RCW 18.27.062), and check each one before it starts: using an unregistered subcontractor is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 18.27.020.
What working unregistered costs
If you are coming from another state, Working Across a State Line covers the rest, and Do I Need a Contractor License? shows the method for any state.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.