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A RocketLevel guide for restoration owners, backed by decades of experience in the trade. Eight lines, the regulatory gate on each one, the states we read against their own text, and a method for checking a state we did not. About a 15-minute read.
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Reviewed October 2026. Licensing laws, exposure rules and policy forms change, and they vary by state. Use this page to know what to ask, then confirm with your state board or a construction attorney before you rely on it.
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The usual sequence goes: somebody on the crew already has the ticket, a competitor is running the work, the margin looks fine, so the shop buys equipment and starts quoting. The credential question surfaces around the third job, usually because a property manager's vendor packet asked for a license number.
Run it the other way. License first, insurance second, crew and certifications third.
That order is a ranking by what each gate can cost you if you get it wrong. A missing certification costs you a customer's confidence, and a missing endorsement costs you a claim. A missing license can cost you the money you already earned, and in a handful of states it can cost you the right to sue for it at all.
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The single most expensive fact on this page. Under California B&P 7031(a), a person acting in the capacity of a contractor may not bring or maintain any action to collect compensation for work requiring a license, and the statute says so "regardless of the merits of the cause of action." Under 7031(b), the customer who hired you may sue to recover all compensation paid. Under 7031(e), the doctrine of substantial compliance does not apply to anyone who has never been a duly licensed contractor in this state, so an application in progress is worth nothing.
Read that as a business rule rather than a legal one. In California, an unlicensed shop that does the work beautifully, on time, to a delighted customer, cannot collect, and can be made to hand back what it was already paid. That is the reason the license sits in front of the business case instead of beside it.
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The three gates, and what each one actually asks.
Gates one and two are yes-or-no and they belong to the owner. Gate three is a project plan and it belongs to operations. Shops that lead with gate three end up rebuilding the whole line around a constraint they could have found in an afternoon.
Start here. Each row names the question that actually decides the line, not the question owners usually ask about it.
| Line you are considering | The question that decides it | Hardest constraint |
|---|---|---|
| Mold remediation | Does my state bar the same firm from assessing and remediating the same job, and does the bar follow ownership? | You may have to give up half the revenue on every job by law |
| Asbestos abatement | Am I accredited under the federal Model Accreditation Plan, and does my state license the firm on top of it? | The pre-work inspection duty binds you even if you never abate |
| Lead | Is this building target housing, or is it commercial? | Two different regimes, and commercial shops usually pick the wrong one |
| Reconstruction and general contracting (GC) | What dollar or scope threshold pulls my work under a contractor license in this state, and at which classification? | Unlicensed contracting can void your right to collect |
| Roofing | Is roofing its own classification here, and does holding it buy me anything on my other lines? | In Florida it specifically does not, and shops assume it does |
| Biohazard and trauma | Does the bloodborne pathogens standard reach my crews, given that the federal one excludes construction? | Four states answer this differently from the federal answer |
| Duct and HVAC hygiene | Am I cleaning the system or altering it? | Altering it can pull you under a mechanical contractor license |
| Contents and textiles | Who bears the risk while other people's property sits in my building? | No state license we could find, and no coverage either unless you buy it |
Jump to your line: