How to check a contractor license in New Jersey

New Jersey has no general contractor license, but home improvement contractors must register with the Division of Consumer Affairs. Search the business in the state's license verification system and confirm the registration is active. An unregistered contractor can't get a municipal permit. Licensed plumbers and electrical contractors are checked under their own boards in the same system.

How do I check a contractor license in New Jersey?

Search the business in the state's license verification system, which the Division of Consumer Affairs runs for home improvement contractors and its licensing boards. Then call Consumer Affairs to ask about complaints.

Get the registration number. New Jersey calls it the NJHIC number, the law requires contractors to display it, and every contract for more than $500 must include it.
Open the license verification system at newjersey.mylicense.com/verification. We last checked this lookup on 2026-10-19.
Choose Business Search. Some licenses are issued in a business's name rather than a person's, and home improvement contractors are one of the business license types.
Search for the business name exactly as it appears on the contract or estimate.
Confirm the registration is active and the business name matches the one you're dealing with.
Call Consumer Affairs at 800-242-5846 and ask whether consumers have filed complaints against the contractor. The Division suggests that call in its consumer brief on hiring home improvement contractors.

Consumer Affairs also lists warning signs worth knowing before you refer anyone. A contractor who asks for more than a third of the price before work starts is one. So is a contractor with only a P.O. box for a business address, or one with no registration number who isn't exempt.

Does New Jersey require a general contractor license?

No. New Jersey has no general contractor license, but the Contractors' Registration Act requires home improvement contractors to register with the Division of Consumer Affairs. Registration needs proof of commercial general liability insurance of at least $500,000 per occurrence, and a municipality won't issue a construction permit to an unregistered contractor.

Registration reaches most of the work a homeowner hires out. Consumer Affairs names driveways, patios, additions, roofing and siding, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, finished basements and basement waterproofing, among others. Someone who only mows lawns and trims shrubs doesn't have to register, but someone who plants trees or lays sod to start a lawn does.

How do I look up a home improvement contractor registration in New Jersey?

Use Business Search in the state's license verification system and look for the business as a home improvement contractor. An active record means the contractor is registered, and that's all it means, because Consumer Affairs says registration is not an endorsement of or approval for the contractor.

Before you sign, the contractor must also give you a copy of its commercial general liability insurance policy and the insurance company's phone number. Call that number. A policy that was in force when the contractor registered may have lapsed since.

Who licenses electricians and plumbers in New Jersey?

The State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors licenses electrical contractors, and the State Board of Master Plumbers licenses plumbers. A licensed plumber or electrical contractor working within that trade doesn't have to register as a home improvement contractor.

For electrical or plumbing work, the municipal permit must be signed and sealed by the New Jersey licensed electrical contractor or licensed master plumber. Electrical contractor businesses show up in the same verification system under Business Search, and individual licensees show up under Person Search. If you can't find a record, call the electrical contractors board at 973-504-6410 or the plumbers board at 973-504-6420. Heating and air conditioning contractors have their own HVACR board, at 973-504-6250.

What does a New Jersey lookup not tell you?

It doesn't tell you whether the work will be good. An active registration is the minimum before you refer anyone, and it has limits.

Registration isn't a skills test. Consumer Affairs says registration with the state is not an endorsement of the contractor.
Insurance may not be current. The contractor must give you a copy of its liability policy, so call the insurer before work starts.
Complaints take a phone call. Consumer Affairs suggests calling 800-242-5846 to ask whether consumers have filed any.
Payment rules protect your client too. New Jersey law bars a home improvement contractor from demanding the final payment before the work is done, and a signed contract can be cancelled for any reason before midnight of the third business day after the homeowner gets a copy.

Plenty of New Jersey contractors also work across the river. The state-by-state guide has the lookup for New York, Pennsylvania and every other state.

A job near a state line can involve a contractor based next door, so check that state's records too. The lookups for New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware are on their own pages.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm details with the Division of Consumer Affairs.

Sources

Agents can keep these contractors in Proferral

Proferral is a free app real estate agents use to keep a go-to list of the providers they trust and to remember every referral they send. Its license checks cover Oregon and Washington only, so for New Jersey you still run the lookup above by hand. Here's how Proferral's license checks work.

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