How to check a contractor license in Rhode Island

Rhode Island requires anyone who works as a contractor on a structure, including roofers, painters, carpenters and siding installers, to hold a registration from the Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board. Search the board's registrant lookup by name or registration number and review its enforcement actions. Electricians and plumbers hold separate licenses from the Department of Labor and Training.

How do I check a contractor license in Rhode Island?

Search the Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board (CRLB) lookup by registration number or name, then check the board's enforcement actions. For most home contractors, the record you're looking for is a registration rather than a license.

Ask the contractor for the registration number. The enforcement records list numbers in a format like GC-12345.
Open the CRLB's registration and license status lookup, which is also linked from the board's Search a Registrant/Licensee page. We last checked this lookup on 2026-10-19. The board's site blocked some of our requests that day, so if the page won't open, try a regular web browser or call the board at 401-921-1590.
Search by registration or license number, company name, the contractor's first and last name, city or phone number. You can narrow it by contractor type, such as Residential, Commercial or Commercial Roofer.
Confirm the registration is current and that the name matches the person or company on your contract.
Open the board's enforcement actions list and search the contractor's legal name, company name or registration number. The results include cases tied to any company the contractor is affiliated with.

The enforcement list shows each decision, consent agreement or final order with its date and order number. Some entries are for people who weren't registered at all, which is exactly the kind of contractor you want to catch before a job starts.

Does Rhode Island require a contractor license?

Yes, in the form of a registration. State law says a person shall not undertake, offer to undertake, or submit a bid to do work as a contractor on a structure without a current, valid certificate of registration.

The law also names subcontractor trades that need to register, including carpenters, roofers, drywall installers, masons, painters and power washers. Separately, the CRLB issues actual licenses to commercial roofers, home inspectors, underground utility contractors, well drillers, pump installers and water filtration installers.

Who licenses electricians and plumbers in Rhode Island?

The Department of Labor and Training does, through its Professional Regulation unit. That unit reviews and licenses applicants for the Board of Examiners of Electricians and the Board of Examiners of Plumbers, among other trade boards.

Search those licenses in the DLT's Professional Regulation online search by trade, license number, name, city and state, or phone number. The same site has a violations search by license number, name or company. Check an electrician or plumber there as well as in the CRLB lookup.

What does a Rhode Island registration not tell you?

A registration shows status, not the quality of the work. On insurance, the law only requires the contractor to state whether all the proper insurances are in effect for each job contracted, so ask for a current certificate of insurance before work starts. References from recent jobs will tell you more about the work than any state record.

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

Other states set this up very differently, and the guide on how to check a contractor license, state by state covers each one. This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm details with the Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board.

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 Rhode Island you still run the lookup above by hand. Here's how Proferral's license checks work.

Start your list, free

It's free, no credit card needed, and you're never charged unless you choose Pro.