How to check a contractor license in South Carolina

South Carolina licenses contractors through two boards at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The Residential Builders Commission licenses home builders for jobs over $5,000 and licenses residential plumbers, electricians and HVAC installers. The Contractor's Licensing Board licenses general and mechanical contractors. Search the matching LLR lookup by name or license number to confirm an active license.

How to find out if a contractor is licensed in South Carolina?

Search the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) lookup for the board that covers the job. Work on a home goes through the Residential Builders Commission, and commercial and other building work goes through the Contractor's Licensing Board.

  1. Decide which board fits the job. A remodel, roof or addition on a house points to the Residential Builders Commission.
  2. Open the Residential Builders Commission lookup or the Contractor's Licensing Board lookup. We last checked this lookup on 2026-10-19. Both pages use a reCAPTCHA check and wouldn't load for our link checker, so open them in a regular web browser.
  3. Search by last name, first name, license number or city, and by company name on the residential lookup. Enter numbers only when you search by license number.
  4. Narrow the residential search by license type, such as Home Builders, Electrical, Plumbing, Heating and Air or Specialty. The commercial lookup filters by classification instead, such as Building, Electrical, Plumbing or Roofing.
  5. Confirm the license is active and that the license type or classification fits the job.
  6. If the residential search returns no records, try the commercial lookup, which is what the residential page itself suggests.

If you'd rather call, the Residential Builders Commission is at (803) 896-4696 and the Contractor's Licensing Board is at (803) 896-4686. Have the contractor's full name and license number ready before you dial.

Does South Carolina require a residential builder license?

Yes. State law defines a residential builder as anyone who builds, repairs or improves a home of up to three floors when the job costs more than $5,000, and working without a license or registration is a misdemeanor.

On conviction, the penalty is a fine of $500 to $10,000, at least 30 days in jail, or both. That's a good reason to look the builder up before the first payment rather than after a dispute.

What about smaller trade jobs?

Residential specialty contractors register with the Commission when a job is over $500. That covers specialized trades hired by a builder, a general contractor or the homeowner directly, and a specialty registrant isn't allowed to build an addition without a licensed residential builder or other properly licensed person supervising.

So if a specialty contractor offers to put an addition on a client's house, ask who the supervising builder is. Then look that builder up too.

Who licenses electricians and plumbers in South Carolina?

For homes, the Residential Builders Commission does. It issues the Residential Electrician License, the Residential Plumber License and the HVAC Installer and Repairer License.

Commercial trade work is different. The Contractor's Licensing Board licenses mechanical contractors, and its lookup lists classifications such as Electrical, Plumbing, Air Conditioning and Heating. The board also regulates fire alarm and fire sprinkler contractors, and they have their own burglar alarm, fire alarm and fire sprinkler lookup.

What does a South Carolina lookup not tell you?

A license record shows status, not the quality of the work or whether insurance is on file for your job. Ask for a current certificate of insurance and for references from jobs like yours. A homeowner who'll talk to you about a recent job will tell you more about the work than any license record.

A job near a state line can involve a contractor based next door, so check that state's records too. The lookups for North Carolina and Georgia 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 SC LLR.

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

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