How to check a contractor license in Vermont

Vermont has no statewide general contractor license, but residential contractors must register with the Office of Professional Regulation for jobs worth $10,000 or more, labor and materials included. Search the contractor's name in OPR's free Find a Professional lookup. Electricians and plumbers are licensed separately by the Division of Fire Safety, so check them there.

How do I check a contractor license in Vermont?

Search the contractor's name in the Office of Professional Regulation's Find a Professional lookup. OPR says most searches work with the name alone, and you can narrow the results by city, state, zip code, or license number and type.

Open OPR's Find a Professional page and start the search. The search itself may need to be opened in a regular web browser.
Type the contractor's name or business name, and leave the other fields blank at first.
If you get too many matches, add the city or the license number and type.
Check the status and dates on the record, and read any disciplinary record that shows up.
Look at whether it's an individual or a business registration. A self-employed contractor with no employees registers as an individual, and one with employees registers as a business.

We last checked this lookup on 2026-10-19. The results show the name, location, license details, dates and status, plus any disciplinary records.

Does Vermont require a general contractor license?

No. Vermont registers residential contractors instead, and registration has been required since April 1, 2023, for residential construction estimated at $10,000 or more, labor and materials included.

To register, a contractor must carry liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. Registered contractors also attest that they use written contracts covering the price, the work dates, the scope of work and change orders. Employees of a registered business don't need to register on their own.

What should you check for a job under $10,000?

A contractor who only takes jobs under $10,000 may not be registered at all, and that's allowed. Ask for a current certificate of insurance and a written contract anyway. If the job involves wiring or plumbing, check the tradesperson's license with the Division of Fire Safety.

Who licenses electricians and plumbers in Vermont?

The Department of Public Safety's Division of Fire Safety licenses master, journeyman and specialist electricians and plumbers. A tradesperson it licenses doesn't register with OPR while working within that license.

Fire Safety publishes a master list of license and certification holders on the state's open data site at data.vermont.gov, which may need to be opened in a regular web browser. On that list, EM, EJ and ES mean master, journeyman and specialist electrician, and PM, PJ and PS mean the same for plumbers. The division also licenses oil burner installers and chimney sweeps and issues gas certifications.

What does a Vermont registration lookup not tell you?

A registration tells you the contractor signed up with OPR, showed the required insurance and agreed to use written contracts. It tells you nothing about the quality of the work. OPR doesn't inspect construction quality, mediate disputes or seek money damages or restitution for homeowners.

OPR's authority covers unlawful and unprofessional conduct by people who are required to register. For a consumer problem outside that, the Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program can help. If the contractor also works in another state, the state-by-state guide has the lookup for each one.

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

This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm details with the Office of Professional Regulation.

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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 Vermont 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.