Coverage
Four of the five states set a number. None of those numbers is the one your contracts will ask for.
General liability is the line every contract asks for, and the one most often bought to the wrong limit. Two different numbers govern it: what the licensing board demands, and what the general contractor agreement, owner or lender demands. They are rarely the same, and in three of these five states they are not even close.
The same line, governed five different ways. Each state page publishes the sources behind these figures.
CSLB does not make general liability a condition of the license — it licenses on a $25,000 contractor bond. In practice essentially every general contractor agreement, public works contract and prequalification in the state requires it, so the operative limit is set by whoever you are contracting with, not by the board.
All California requirements →Oregon is the one state of the five where the board sets the limit for you, and it varies by endorsement: $500,000 per occurrence for a residential general contractor, $300,000 for residential specialty, $100,000 for residential limited, $2,000,000 aggregate for commercial general level 1, $1,000,000 for commercial general level 2 and commercial specialty level 1, and $500,000 per occurrence for commercial specialty level 2. Choosing the endorsement is choosing the limit.
All Oregon requirements →L&I registration requires only $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage, or a $250,000 combined single limit — and the certificate must name L&I as certificate holder using your exact registered business name. That floor is far below what a commercial GC agreement will ask for, so the registration figure and the sensible figure are two different numbers on nearly every Washington account.
All Washington requirements →This is the state where the insurance and the license are the same conversation. Residential and home-improvement applicants must file proof of at least $100,000 general liability before the license issues, mold remediation at least $50,000 plus its own proof of workers’ compensation, and the coverage must stay continuous for as long as the license is active. The commercial license application does not require proof of insurance at all — though owners and general contractors will still ask.
All Louisiana requirements →The Registrar of Contractors does not require general liability as a licensing condition, and licenses on a bond set by classification and gross volume instead. Commercial contracts, public works and GC prequalification require it almost universally, which is why Arizona contractors who skip it usually discover the requirement at the point of bidding rather than the point of licensing.
All Arizona requirements →Tell us the trade, the state and the payroll. We will tell you which markets fit before we submit anywhere.
