Trade
The two trades that usually need a second licence and produce the two most expensive claim types in the book. We write both, and we know which carriers price them sanely.
Electrical and plumbing are grouped here because they share a regulatory shape: in most of these states they are licensed by a separate authority on top of the contractor license, and a contractor who holds only one of the two is not compliant. They also produce the two claim types that cost most — fire, and water in a finished building.
Which license class this trade falls under, and what that class obliges you to carry.
C-10 Electrical and C-36 Plumbing. Neither is among the five classifications required to carry workers’ compensation without employees — but both are caught by the 1 January 2028 change that extends the requirement to every classification, and both need it now with any employee.
All California requirements →The clearest dual-licensing case of the five. Electrical and plumbing businesses need BOTH a CCB contractor license AND Building Codes Division licensing with a BCD-certified supervising individual. Holding the CCB license alone is not enough, and it is a common and expensive misunderstanding.
All Oregon requirements →Electrical and plumbing are licensed by L&I separately from contractor registration. The registration bond and liability certificate are the baseline; the trade license sits on top. Workers’ compensation, as for every Washington contractor, is state-fund only.
All Washington requirements →Residential electrical and plumbing generally fall under the residential or home-improvement license, which makes $100,000 general liability and workers’ compensation proof a condition of licensure. Louisiana also licenses these trades through separate state boards.
All Louisiana requirements →Specialty classifications with the ROC, bonded by classification and volume band. No liability requirement from the Registrar — which on trades whose claims are fire and flood is the widest gap between what the state asks for and what the exposure warrants of any trade in this program.
All Arizona requirements →Not statute — this is the part no board publishes, and the part that decides whether a submission comes back priced or declined.
Tell us the state, the license class and the payroll. We will tell you which markets fit before we submit anywhere.
