Subcontractor license tracking for California home jobs

What SB 517 changed on January 1, 2026

SB 517 amended section 7159 of the Business and Professions Code. That section lists what a California home improvement contract must contain. The change took effect on January 1, 2026. CSLB is the state board that licenses contractors. Its new-laws bulletin sums it up: contractors who use subcontractors on home improvement projects must disclose that information on request.

The law also says that, for CSLB discipline, the prime contractor is responsible for finishing the project as the contract, plans and specifications say. That doesn’t protect a sub or a home improvement salesperson who breaks the rules; CSLB can still act against them. As before SB 517, leaving a required disclosure out of the contract is itself a cause for discipline.

In the contract itself, the new text adds three things:

• A statement on whether a subcontractor will be used on the project, with a box to check: Yes or No.
• If you check Yes, this exact sentence: “One or more subcontractors will be used on this project, and the contractor is aware that a list of subcontractors is required to be provided, upon request, along with the names, contact information, license number, and classification of those subcontractors.”
• The same sentence on each change order during the project.

References: CSLB Industry Bulletin #25-04: New Laws Affecting Contractors Starting in 2026 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: SB 517 (2025), Home improvement contract requirements: subcontractors (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159 (opens in a new tab)

Which jobs it covers, and what the law leaves open

The rule sits in the home improvement contract section, so it follows that section’s reach. A home improvement contract is an agreement with a homeowner or tenant to repair, remodel, alter or add to residential property. It applies when the total price is over $500. The law lists driveways, pools and spas, patios, solar, landscaping, fences, garages and air conditioning or heating equipment, among others. It also covers rebuilding a home damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster. That applies when the Governor proclaimed a state of emergency or the President declared an emergency or major disaster.

Small service calls can fall outside it. Section 7159 doesn’t apply to a service and repair contract that meets every condition in sections 7159.10 to 7159.14. Those include a price of $750 or less, the customer calling you first, and no payment until the work is done. Miss one condition, and the full home improvement contract rules apply again.

The text is short, and some practical questions aren’t answered in it. It doesn’t give a deadline for sending the list, a format, or say what to do if you checked No and later need a sub. This isn’t legal advice. Ask CSLB or a construction lawyer how to handle those points before they come up. Your city’s building department may also ask for its own details on permitted work, so check what yours wants.

If you’re updating your contract template anyway, the same section covers your own license number and the cancellation notice. We cover those in your CSLB license number on quotes and contracts and home improvement contract records.

References: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7151 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159.10 (opens in a new tab)

The four details on the list, and where each comes from

The law names four details for each sub. None is hard to collect. The trouble is finding them for one job, months later, when they live in a phone, a bid PDF and a text thread. Here is what each one means in practice:

• Name. Use the business name exactly as it appears on the sub’s CSLB license record, not a nickname or the owner’s first name. A homeowner who looks the sub up should find the same name you gave them.
• Contact information. A phone number and email the homeowner can actually reach, plus the business address. CSLB lists each licensee’s address of record, so you can compare the two.
• License number. California license numbers are digits only, up to eight of them. The law requires licensees to put their number on contracts and subcontracts, and CSLB says it belongs on bids too. The sub’s bid or subcontract is the first place to copy it from.
• Classification. The license type that covers the sub’s work on this job, like C-10 Electrical or C-36 Plumbing. CSLB licenses contractors in dozens of classifications, and one sub can hold several. Note the one that matches the work you hired them for.

References: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159 (opens in a new tab) · CSLB: Check a Contractor License or HIS Registration (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7030.5 (opens in a new tab) · CSLB: How do I find the right licensed contractor? (opens in a new tab) · CSLB: Licensing classifications (opens in a new tab)

The list homeowners were already told to ask for

SB 517 isn’t the first time a contract has pointed homeowners toward your subs. Home improvement contracts must already include the “Mechanics Lien Warning.” It tells homeowners that unpaid subs and suppliers can record a lien on the home, even if the homeowner paid the contractor in full.

The warning then gives homeowners a to-do list. Get a list from your contractor of all the subs and material suppliers on the project. Find out when each sub started work and when each supplier delivered. Then wait 20 days and watch for Preliminary Notices, the papers subs and suppliers send to keep their right to a lien. It also suggests paying with joint checks made out to both the contractor and the sub or supplier.

So a careful homeowner may ask for more than the four SB 517 details. Keep each sub’s start date on each job, and each supplier’s delivery dates, in the same place. Then one list answers both questions.

Reference: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159 (opens in a new tab)

Check a subcontractor’s license before they start

Disclosing a sub’s license number only helps if the license is good. The license law counts subcontractors as contractors. Entering into a contract with a contractor who isn’t licensed is a cause for discipline on its own. A quick check before each sub starts, saved with the job, protects you and gives you an answer if anyone asks later.

One trap: the exemption for small jobs is narrower than many people think. Section 7048 now exempts work under $1,000, but only with no building permit, no advertising as a contractor and no employees. It never applies when the work is part of a larger job. Some guides still say $500. Either way, a sub doing a slice of your remodel can’t lean on it.

Here is a check that takes a few minutes per sub:

• Copy the license number from the sub’s bid or subcontract.
• Look it up on CSLB’s Check a License page. You can also search by business name or by a person’s name if the number is missing.
• Confirm the license is active and the business name matches the one on the bid. If the record shows expired, suspended or anything other than active, the sub doesn’t start until it’s sorted out.
• Read any complaint disclosure or disciplinary history shown with the license.
• Confirm a classification on the license covers the work you’re hiring them for.
• Note when the license expires. A license expires two years after the last day of the month it was issued, and each renewal adds two years.
• Look at the workers’ comp information on the license record. Our article on workers’ comp certificates and expiry dates covers that side.
• Save the date you checked, who checked, and what the record showed.

References: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7026 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7118 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7048 (opens in a new tab) · CSLB: Check a Contractor License or HIS Registration (opens in a new tab) · CSLB: How do I find the right licensed contractor? (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7140 (opens in a new tab)

Matching the classification to the work: examples by trade

The classification on the list matters because license types limit what each contractor can take on. Take a “B” general building contractor. For a prime contract beyond framing or carpentry, it needs at least two other unrelated trades on the job. Otherwise it must hold the trade’s classification or subcontract the work to a contractor who does. A “B-2” residential remodeler needs at least three unrelated trades on the contract. It can’t install, replace, substantially alter or extend electrical, plumbing or mechanical systems on its own license. It needs that classification, or a sub licensed for that work.

Specialty contractors can do work in other trades when it’s incidental and supplemental to their own. So not every small piece needs a sub. For the bigger pieces, here is how the list might look. These companies are made up:

• A remodeler with a B license redoes a kitchen. Its own crew frames and hangs cabinets. A C-10 electrician adds circuits, a C-36 plumber moves the sink line, and a C-54 tile setter does the backsplash. That job’s list has three subs.
• A B-2 remodeler takes a bathroom with tile, drywall and paint. Its crew does all three, and moving the shower drain and supply lines goes to a C-36 plumber. One sub on the list.
• A C-20 HVAC company replaces a furnace and air conditioner, and the house needs a new electrical panel to carry it. A C-10 electrician does the panel. One sub, on one job.
• A C-53 pool builder brings in a C-10 electrician for the pool’s power and a C-8 concrete contractor for the deck. Two subs, each with its own license to check.

References: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7057 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7057.5 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7059 (opens in a new tab) · CSLB: What kind of contractor do you need? (opens in a new tab) · CSLB: Licensing classifications (opens in a new tab)

Tracking subcontractor licenses after the first check

A check in March doesn’t prove much in September. Licenses expire every two years unless renewed. If a licensee’s required workers’ comp coverage lapses, the license is suspended automatically on the date the coverage lapses. A sub you have used for years can have a gap you never hear about.

So make re-checks part of the job, not a yearly chore. Check again whenever a sub starts a new job with you. Check again in the month their license is due to expire. Keep every check, not just the latest one, so a question about last spring’s job gets last spring’s answer.

If a re-check shows an expired or suspended license, don’t let that sub start new work for you until CSLB’s record shows it active again. Save what you found and the date. Then ask CSLB or a construction lawyer how to handle work the sub already did and any payment still owed. This isn’t legal advice.

Whatever you keep it in, the goal is one record per sub that you update once, linked to each job they touch. When a homeowner asks, you pull that job’s list and send it, without digging. For each sub, and for each job, keep:

• The sub’s business name as shown on CSLB, a contact person, phone, email and business address.
• License number, every classification they hold, and the expiration date.
• Each license check: the date, who checked, the status and what it showed.
• Workers’ comp details, kept with the sub, not in someone’s inbox.
• Per job: which subs worked on it, the classification each one used, what they did and the date each one started.
• Per job: the signed contract with the Yes or No box, and every change order with the disclaimer on it. Our article on change orders signed before the work starts covers the change order side.
• Per job: material suppliers and their delivery dates, for the lien warning list.
• A one-click list per job with each sub’s name, contact details, license number and classification, ready to email or print.

References: California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7140 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7125.2 (opens in a new tab) · California Legislative Information: Business and Professions Code section 7159 (opens in a new tab)

A spreadsheet, an app, or a system built for your jobs

A spreadsheet can work with a few regular subs and one office person who keeps it current. Use one tab for subs, one row per sub, and a second tab for jobs, one row per sub per job. The weak spot is the link between the two tabs: unless the jobs tab looks details up from the subs tab, a new phone number or a renewed license means fixing old rows by hand. Re-checks also depend on someone remembering.

Some construction and field service apps have a place for subcontractors or vendors. If you already pay for one, check three things before building anything. Can it link subs to individual jobs? Can it store license details and check dates? Can it print a list per job? If yes, use it.

If you look at a compliance app that says it watches license records, ask how often it re-checks CSLB and whether your job details can live there too. The test is the same whatever you pick: can someone in the office pull an accurate list for any job in under a minute?

How we build this into your job system

Maybe you’d rather keep sub records inside the system that runs your jobs. That’s the kind of custom business software we build. Sub records link to each job. The contract template has the Yes or No box, and change orders carry the disclaimer. A reminder asks the office to re-check a license on CSLB’s site, and the result is saved with the date. The list for any job is one click away. It can connect to QuickBooks Online if you use it; for other apps, we check before quoting.

Adding sub records and a per-job list to a system you already have can be a focused fix: $750–$3,000 over 1–⁠2 weeks. If someone else built it, we review it first. One business system, like jobs, contracts and change orders together, is $6,000–$18,000 over 6–⁠10 weeks. These are our prices as of October 4, 2026; what custom software costs explains what moves the number. Every launch includes 30 days of fixes, and you own the code we write once it’s paid in full.

The first call is free, and you get a fixed price in writing within 48 hours of it. Bring your current contract, one recent job with subs on it, and a list of the apps you use. If an app you already pay for can do this, we’ll tell you.