Checking a Washington contractor’s registration means looking the company up on L&I Verify and reading three things: whether the registration is active, whether a bond and liability insurance are on file, and whether the record shows infractions or lawsuits. It takes a minute and works for every trade.
Garage door work counts. The state’s definition of a contractor covers anyone who, as an independent business, offers to repair, alter or improve a building or an improvement attached to real estate, and a garage door is part of the building. That takes in everything on our services page, from a spring swap to a new door.
What Washington law requires of a garage door contractor
Washington requires every contractor to register with the Department of Labor & Industries, and RCW 18.27.020 makes advertising, bidding or working as a contractor without that registration a gross misdemeanor.
Registration is not a skills test. L&I’s registration page lists the steps: set up the business with the Department of Revenue, post a surety bond, buy general liability insurance, file the application and pay the fee.
The bond, the insurance and the term behind every active registration are each fixed by Washington statute, as this table shows.
| Requirement | What it is | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Bond, specialty contractor | $15,000, in force from July 1, 2024 | RCW 18.27.040 |
| Bond, general contractor | $30,000, in force from July 1, 2024 | RCW 18.27.040 |
| Liability insurance | $50,000 for property damage, $100,000 for injury or death to one person, $200,000 for injury or death to more than one person | RCW 18.27.050 |
| Registration term | Two years, renewed on or before the expiration date | RCW 18.27.060 |
L&I’s hiring advice speaks of a contractor’s “license,” and the Verify search box offers a “Contractor/tradesperson license” field. The statute and L&I’s registration page call it a registration, and that is what the Verify tool checks.
Which registration a garage door company should hold
A garage door company can register as a specialty contractor, and Washington has a specialty named for the trade: Overhead/garage doors.
WAC 296-200A-016 describes it as installing wood, wood panel, steel panel or steel roll-up doors with the rails and support systems that go with them, power or hand operated openers included. It adds that the work may also require an electrical license under chapter 19.28 RCW. A specialty contractor stays within its specialty; a general contractor can run several trades on one job.
That electrical note matters for openers. Under WAC 296-46B-925, hanging a cord-and-plug opener on an existing ceiling outlet and running the low-voltage wiring to the wall button and photo eyes sit outside electrical licensing, while a new outlet or circuit is line-voltage work for an electrical contractor with a permit.
If the job includes framing a new opening, replacing a header or reworking siding around the door, ask whether the company holds a general registration or is bringing in a general contractor, because that is more than one trade on a single project.
How to look up a company on L&I Verify
The Verify tool searches by business name, by contractor registration number, by workers’ comp account or by Washington UBI number, so start with whatever is printed on the company’s website, truck or estimate.
- Find the registration number. RCW 18.27.100 requires it on advertising that shows the contractor’s name or address, and L&I says to look in the company’s ads and on its written bid.
- Search for it on L&I Verify. A registration number or UBI points to one business; a name search may return several similar businesses.
- Match the name and address. Contractors must advertise and contract under the name they registered, so the name on your estimate should match the record.
- Read the status. You want an active registration, not one that has expired or been suspended or revoked.
- Check the bond and insurance. L&I’s Hire Smart guide uses the tool to confirm a contractor has a bond on file, carries liability insurance and has no outstanding infractions.
- Look back through the history. L&I’s hiring advice says to “review a contractor’s license history for previous lawsuits or license violations.” A long, quiet record reads differently from a string of claims.
- Ask about workers’ comp if a crew is coming. L&I says anyone else working on the job needs an active, current workers’ comp account.
What is a UBI number?
A UBI, or Unified Business Identifier, is the number Washington assigns a business when it receives its business license, and the Department of Revenue describes it as unique to that business.
It is a separate number from the contractor registration, though both lead to the same company on Verify. Searching by UBI narrows the result to one business, which helps when a common name returns a long list of near matches across the state.
Advertising, the small-job exemption and the disclosure statement
Three more rules shape what a properly run company shows you: a registration number on its ads, no “bonded and insured” claims, and a disclosure statement before larger residential jobs.
RCW 18.27.100 requires every advertisement that shows a contractor’s name or address to show its current registration number. It also bars a contractor from advertising that it is “bonded and insured” on the strength of the bond and insurance the law already requires, and advertising while unregistered is itself a violation.
The small-job exemption does not help an advertiser. Work on one project totaling less than $500 can count as casual and exempt, but RCW 18.27.090 says the exemption does not apply to anyone who advertises or puts out a sign or card suggesting they are a contractor.
For residential repair or construction of $1,000 or more, RCW 18.27.114 requires a disclosure statement before work starts. It gives the registration number, the bond amount and the registration’s expiration date, warns that the bond may not cover your claim and is shared with other claimants, explains retainage and liens, and has a line for your signature.
On garage door work, a spring or cable repair usually comes in under that threshold, while a new door, or a door with a new opener, often does not. If your job is in that range and no statement arrives before the work begins, ask for it. L&I’s Hire Smart guide says to make sure you receive it first.
What happens if you hire an unregistered contractor in Washington
Hiring an unregistered company leaves you with fewer protections if the job goes wrong, and the company faces penalties of its own under the statute.
An unregistered contractor cannot sue to collect payment for its work unless it proves it was a duly registered contractor (RCW 18.27.080). Failing to register is an infraction carrying a penalty of $1,200 to $10,000 under RCW 18.27.340, on top of the gross misdemeanor.
The protections sit on the registered side. The disclosure statement describes the bond as there to pay valid claims up to its amount, shared with other claimants. L&I’s Homeowner Recovery Fund can pay up to $25,000, depending on available funds, but only when the contractor was registered, you own and live in the home, and you hold a superior court judgment ordered after July 1, 2026.
Questions to ask a garage door company before work starts
A short set of questions, asked before anyone climbs a ladder, covers what the online record cannot show you about the company and the job.
- Is the registration number on the estimate, and does the company name match the Verify record?
- Is the registration a specialty in overhead and garage doors, or general, and does that fit the job?
- Will anyone else work on the job, and under whose registration?
- For a residential job of $1,000 or more, when will the disclosure statement arrive?
- Does any part of the job need an electrician or a permit, and who arranges it?
- Is the price in writing, with Washington sales tax on its own line? Our sales tax guide explains that line.
L&I’s hiring advice adds habits worth keeping on any job: get a written contract and understand its terms, keep changes in writing too, and after a reasonable down payment, pay as each stage of the work is finished. It also says to get at least three written bids, which matters most on a new door.