Washington · Concrete licensing · official-source guide
Washington issues no concrete trade license. The Department of Labor and Industries registers every construction contractor statewide under RCW 18.27, and concrete work falls under general registration or the Concrete specialty, code BI. There is no trade exam. Registration turns on a surety bond of $30,000 general or $15,000 specialty, liability insurance, a state business registration and a $150.20 fee.
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-10-26. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Washington issues no concrete license, no cement mason license and no masonry license. What it issues is contractor registration, administered statewide by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, known as L&I. RCW 18.27.020 states that every contractor shall register with the department. That language reaches anyone who advertises, offers to do work, submits a bid or performs work as a contractor, which describes a flatwork crew, a footing and foundation sub and a block and brick outfit alike. The credential is state level. No Washington county issues a concrete trade license and no city gives a concrete trade exam. Cities layer business licensing and permits on top, but the registration itself comes from Olympia and is good anywhere in the state. L&I says that once registered, contractors can bid, advertise and perform construction work, including constructing, remodeling, repairing and demolishing buildings, roads and other real property. For a concrete contractor the practical point is that this credential is not earned with hours behind a power trowel. It is bought and maintained: a surety bond, a liability policy, a state business registration and a fee. The screening Washington applies is financial, not technical. That shapes how you sell. A homeowner comparing three bids on a stamped patio cannot tell your finish work apart from anyone else's by reading the state record, so the registration number is a threshold, not a differentiator. It still has to be correct, current and printed where buyers see it, because the same chapter that requires registration also governs how you advertise it.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2
Washington recognizes two classifications of construction contractor. A general contractor can perform most types of construction work and can hire subcontractors across multiple specialties. A specialty contractor can perform work only in the specialty it registered in and cannot hire subcontractors at all. L&I regulates 63 specialties, each of which requires contractor registration. The classification drives the bond: L&I requires a $30,000 continuous contractor surety bond for general contractors and $15,000 for specialty contractors. The application for construction contractor registration, form F625-001-000, states the same split and tells a specialty applicant to name the single specialty trade on the form. Concrete and masonry are separate entries on that list. Concrete carries specialty code BI. Masonry carries specialty code BZ. Related trades sit nearby on the same list, including lathing and plastering under SP, and tile, ceramic, mosaic and natural and manufactured stone under RE. Because a specialty registration covers one trade only, the code you pick is a working limit, not a label. A contractor registered under BI who also lays block on the same job has stepped outside the specialty. L&I also warns that the bond amount cannot be reduced for two years if you switch from general to specialty, so the cheaper bond is not available on demand the year after you register as a general. Decide the classification against the work you intend to sell over the next two years, not the single job in front of you.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1lni.wa.gov 2
If you pour and finish flatwork and nothing else, the Concrete specialty, code BI on the L&I application, matches the work. Driveways, sidewalks, patios, garage slabs, equipment pads and stairs all sit inside one trade. If you also lay concrete masonry units, brick or stone, that is Masonry, code BZ, a separate entry on the same list, and a specialty registration is good for one trade only. The contractor who forms and pours footings and then lays a CMU stem wall is doing two trades and belongs in the general classification. Foundation packages push the same way. A complete foundation scope that includes excavation, forming, reinforcing steel, waterproofing and backfill usually involves more than one trade, and the specialty classification cannot hire subcontractors, so the work cannot be split out. General registration carries the higher bond but removes the scope argument before it starts. One more boundary matters on slab work. L&I notes that contractors working with plumbing, electrical, elevators, mobile home installation, boilers and asbestos face additional education, examination and licensing requirements. Under-slab supply and waste lines and in-slab conduit fall to those separately licensed trades, not to your concrete registration, whether you hold BI or general. Sawing or breaking out old slabs and finishes that may contain asbestos brings the asbestos rules in as well, and L&I publishes a list of certified asbestos contractors through its public verification site.
There is no concrete trade exam in Washington and no published hour or apprenticeship requirement for general or specialty contractor registration. L&I's registration instructions list four substantive steps and a payment: register the business with the Department of Revenue, get a surety bond or an assignment of savings, buy a general liability policy, complete the application for contractor registration, and pay the application fee of $150.20. Nothing in that sequence asks for verified field experience, a journey-level card, a code test or a trade school transcript. The trades L&I singles out as carrying additional requirements for education, examination and licensing are plumbing, electrical, elevators, mobile home installation, boilers and asbestos. Concrete and masonry are not on that list. Two things follow for a contractor who already does the work. First, getting registered is an administrative project measured in days and dollars, not years, and the mail-in path alone is quoted at three to four weeks to process and activate, with a registration card arriving in about two weeks. Second, the state record cannot vouch for your craft, so nothing in the registration system separates a crew that has placed a thousand yards of exterior flatwork through a Puget Sound winter from one that registered last month. Proof of competence has to come from somewhere else: photographs of finished pours, mix designs and control joint layouts you can defend, references by job type, and a clean record on the public verification tool that customers are told to check before hiring.
Every applicant files a continuous contractor surety bond with L&I: $30,000 for a general contractor, $15,000 for a specialty contractor, under RCW 18.27.040. The bond names the state of Washington as obligee, must carry the bond number and the exact business name, and is continuous until the surety gives written notice. Cancellation or withdrawal of the surety automatically suspends the registration. The bond is conditioned that the contractor will pay workers including employee benefits, pay taxes and contributions owed to the state, pay suppliers and equipment lessors, and pay amounts adjudged against the contractor for breach of contract, including improper work. Claimants sue the contractor and the bond in superior court in the county where the work was done, and the surety must be named as a party. A residential homeowner has two years from the date the claimed work was substantially completed or abandoned, whichever came first. Other authorized claimants have one year. The total paid from a bond to claimants other than residential homeowners cannot exceed one half of the bond. The surety is never liable above the face amount and is not liable for infraction penalties. If a final judgment impairs the bond below the required amount, the registration is suspended automatically until the shortfall is restored. Instead of a bond, you may file an assignment of account on form F625-008-000, posting cash, a certificate of deposit, a time deposit or a money market account at a bank, savings and loan or credit union with a Washington branch. L&I raised both bond amounts effective July 1, 2024.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2
L&I requires a general liability policy before it will register or renew a construction contractor. The published minimums are $50,000 property damage plus $200,000 public liability, or a $250,000 combined single limit. The policy must use the exact business name on file, and L&I must be listed as a certificate holder so cancellations reach the agency. Originals are required to complete registration, and L&I states that insurance certificates will not be accepted by email or fax; they come in by mail, through the designated insurance agent portal, or in person at a service location. At renewal, L&I asks for a certificate of general liability insurance for at least $250,000. Cancellation has teeth. Under RCW 18.27.060, if the insurance policy is canceled the registration is automatically suspended on the effective date of the cancellation, and L&I notifies the contractor within two days by a method that can be tracked or confirmed. A lapsed premium therefore does not just leave you uninsured; it leaves you unregistered, which under this chapter makes advertising and bidding unlawful. Read the state figures as a floor set in statute, not as adequate cover for concrete work. A single bad pour against a neighboring structure, a cut utility line in a right of way, or a slab that has to come out and go back in can run past these limits, and general contractors and awarding agencies routinely demand certificates well above them before they will let a sub on site.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2
The application fee for construction contractor registration is $150.20. Renewal costs the same $150.20, whether you renew online, by mail with the renewal card, or in person at a local L&I office. Reinstating a suspended registration costs $70.90. Under RCW 18.27.060 a certificate of registration is valid for two years and must be renewed on or before the expiration date, so the fee is a two-year cost rather than an annual one. Online renewal asks for the 12-digit contractor registration number, the UBI number and the fee, and L&I accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express cards plus a one-time electronic check. Mailed renewals go to the Contractor Registration Section in Olympia with a check or money order. For a first registration, all signatures on form F625-001-000 must be original and notarized, which is why L&I pushes applicants toward a local office where staff can notarize on the spot. Mailed applications are quoted at three to four weeks from receipt to activation, and the registration card follows in about two weeks. Renewal of registration becomes valid on the date L&I receives the fee and proof of bond and liability insurance, and when those are sent by certified mail or another method requiring proof of delivery, the receipt serves as proof of renewed registration until the department's verification arrives. That receipt is worth keeping in the truck during a renewal window, because a general contractor checking subs before a foundation pour will often ask for current status that same day.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2
L&I suspends a registration when the requirements stop being met: a bond or insurance policy that cancels or expires, or an unsatisfied judgment against the bond. The department notifies the contractor by certified mail within two days of the suspension, and the letter states what has to be fixed. Reinstatement requires the 12-character registration number, an email address and phone number, proof the problem was corrected such as a new bond, a new insurance certificate or a satisfaction of judgment, and the $70.90 reinstatement fee. Reinstating online shows the registration as active as soon as payment goes through, which matters when a scheduled pour is sitting behind a general contractor's compliance check. RCW 18.27.060 adds a separate ground: L&I must immediately suspend the registration of a contractor certified by the Department of Social and Health Services as not in compliance with a support order or a visitation order, and it cannot be reissued or renewed without a release. Before renewing, L&I tells contractors to use the Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson, or Business tool to confirm that the bond or assignment of account and the liability insurance on file are current and that the registration is not suspended. Changes have their own path: a new partner, a business name or structure change, or a change of specialty cannot ride along on a simple renewal, and a new bond must be the original uncorrected document with the bonding company seal, carrying the exact business name on file, reaching L&I before the filing date shown on the bond. No continuing education requirement is published for contractor registration.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2
Contractor registration sits on top of a state business registration, and L&I lists registering with the Department of Revenue as the first step. Revenue requires a business license if the business needs city, county or state endorsements, operates under a name other than the owner's full legal name, plans to hire employees within 90 days, sells something that requires collecting sales tax, has gross income of $12,000 per year or more, owes taxes or fees to the department, or meets nexus reporting thresholds. A corporation, LLC, limited partnership or limited liability partnership formed in Washington files with the Secretary of State before the business license application. The license assigns a Uniform Business Identifier, the UBI number, which L&I and the cities both ask for. Revenue quotes about 10 business days to process an online application, with another two to three weeks when city or state endorsements are attached. Workers compensation runs through L&I and nowhere else. Washington does not allow private workers compensation coverage; an employer buys from L&I or becomes a certified self-insured employer. Premiums are reported and paid quarterly based on industry and hours worked. L&I also warns that coverage may be required for workers you treat as independent contractors, which is a live question on a finishing crew where extra hands come and go by the pour. Keep in mind that the public verification tool lets anyone search by workers compensation account, so a general contractor vetting a concrete sub can see the account alongside the registration.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1dor.wa.gov 2lni.wa.gov 3secure.lni.wa.gov 4
RCW 18.27.100 governs how a registered contractor may present itself, and the display rule is specific. All advertising that shows the contractor's name or address must show the current registration number. All advertising, contracts, correspondence, cards, signs, posters, papers and documents showing a name or address must show them as registered. All materials used to directly solicit business from retail customers who are not businesses must show the current registration number. The statute carves out narrow exceptions: the number may be omitted from an alphabetized listing of registered contractors that states only name, address and telephone number; signs on motor vehicles subject to RCW 46.16A.030 and on-premises signs do not count as advertising for that subsection; and advertising by airwave transmission is outside the display requirement, though not outside the department's subpoena power over the advertising seller. L&I states the number belongs on business cards, directory ads, newspaper ads, internet ads, estimates and bid proposals, and that you must use it on all business communications once registered. Using a false or expired registration number to buy or offer to buy an advertisement that requires one is prohibited by RCW 18.27.100 and is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 18.27.020. The money penalty is real: after a hearing under the Administrative Procedure Act the director may assess up to ten thousand dollars for a violation of RCW 18.27.100, though penalties do not apply to a violation determined to be an inadvertent error. For a concrete contractor this means the number belongs on the website, the service area pages, the estimate template and the printed bid, not only on the truck door.
Registration attaches to a name. Under RCW 18.27.100, a person registered under one name may not engage in business or act in the capacity of a contractor under any other name unless that name is also registered. A second brand for flatwork, a separate name for decorative concrete, or a trade name on a truck that is not on file is a violation, not a marketing choice. The statute also bars advertising that you are bonded and insured because of the bond and insurance that chapter 18.27 already requires, so the state minimum coverage is not a selling line. Falsifying a registration number, or using an expired one in any solicitation or identification as a contractor, is prohibited, and individual contractors along with partners, associates, agents, salespersons, solicitors, officers and employees must use their true names and addresses at all times while engaged in the business. Falsifying information on the registration application is itself a violation under the same section. Any advertising soliciting work as a contractor by a person who is not registered violates the chapter. Because Washington registers rather than licenses this trade, accuracy argues for the words the state actually uses. Registered contractor, with the registration number, matches the record a customer will pull up. Claiming a state concrete license or a state certification implies a credential L&I does not issue for this trade, and the same section that polices names and numbers is the one that carries a penalty of up to ten thousand dollars.
Sourcesapp.leg.wa.gov 1lni.wa.gov 2
RCW 18.27.020 makes it a gross misdemeanor for a contractor to advertise, offer to do work, submit a bid or perform any work as a contractor without being registered, or while the registration is suspended or revoked. The same section covers using a false or expired registration number to buy advertising that requires one, transferring a valid registration to an unregistered contractor, letting an unregistered contractor work under someone else's registration, and subcontracting to or using an unregistered contractor. Once a person receives a citation from the department, each day worked while unregistered, suspended or revoked is a separate gross misdemeanor, and each worksite is a separate gross misdemeanor. RCW 18.27.200 makes the same conduct an infraction, with each day and each worksite counted separately. Money penalties come from RCW 18.27.340: not less than $200 and not more than $10,000 for an infraction generally, and not less than $1,200 nor more than $10,000 for failure to register, which the director may reduce but not below $600 if the person becomes registered within 10 days of receiving a first-offense notice of infraction. Collected penalties go to the homeowner recovery account. RCW 18.27.020 also directs a two-year audit and monitoring program for a contractor who registers after an infraction or conviction as an unregistered contractor, with notice to the Departments of Revenue and Employment Security to determine what taxes, fees or penalties are owed. The hiring risk runs both ways: a registered contractor commits the same gross misdemeanor by subcontracting to an unregistered crew, so the saw cutting and pumping outfits on your pour need to be current too.
L&I runs a public lookup at the Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business tool, and it is where Washington homeowners are sent before they hire. The tool searches by name, by contractor or tradesperson license number, by workers compensation account and by Washington UBI number, and it links to guidance on how to use the tool and tips for homeowners when hiring a contractor. L&I says that once a business is registered it will be listed there. The same site carries records a general contractor or awarding agency may check on a concrete sub: prevailing wage intents and affidavits, the prevailing wage debarred contractor list, and the list of certified asbestos contractors. There is a paper side to disclosure as well. L&I requires contractors to give customers the Model Disclosure Statement Notice to Customer, form F625-030-000, on all residential jobs of $1,000 or more and on commercial projects of $1,000 to $60,000, which captures most residential driveway, patio and foundation work. The disclosure and the registration number together are what a homeowner compares against the state record, so a bid that omits either invites the comparison to go badly. L&I also offers printable contractor marketing cards that carry your registration details and explain registration to the customer, intended to be handed over with a bid. Treating verification as part of the sale rather than a formality tends to help: the contractor who tells the homeowner exactly where to look controls what they find.
RCW 18.27.020 is unqualified: every contractor shall register with the department. A concrete contractor licensed or registered in Oregon or Idaho who crosses into Washington for a driveway pour or a foundation needs Washington registration, and the bond and insurance must be issued in the exact business name L&I has on file, with L&I named as certificate holder on the liability policy. The exemptions in RCW 18.27.090 are narrow and none of them describes a traveling concrete crew. They cover authorized representatives of the United States, the state of Washington and local government bodies; officers of a court acting within their office; public utilities regulated by the utilities and transportation commission doing work incidental to their own business; construction incidental to petroleum, gas or mining operations performed by an owner or lessee; the sale of finished products or materials that do not become part of a structure; repair of personal property by its owner; work inside the limits of a site under federal jurisdiction; persons who only furnish materials, supplies or equipment without fabricating or consuming them in the work; projects whose aggregate contract price for labor, materials and all other items is less than five hundred dollars; and certain irrigation, drainage, farming and rural land clearing work. The five hundred dollar exemption is narrower than it looks. It does not apply where the work is part of a larger operation, where a job is split into smaller contracts to evade the chapter, or to anyone who advertises or displays a sign or card indicating that they are a contractor.
State registration does not cover city business licensing. Seattle requires anyone doing business in the city to hold a Seattle business license tax certificate, also called a general business license, renewed annually by December 31 and obtained through FileLocal or by mail. Two rules catch concrete contractors in particular. Subcontractors need their own Seattle certificate even when the contractor they work for already has one, because the license is valid only for the legal owner listed on it. And a business based outside Seattle that works inside the city still needs one, since the license follows where you conduct business, not where your yard is. The annual fee is set on a schedule tied to annual Seattle taxable revenue, and under Ordinance 125083 the fee tiers rise each year with the prior year's June-to-June consumer price index for the region. A 2026 rule exempts a person who does not maintain a place of business in the city and whose in-city revenue falls at or below a stated floor. Tacoma runs business licensing and city business and occupation tax through its Tax and License division. FileLocal itself serves Auburn, Bellevue, Des Moines, Everett, Kent, Lake Forest Park, Poulsbo, Renton, Seattle, Shoreline and Tacoma, so a crew working several Puget Sound cities can end up holding several licenses. The Department of Revenue adds city, county and state endorsements to the state business license application, which is the other route into many city licenses.
Sourcesseattle.gov 1cityoftacoma.org 2filelocal-wa.gov 3dor.wa.gov 4
Concrete work in the public right of way adds a permit layer that has nothing to do with your registration. In Seattle, the municipal code makes the adjacent property owner responsible for keeping the sidewalk in good repair and safe for public travel, and SDOT states that before repairing the sidewalk the property owner or the contractor must obtain a permit so the walkway meets city standards. Pruning tree roots greater than two inches in diameter requires an SDOT arborist evaluation first. Where the damage is caused by city infrastructure such as a city-owned tree or sewer line, the city takes responsibility for the repair, which is worth knowing before you quote a homeowner for a panel replacement. Public projects bring prevailing wage. L&I treats a project as public works when any public dollars fund any portion of it, directly or indirectly, or when it is a turn-key project resulting from a government agreement to rent, lease or purchase at least half the space, and the work includes any construction, reconstruction, maintenance or repair. There is no minimum dollar amount, and small works roster contracts are included. Off-site work such as custom fabrication for the project is covered and uses the rates for the county where that off-site work is performed. Prime contractors and subcontractors at all levels are bound, rates are county-specific with a stated effective publication date, and where the project meets the definition of residential construction the awarding agency must say so in the bid and contract documents. Intents and affidavits are filed when prevailing wages apply.
These are common details other guides publish about Washington, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. Washington has no concrete or masonry trade license. The Department of Labor and Industries registers construction contractors under RCW 18.27, and concrete appears as specialty code BI and masonry as code BZ on the state application. Registration, not a trade exam, is what lets you bid, advertise and perform the work.
A specialty contractor may work only in the one trade it registered in and may not hire subcontractors. Flatwork alone fits the Concrete specialty. Pouring footings and then laying block, or running a full foundation package with subs, is more than one trade, so general registration fits. The bonds differ: $30,000 general, $15,000 specialty.
L&I requires a continuous contractor surety bond of $30,000 for a general contractor and $15,000 for a specialty contractor. An assignment of account holding cash, a certificate of deposit, a time deposit or a money market account at an institution with a Washington branch may be filed instead. Both amounts took effect July 1, 2024.
L&I requires either $50,000 property damage plus $200,000 public liability, or a $250,000 combined single limit. The policy must carry your exact registered business name and list L&I as a certificate holder. At renewal L&I asks for a certificate of at least $250,000. Cancellation suspends your registration on the cancellation date.
The application fee is $150.20, and renewal is also $150.20. Reinstating a suspended registration costs $70.90. Those are the state fees; the surety bond premium and the liability policy are separate purchases from a bonding company and an insurance agent, and premiums vary by company, so the total depends on your own underwriting.
RCW 18.27.060 makes a certificate of registration valid for two years, renewable on or before the expiration date. Renewal becomes valid the day L&I receives the fee plus proof of current bond and liability insurance. If you send those by certified mail, the delivery receipt serves as proof of renewal until L&I confirms it.
Not for concrete or masonry. L&I's steps are registering the business with Revenue, getting a bond, buying liability insurance, filing the notarized application and paying the fee. The trades L&I names as carrying extra education, examination and licensing requirements are plumbing, electrical, elevators, mobile home installation, boilers and asbestos.
RCW 18.27.100 requires the current registration number on all advertising that shows your name or address, and on all materials used to solicit business directly from retail customers. L&I lists business cards, directory and newspaper ads, internet ads, estimates and bid proposals. On-premises signs and signs on motor vehicles are excepted from that subsection.
Not on the strength of the bond and insurance that chapter 18.27 already requires. RCW 18.27.100 prohibits advertising that you are bonded and insured because of the bond filed and the insurance required by that chapter. Violations of that section can draw a penalty of up to ten thousand dollars after an administrative hearing.
Advertising, bidding or performing contractor work unregistered is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 18.27.020 and an infraction under RCW 18.27.200, counted separately for each day after a citation and each worksite. Failure to register draws not less than $1,200 nor more than $10,000, reducible to no less than $600 if a first-offense citation is cured within 10 days.
Through L&I's Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business tool, searching by business name, registration number, workers compensation account or UBI number. It shows registration status and links to prevailing wage records and the debarred contractor list. L&I says a registered business is listed there, so give customers your number and let them look.
Yes. Seattle requires a business license tax certificate from anyone doing business in the city, including businesses based elsewhere, and subcontractors need their own even when the general contractor holds one. Certificates renew annually by December 31 through FileLocal, which also serves Kent, Auburn, Bellevue, Des Moines, Everett, Renton, Shoreline and Tacoma.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.