Guide · California home improvement
Unlicensed work in California: the limit is now $1,000
If you searched for California's "$500 rule," the number changed: since January 1, 2025, it is $1,000. Here is the rule, where it stops, and what each side risks when a job crosses it.
The rule
Under Business and Professions Code 7048, someone without a contractor's license may take a job only when all of these are true:
- The total price for the whole job is under $1,000: labor, materials and everything else together, not just labor. The law treats work that small as casual or minor.
- The work does not need a building permit.
- They do not employ anyone to do or help with the work.
- They do not advertise or present themselves as a contractor.
So a $300 gate-latch repair by a handyman working alone is fine. An $8,000 deck rebuild is contracting without a license, however good the work.
One job cannot be split into small invoices
The exception does not apply when the work is part of a larger job, or when a job is divided into contracts under $1,000 to get around the license rule (7048(b)). Seven $900 invoices for one bathroom are a $6,300 job.
What the unlicensed worker risks
Contracting without a license is a misdemeanor (BPC 7028): up to $5,000 and six months in county jail for a first conviction. After an earlier conviction, the court must impose a fine of at least $5,000 (or 20% of the price, if greater) and, except in an unusual case, at least 90 days in jail.
What you risk as the homeowner
- No bond. A licensed contractor keeps a $25,000 bond on file; an unlicensed one has nothing to claim against.
- Less help from the state. The notice every California home improvement contract must carry says it plainly: "If you use an unlicensed contractor, CSLB may not be able to help you resolve your complaint. Your only remedy may be in civil court" (BPC 7159(e)(5)).
- Injuries. The same notice warns that you may be liable for injuries to the unlicensed contractor or their workers on your property.
What the law gives you
- They cannot sue you for payment. Someone who needed a license and did not have one cannot bring a court action to collect for that work, "regardless of the merits" (BPC 7031(a)).
- You can sue to get back what you paid. A person who used an unlicensed contractor may sue to recover all compensation paid for the work (7031(b)). If the unlicensed person is convicted, you are a crime victim eligible for restitution of your economic losses (7028(h)).
These are leverage in a dispute, not a refund button. Getting money back means bringing a case against someone who may have no bond, no insurance and no assets. Checking the license before anyone starts costs nothing.
A two-minute rule
- Under $1,000 in total, no permit, one person working alone, no contractor advertising: work without a license is allowed. Still get a receipt.
- $1,000 or more, or a permit, or a crew: a licensed contractor only. Look the license up on CSLB's Check a License: current and active, with a classification that matches the job.
- Keep the paper either way: the quote, the payments, the photos.
Check the person you are about to hire, free
Paste the quote, or a license number with a line about the job, and we read the live CSLB record and check the quote against California's contract rules. If CSLB has no such license, or the person says no license is needed, we tell you what California allows without one. No account is needed for a quick check.
General information about California law, not legal advice. Checked against the official text on November 3, 2026. Sources: BPC 7048, BPC 7028, BPC 7031, BPC 7159, CSLB Check a License.