How to Check a Portland Painter's License: CCB, Lead-Safe, and WA L&I

Checking a painter's license in Oregon takes about two minutes: ask for their CCB license number, look it up in the Construction Contractors Board license search, and confirm the license is active, the business name matches your quote, and the bond and liability insurance are current. If your house was built before 1978, also confirm the record shows a Lead-Based Paint Renovation (LBPR) license. In Vancouver and the rest of Washington, painters register with Labor & Industries instead, so you check them in L&I's Verify a Contractor tool. This guide walks through each record and the red flags to look for.

Why a CCB license matters when you hire a painter

In Oregon, anyone paid to paint a house is doing construction work and must be licensed by the Construction Contractors Board (CCB). The license is not a quality rating, but it gives you three protections an unlicensed painter cannot:

• A surety bond. Every licensed contractor carries a bond on file with the CCB. For residential work the minimum is $25,000 for a Residential General Contractor and $20,000 for a Residential Specialty Contractor.
• Liability insurance. Every CCB license requires general liability insurance, which covers damage the contractor causes to your property. The minimum depends on the license type.
• Dispute resolution. If a licensed contractor does poor work or does not finish, you can file a complaint with the CCB, which runs a dispute resolution process and can pay valid claims from the contractor's bond. That route is not available against an unlicensed painter.

Oregon also requires contractors to put their CCB number on their advertising, including websites, business cards, and brochures. A painter who will not give you the number is telling you something.

How to look up a painter in the CCB license search

1. Get the license number. Searching by CCB license number is the most reliable way to find the right record. Take it from the quote, the painter's website, or ask for it.
2. Search the CCB site. Open the CCB license search and enter the number. You can also search by all or part of the business name, or the owner's last name. Shorter is better for name searches, and the CCB itself warns that a missing name match does not prove a contractor is unlicensed; spelling and punctuation differences are common.
3. Pick the right record. A name search can return several licenses for similar names, including old licenses that are expired, voluntarily surrendered, or suspended. A franchise brand can show up under several different owners. Open the record whose license number matches the one you were given.
4. Read the license summary. The first screen shows the license status and first-licensed date, then ten years of history: unpaid claims and civil penalties, whether any complaints were filed, any disciplinary action, and whether the CCB has ever suspended the license for a lapse in bond or insurance.
5. Open the full business detail. The “Learn more about this business” link shows the details that matter most for a hire, listed below.

What to check on the license record

Pre-1978 homes: confirm the lead-safe (LBPR) license

Painting a house built before 1978 usually disturbs lead paint, so the contractor needs a CCB Lead-Based Paint Renovation (LBPR) license in addition to the regular CCB license, and the crew needs a certified renovator. The LBPR license appears on the same CCB business detail page, under additional licenses and certifications, with its own expiration date. It can lapse separately from the main license, so check the date. The CCB also has a separate lead-safe contractor search that lists LBPR-licensed contractors by county.

Lead-safe painting is not the same as lead abatement, which permanently removes lead hazards and is certified by the Oregon Health Authority. Our lead-safe painting for pre-1978 homes page explains the difference, and the pre-1978 painting guide covers what lead-safe work looks like on the job.

Vancouver and Washington: check L&I, not the CCB

An Oregon CCB license does not let a painter work in Washington. For a house in Vancouver or elsewhere in Clark County, the painter must be registered as a contractor with the Washington Department of Labor & Industries. Use L&I's Verify a Contractor tool, which searches by name, license number, workers' comp account, or Washington UBI number. Confirm the registration is active, the contractor is bonded and insured, and look through the license history for lawsuits against the bond or violations.

For lead-safe work on a pre-1978 house in Washington, the firm also needs certification through the state's lead-based paint program, which is run by the Washington Department of Commerce. Ask the painter for the firm certification and the name of the certified renovator.

Red flags on a license record

• Status other than Active, including a license suspended because the bond or insurance was not on file.
• Insurance that expires before your job ends, or no liability insurance listed at all.
• A business name that does not match the quote, with no matching assumed business name on the record.
• A license number that belongs to a different business, or a painter who borrows someone else's number.
• No LBPR license on a pre-1978 job, or an LBPR license that has expired.
• Unpaid claims or civil penalties, or more than one past suspension.
• A very recent first-licensed date under a name that claims many years in business. Ask about previous license numbers; the record lists past associated individuals and past business names.

How Stumptown Painters vets the painters it matches you with

Every painter in our network has been checked on the basics in this guide before they can receive quote requests: an active Oregon CCB license verified against the state database (or Washington L&I registration for Vancouver), liability insurance, and a public review history screened for reputation. For pre-1978 work we match homeowners with painters who hold the lead-safe license. It is still worth running the lookup yourself before you sign, because a license can lapse at any time, and it takes two minutes. See how to choose a painter for the questions to ask once the license checks out.

Ready to compare quotes from painters who have already passed these checks? Start a free quote request.

Common questions