How to verify an excavation contractor

Check a contractor against the public record before you hire: the federal SAFER record, the state license, an insurance certificate, 811 and a written quote.

Updated September 21, 2026

Most of what a contractor tells you can be checked against a public record before you hire. Here's where to look.

Look up the federal record on SAFER

A USDOT number registers a company's commercial vehicles with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). It covers the company's trucks, not its excavation work.¹ The record behind it is free to look up, one company at a time, on FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot.²

Open the Company Snapshot and search by USDOT number, MC or MX number, or company name. Listings on this site built from the registry show the USDOT number and link straight to the record.
Check that the legal name, DBA name, physical address and phone match what the contractor gave you.
Read the USDOT Status. A record marked inactive hasn't had its required update filed, which FMCSA asks for every two years. The MCS-150 Form Date is the last time the company filed that form.²
Power Units and Drivers show the size of the fleet the company reports. Carrier Operation says whether it registered as interstate or intrastate.
The other tabs list roadside inspections, crashes and any safety rating. FMCSA notes that a listed crash doesn't mean the company was found responsible for it.²

The number is required for companies whose commercial vehicles haul cargo between states, and some states require it inside the state too,¹ so not every contractor has one. Listings here that come from a Google Business Profile have no registration to check, and say so.

Check the state license

Licensing is set by each state. The states below license contractors. The last column gives each state's own wording for who needs one. Each state's name links its rules page, which has the full rule and its sources. For a state not in the table, its rules page says what applies. Search the board's site for the contractor's name, or ask the contractor for the license number.

State	Licensing board	Lookup	Who needs a license
Alabama	Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors.^{3, 4}	Search the lookup	Cost of the undertaking including labor and materials is $100,000 or more
Alaska	Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (Construction Contractors).^{5, 6}	Search the lookup	No dollar threshold; a person may not submit a bid or work as a contractor until issued a certificate of registration
Arizona	Arizona Registrar of Contractors.^{7, 8}	Search the lookup	Exempt only if the aggregate contract price is less than $1,000, the work is casual or minor, and no local building permit is required
Arkansas	Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing).^{9, 10}	Search the lookup	Commercial license for work of $50,000 or more; home improvement license for specialty work on a single-family residence over $2,000
California	Contractors State License Board (CSLB).^{11, 12, 13}	Search the lookup	Exempt only if the aggregate contract price for labor, materials, and all other items is less than $1,000, the work is casual, minor, or inconsequential, and no building permit is required
Delaware	Delaware Division of Revenue.^{14, 15}	Search the lookup	Any person engaging in business in the state as a contractor; $75 license fee
Florida	Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board (Department of Business and Professional Regulation).^{16, 17, 18}	Search the lookup	Work with an aggregate contract price of $2,500 or more, or any work that is part of a larger operation (Fla. Stat. 489.103(9))
Hawaii	Contractors License Board, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Professional and Vocational Licensing Division.^{19, 20, 21, 22}	Search the lookup	Projects with an aggregate contract price for labor and materials over $1,500, or any project needing a building permit regardless of price
Idaho	Idaho Contractors Board (Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses).^{23, 24, 25}	Search the lookup	Projects with an aggregate contract price of $2,000 or more, or any part of a larger project
Iowa	Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL).^{26, 27, 28}	Search the lookup	Contractors earning $2,000 or more a year from construction
Louisiana	Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors.^{29, 30}	Search the lookup	$50,000 or more (including labor and materials) for commercial projects; residential construction exceeding $50,000
Maryland	Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC).^{31, 32}	Search the lookup
Minnesota	Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.^{33, 34, 35, 36}	Search the lookup	Registration required before performing any commercial or residential building construction or improvement services; residential building contractor license required when providing two or more special skills (exemption certificate for gross annual receipts not over $15,000)
Mississippi	Mississippi State Board of Contractors.^{37, 38}	Search the lookup	Commercial jobs over $50,000; new residential construction over $50,000; residential remodeling or additions over $10,000
Montana	Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Contractor License (CCL) Program.^{39, 40}	Search the lookup	Construction contractors with employees, and corporations and manager-managed LLCs regardless of employee count (effective January 1, 2026)
Nebraska	Nebraska Department of Labor (Contractor Registration).⁴¹	Search the lookup	All contractors doing business in Nebraska must register; no dollar threshold stated
Nevada	Nevada State Contractors Board.^{42, 43}	Search the lookup	Required for all contracting work except repair or maintenance under $1,000 including labor and materials that needs no building permit and is not part of a larger project of $500 or more
New Jersey	Division of Consumer Affairs (home improvement contractor registration); Department of Labor and Workforce Development (public works contractor registration).⁴⁴	Search the lookup	Any home improvement work on residential property, including the part of the lot devoted to residential use (no dollar threshold); any public works contract
New Mexico	Construction Industries Division, New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.^{45, 46}	Search the lookup	Handyman exemption only for casual, minor or inconsequential work not exceeding $7,200 compensation a year, one project at a time (14.6.2.8 NMAC)
North Dakota	North Dakota Secretary of State (registrar).⁴⁷	Search the lookup	When the cost, value, or price per job exceeds the sum of four thousand dollars
Oregon	Oregon Construction Contractors Board.⁴⁸	Search the lookup	Exempt only if aggregate contracts on one structure or project are less than $1,000 and the work is casual, minor or inconsequential, and the person does not advertise as a contractor
Rhode Island	Rhode Island Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board.^{49, 50, 51, 52}	Search the lookup	Registration exempt only for work on one structure or project under $500 that is casual, minor or inconsequential, and not for anyone advertising as a contractor
South Carolina	South Carolina Contractor's Licensing Board (SC LLR).⁵³	Search the lookup	Total cost of construction greater than ten thousand dollars
Tennessee	Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors.^{54, 55}	Search the lookup	Projects of $25,000 or more when acting as a prime contractor, certain subcontractor, or construction manager
Utah	Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Construction Services Commission.^{56, 57}	Search the lookup
Vermont	Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation.⁵⁸	Search the lookup	Registration required before contracting with a homeowner to perform residential construction for more than $10,000.00, including labor and materials
Virginia	Virginia Board for Contractors (Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation).^{59, 60}	Search the lookup	Class C over $1,000 but less than $30,000 per contract; Class B $30,000 or more but less than $150,000 per contract; Class A $150,000 or more per contract (or annual totals as stated in 54.1-1100)
Washington	Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), contractor registration.^{61, 62}	Search the lookup	All construction contractors must register with L&I (no dollar threshold stated)
West Virginia	West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board (WV Division of Labor).^{63, 64}	Search the lookup	Cost of the undertaking is $5,000 or more for residential work or $25,000 or more for commercial work

Ask for a certificate of insurance

Ask the contractor for a certificate of insurance before work starts, showing liability and workers' compensation coverage.⁶⁵ It should come from the contractor's insurance company or agent. Call the insurer or agent named on it to confirm the policy is active and covers the job, since a certificate is a summary and a policy can lapse after it's issued.⁶⁶

Make sure someone calls 811

Before any digging, the call to 811 reaches your state's one-call center. It passes the request to the companies with buried lines at the site, and they mark them with flags or paint. The call is free.⁶⁷ Call a few business days before work starts.⁶⁸ Each state sets its own notice period, and the rules page for your state has it. Ask the contractor who is making the call and when.

Get the quote in writing

A written estimate should describe the work, the materials, the completion date and the price. Before you sign, check that the contract has the contractor's name, address, phone number and license number, an estimated start and finish date, and any promises made about the scope and cost. Make sure no blank spaces are left.⁶⁹ If you sign at home, the contract should include your right to cancel within three business days.⁶⁹

For how to compare quotes and what to ask, see how to hire an excavation contractor.

Steps from FMCSA, state licensing boards and insurance regulators, PHMSA, the 811 program and the FTC, checked September 2026.