Virginia Contractor License Lookup & DPOR License Verification

Look up a Virginia contractor or tradesman license free. Once a sub is on your roster, TrackMyVendor keeps their DPOR license, certificate of insurance and W-9 together and alerts you before any of them lapses.

Virginia contractor license lookup

Enter a DPOR license number — all ten digits, or the six-digit certificate number alone — to check the holder, specialty and expiration date.

In Virginia, "licensed" is not the whole answer

A Virginia contractor license comes in three classes, and each one caps the size of job its holder may take. A Class C firm is licensed — and still cannot sign a $40,000 subcontract. The check is whether the class covers the contract value and the specialty covers the work, not only whether a license exists.

TrackMyVendor keeps each sub's DPOR number, expiration date and documents on one record, and warns you before the license or the certificate runs out. Set it up free →

Virginia contractor license classes and their limits

The Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) licenses contractors through its Board for Contractors. Any firm that contracts for work worth more than $1,000 needs a license, and the class it holds is set by the size of its work, under Va. Code § 54.1-1100:

Class	Single contract or project	Total in any 12 months
Class C	Over $1,000 and under $30,000	Under $250,000
Class B	$30,000 to under $150,000	$250,000 to under $1 million
Class A	$150,000 or more	$1 million or more

Either limit counts: a firm doing small jobs that add up past $250,000 in a year has outgrown Class C as surely as one that signs a single large contract. When you subcontract, compare the subcontract value with the class on the license, and keep the record of what you checked.

The number tells you the license type

DPOR numbers are ten digits. The first four name the license: 2705 and 2701 are contractor firms, 2710 is an individual tradesman. A sub who hands you a 2710 number has given you their electrician's or plumber's personal license, not the firm's contractor license — ask for both.

Specialties: what the license lets them do

On top of the class, every Virginia contractor license lists the specialties the firm is qualified for. A building specialty does not cover trade work, and trade specialties need a qualified individual who holds the matching tradesman license. These are the designations GCs and property managers check most:

Designation	Specialty	What it covers
RBC / CBC	Residential / Commercial Building	General building work on homes / on commercial structures
H/H	Highway / Heavy	Roads, bridges, site and heavy civil work
HIC / CIC	Home / Commercial Improvement	Remodeling and repair on existing structures
ELE	Electrical	Electrical systems; requires a licensed electrician as qualified individual
PLB	Plumbing	Plumbing systems; requires a licensed plumber
HVA	HVAC	Heating, ventilation and air conditioning; requires a licensed HVAC tradesman
ROC	Roofing	Roof installation and repair
FSP / SPR	Fire suppression / Fire sprinkler	Fire protection systems

Dozens more specialties exist — concrete, masonry, painting, drywall, landscape irrigation, asbestos and lead abatement, alternative energy and others each have their own code. A lookup above returns the record; DPOR's own License Lookup shows the full specialty list for any license.

Tradesman licenses: the people behind the firm

Virginia licenses individual electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians and gas fitters separately from the firms that employ them. The firm's contractor license authorizes it to contract; the tradesman license is what lets a person do and supervise the work.

Master tradesman

Can plan and supervise work in the trade, and is typically who a firm names as the qualified individual for its electrical, plumbing or HVAC specialty.

Journeyman tradesman

Licensed to perform the work. On a job with your sub, the electricians and plumbers doing it should hold at least this level.

Tradesman licenses carry a 2710 number and are searchable above alongside contractor firms. If the person you're checking holds both a contractor and a tradesman license under the same certificate number, both come back.

What a Virginia lookup result tells you

DPOR publishes lists of current licensees, and the lookup searches those. That makes reading the result simple, but it is worth knowing what each outcome means. For the general picture, see the contractor license status guide.

Active

On DPOR's current list, expiration date still ahead.

Virginia contractor licenses run for two years. Check the expiration date against the length of your project — a license that runs out in month three of a six-month job needs a renewal you should see before then.

Expired

The printed expiration date has passed.

The firm may have renewed since DPOR's last list; ask for proof before work starts. A firm contracting on a lapsed license is unlicensed for that work.

No match

Not on the current list.

Wrong number, a license that lapsed, or one DPOR suspended or revoked — its lists carry current licenses only. Check the license's full record in DPOR's License Lookup before you rely on the sub.

Track Virginia DPOR licenses automatically

What TrackMyVendor matches against DPOR's data, and what it tracks by the expiration date you record.

Matched to DPOR's lists

Class A, B and C contractor licenses and tradesman licenses, imported every week when DPOR posts its lists. A sub's license is matched to its record, and the expiration date on file comes from the state, not from what the sub told you.

Tracked by expiration date

Backflow, elevator and fire sprinkler inspector certifications, local business licenses and anything else a sub holds can be added with its expiration date and gets the same reminders.

Every plan gets the Monday summary of anything expiring; per-deadline alerts at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days are on Starter and above.

Start tracking your subs' Virginia licenses free →

First 25 subs free — no credit card

The license is one document of three

A Virginia license shows the firm was qualified; it says nothing about whether its liability or workers' comp policy is still in force this month. Most of the chasing GCs do is for the other two documents.

Document	How often it changes	How TrackMyVendor handles it
DPOR license	Every two years	Matched to DPOR's weekly lists
Certificate of insurance	Every policy year	Sub uploads from a link; AI reads the limits and dates
W-9	When the business changes	Collected by the same link, name and TIN read automatically

Subs upload from their phone without creating an account. See how COI tracking software works across a full roster, or how TrackMyVendor compares to other tools.

Verify a Virginia license free Also tracking COI and W-9? See how it works →

Virginia contractor license lookup FAQ

When does a Virginia contractor need a license?

Under Va. Code § 54.1-1100, anyone who contracts for construction, repair or improvement work worth more than $1,000 on a single contract needs a contractor license from the Board for Contractors at DPOR. The class depends on the work: Class C for single contracts under $30,000 and under $250,000 a year, Class B for $30,000 to under $150,000 per contract or $250,000 to under $1 million a year, and Class A above those.

How do I verify a Virginia contractor license?

Search the license number or business name in the lookup on this page, or use DPOR's own License Lookup. Check that the license is current, that its class covers the value of your subcontract, and that its specialties cover the work. DPOR numbers are ten digits; the first four tell you the type — 2705 for a contractor firm, 2710 for an individual tradesman.

Can a Class C contractor work on a larger subcontract in Virginia?

No. A Class C license covers single contracts over $1,000 and under $30,000, with under $250,000 of work in any 12 months. A subcontract above that needs a Class B or Class A license, so compare the subcontract value with the class on the license before work starts.

How long is a Virginia contractor license valid?

Virginia contractor licenses are issued for two years and expire at the end of a month. The expiration date is on DPOR's record and comes back with a lookup on this page.

What is the difference between a Virginia contractor license and a tradesman license?

A contractor license is held by the firm and lets it contract for work. A tradesman license is held by an individual electrician, plumber, HVAC technician or gas fitter, at master or journeyman level, and lets that person do the work. A firm with an electrical, plumbing or HVAC specialty needs a qualified individual who holds the matching tradesman license.

Keep every Virginia sub's license, COI and W-9 current

For GCs and property managers working in Virginia: look up a DPOR license now, then track your whole roster in one place.

Verify a Virginia license free

Start tracking free →

No credit card required

Virginia Contractor License Lookup & DPOR License Verification