If you build, remodel, roof, wire, or plumb anywhere in Los Angeles, the Contractors State License Board will not issue, renew, or reactivate your license until a $25,000 contractor license bond is on file. For Surety Insurance Agency writes that bond for Los Angeles contractors every day: you apply online, most applicants are approved the same day, and the bond is filed electronically with the CSLB so your license stays active.
Los Angeles is the busiest contracting market in the state, and it is also the one where the CSLB and the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs field the most complaints. A homeowner in Sherman Oaks who feels a kitchen remodel was abandoned, a sub in Compton who was never paid, or a crew member in Boyle Heights owed wages can all file against your bond. That is exactly why the state requires it, and why having it in place before you pull your first permit with LADBS matters.
The bond is a three-party guarantee: you are the principal, the CSLB is the obligee, and the surety is the company that promises to pay a valid claim up to $25,000 if you violate the Contractors License Law. It is not insurance for you. If the surety pays a Los Angeles homeowner, you owe the surety that money back plus costs. Keeping it active without a gap is the single most important thing you can do with it, because the CSLB suspends a license automatically the day a bond lapses, and a suspended license in LA means no permits, no payment on open contracts, and in some cases no legal right to collect at all.
Many Los Angeles contractors also need a second bond. If your license is qualified by a Responsible Managing Officer or Employee who owns less than 10% of the company, the CSLB requires a separate $25,000 Bond of Qualifying Individual. LLCs need an additional $100,000 LLC employee/worker bond on top of the license bond. We can write all of them in one application.
The standard $25,000 Los Angeles contractor license bond typically runs $250 to $500 per year. The surety sets your rate from your personal credit and financial condition, not from the size of your jobs, so a one-truck handyman in Van Nuys and a fifty-employee GC in Downtown LA with the same credit profile pay roughly the same. Contractors with low credit scores, open collections, liens, or judgments can usually still be bonded, though the premium is higher and the surety may ask for collateral or decline in severe cases. Multi-year terms are available and lock in the rate.
Applying takes about five minutes. Have your CSLB license number (or application number if you are a new licensee), your business entity information, and the name of your qualifying individual ready. Click the button, complete the short form, sign the indemnity agreement electronically, and pay. Once issued, we send the bond directly to the CSLB in Sacramento; you receive a copy for your records. If your license has already been suspended for a lapsed bond, a new bond filed with the CSLB is what lifts the suspension, so call us at (877) 328-1230 and we will expedite it.
Read the full step-by-step guide to getting a California contractor license bond, or see our pages for contractors in San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno.
Questions? Call (877) 328-1230 · Monday–Friday 9 to 5 · Apply online 24/7
Most Los Angeles contractors pay $250 to $500 per year for the $25,000 CSLB license bond. Your exact premium is based on personal credit and financials. Contractors with poor credit may pay more and, in some cases, be asked for collateral.
Yes. California does not have reciprocity for the bond. Any contractor performing work valued at $500 or more in Los Angeles needs an active CSLB license, and that license requires the $25,000 California contractor license bond on file in Sacramento.
The CSLB automatically suspends your license on the date the bond cancels or expires. While suspended you cannot pull permits with LADBS or other local building departments, and under California law an unlicensed contractor can lose the right to collect payment on the work. Filing a new bond reinstates the license.
Yes. Homeowners, subcontractors, suppliers, and employees who suffer a financial loss because you violated the Contractors License Law can file a claim with the surety. Valid claims are paid up to $25,000, and you must repay the surety.
Yes. In addition to the $25,000 contractor license bond, an LLC must carry a $100,000 LLC employee/worker bond. If your qualifier (RMO/RME) owns less than 10% of the company, a separate $25,000 Bond of Qualifying Individual is also required.
Los Angeles is the largest contracting market in California, and home improvement work here stretches from the hillside homes below the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory to the beach bungalows near the Santa Monica Pier and Venice. Downtown has seen a wave of loft conversions and seismic retrofits around Los Angeles City Hall and the Arts District, while the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, and the South Bay are full of mid-century ranch homes due for kitchen, bath, ADU, and roofing upgrades. Landmarks such as the Getty Center, Dodger Stadium, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall draw the tourists, but it is the roughly four million residents of the city and ten million across Los Angeles County who keep local remodelers, electricians, plumbers, and general contractors busy year-round. Whether your shop is in Long Beach, Glendale, Santa Clarita, or Torrance, the CSLB license bond requirement is the same.