Step 1: Search the CCB
Go to search.ccb.state.or.us. Search by the business name or, better, by the CCB number — every legitimate Oregon contractor prints it on their truck, cards, contract, and website. (Ours is 238076; go ahead and look.) If a contractor can't tell you their number on the spot, stop there.
Step 2: Read the license page
- Status: Active. Anything else — expired, suspended, inactive — means they cannot legally contract for work in Oregon right now.
- Endorsement. Residential General Contractor (or Residential Specialty) is what a bathroom remodeler needs. A commercial-only endorsement isn't it.
- Bond and insurance. Oregon requires a surety bond and general liability insurance to hold the license. The page shows both. The bond is what pays you if a contractor abandons the job and the CCB rules in your favor.
- Workers' comp. Required if they have employees. If it says "exempt" and three guys show up, ask why.
- Complaint history. Resolved complaints happen to good contractors; a pattern of unresolved ones doesn't.
- License date. New isn't bad — everyone starts somewhere, including us — but pair a young license with the other checks below.
Step 3: Check the trades behind the trade
Plumbing and electrical in Oregon must be done by licensed plumbers and electricians (or by the licensed general contractor only within what their license allows). Ask who's doing the plumbing on your conversion and look them up too. A general contractor who "does it all himself" without a plumbing license is a permit problem waiting to happen.
Red flags that no license check will show you
- "You don't need a permit for this." For a tub-to-shower conversion in Jackson County, you do.
- A big deposit up front. Oregon doesn't cap deposits, but a licensed contractor with a bond doesn't need half the job's money before day one. A reasonable deposit to hold a date and order materials, then progress payments, is normal.
- No written contract. Oregon requires a written contract for jobs over $2,000 and specific notices with it. If it's a handshake, it's a problem.
- A "today only" price. That's a sales tactic, not a construction practice.
- No photos of their own work. Stock bathrooms on the website mean they may never have built one.
Questions worth asking a bathroom remodeler
- Who will physically be in my house each day, and is that person the one I'm talking to now?
- What waterproofing system do you use under the tile, and do you flood-test the pan?
- Who pulls the permit, and is it in your price?
- What happens when you find rot behind the wall — how is that priced and approved?
- Can I see two finished showers you built, in person or in your own photos?
Any contractor worth hiring will answer all five without flinching. We've written ours into every page of this site.
