Revive your old license number without showing work experience
If you held a California contractors license years ago and let it go, you may be able to get that same license number back. The CSLB does not make former licensees start from scratch, and in most cases you will not have to prove work experience all over again.
First, check how long it has been expired
If your license expired within the last five years, you do not need to reapply at all. You can submit a delinquent renewal, pay the renewal fee plus the delinquency penalty, and the license comes back with no exams involved. The ownership has to be unchanged, so the same sole owner, partners, corporation or LLC as before.
If it has been more than five years, the delinquent renewal window has closed. At that point you file an Application for Original Contractors License, and you can request your original license number on that application.
The work experience relief
This is where former licensees get a much easier run than new applicants. The CSLB requires four years of journey level experience from first time applicants, documented and signed off by someone who can verify it. Gathering that proof is the single biggest hurdle most applicants face, and weak documentation is a common reason applications stall.
Because you have already held the license, that requirement is not the obstacle it would be for someone starting out. It does not matter whether it has been five years, ten or twenty.
What you do still have to do
You will need to sit both the Law and Business exam and the Trade exam again. You will also file a new $25,000 contractors bond and pay the application processing fee.
Once the CSLB accepts your application you have 18 months to pass both exams, so it is worth being ready to book them rather than treating it as an open ended process.
Thinking about reviving your old number?
We have helped contractors across California through this process for more than 19 years. Call us on (800) 580-8129, or reach out via the contact page, and we will tell you exactly where you stand.
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