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California

Workers comp for California contractors

California ties workers compensation straight to your license, so the wrong answer on coverage suspends the thing you trade on. These guides cover who has to be covered, what the CSLB checks and when, and the certificate a general contractor asks for before you are allowed on the site.

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10 guides on this

How to run the businessCSLB license renewalActive renewal is biennial at $450 for a sole owner and $700 otherwise, with no continuing education. The risk is continuity: a comp lapse, a bond off file or a departed qualifier suspends the license, and BPC s.7141 ends it after five years.How to run the businessStart a construction businessTen steps in the order that stops one blocking the next, from classification to the first insurance certificate. The $450 application and $200 issue fee, the $25,000 bond, the CDTFA seller's permit, the city certificate, and twelve months of real dates.After you qualifyWorkers comp and license statusBPC s.7125.2 suspends a license by operation of law on the day cover lapses, with no notice and no grace period. Covers the exemption certificate, the classifications that cannot use it, and an eleven day helper that put a $34,000 repaint outside BPC s.7031.After you qualifyInsurance certificates and endorsementsWhy the additional insured endorsement matters more than the certificate, the $25,000 license bond and the $100,000 LLC worker bond beside it, and the workers compensation lapse that suspends a California license the same day with no grace period.Before you qualifyC-33 Painting and decoratingAnything built before 1978 is a lead job under Cal/OSHA limits far stricter than the federal ones, and Chapter 7A governs the exterior in a fire hazard severity zone. Covers the $1,000 down payment cap on a $28,000 repaint, fall protection at 7.5 feet and the three day cancellation right.Before you qualifyC-45 SignEvery city you work in is a separate sign permit, a separate business tax certificate and a separate lead time, and the $500 threshold under BPC s.7048 means even a face swap needs the license. Covers the Cal/OSHA permit for work above 36 feet and the recorded notice of completion that cuts your lien window from 90 days to 30.Before you qualifyC-47 General manufactured housingThe recorded certificate of installation is what turns a titled coach into real property a bank will mortgage, and everything below that floor is your permit. Covers the $500 license line, a down payment capped at the lesser of $1,000 or 10 percent, and a 90 day lien window cut to 60 by a recorded Notice of Completion.Before you qualifyC-55 Water conditioningThe lesser of $1,000 or 10 percent binds, so a $6,400 whole house system carries a $640 deposit and three business days of cancellation before you install. Covers the $500 license threshold, the $25,000 bond, and where CDTFA Regulation 1521 puts you in the retailer seat.After you qualifyBid ready checklistThe seven things an agency verifies before it reads your price: active license and classification, DIR registration for you and every listed sub, comp in force, named endorsements, security at 10 percent of the bid, and the one-half of one percent listing threshold.Before you qualifyC-38 RefrigerationA $180,000 grocery subcontract at 10 percent retention parks $18,000, and it runs 55 days from your last day on site to your last dollar. Covers the 30 day lien window a recorded Notice of Completion leaves a sub, the indoor heat standard from 82 degrees and the $25,000 bond.

The rest of the California library

Getting and keeping a CSLB licensePreliminary notices and mechanics liens in CaliforniaRetention on California jobsPrevailing wage and public works in CaliforniaBuilding standards on a California siteCal/OSHA on a construction siteSales tax for California contractorsHome improvement contracts in California
Every guideThe whole California libraryHow to run the business