Bay Area contractors you can actually vet before you hire
General and specialty contractors for remodels, repairs, and improvements — shown with license status, insurance, service area, and recommendations from real estate agents who’ve worked with them.
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A growing set of contractors serving Bay Area homeowners. Early listings — more are being added.
What contractors do
A general contractor manages a construction or remodeling project end to end — planning, permits, scheduling, and coordinating the specialty trades. Specialty (“C”) contractors handle a single trade such as roofing, plumbing, electrical, or HVAC. For anything beyond a minor repair, hiring a licensed contractor protects you legally and financially.
What are you working on?
Remodels & additions
Kitchens, baths, and additions usually call for a licensed general (Class B) contractor to run the job.
Repairs before selling
Targeted fixes that help a home show and inspect well — often coordinated with your agent’s advice.
Single-trade work
Roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC — handled by the matching specialty (“C”) classification.
How to vet a contractor
- Verify the license on the CSLB website — confirm it’s active, in the right classification, and bonded.
- Confirm general liability insurance, and workers’ compensation if they have employees.
- Get a written, itemized contract — California requires one for home-improvement jobs over $500.
- Never overpay up front: the legal down-payment limit is $1,000 or 10% of the price, whichever is less.
- Ask for recent local references and check reviews and past work.
California licensing, in plain terms
In California, anyone contracting for a job worth $1,000 or more (labor and materials combined) must be licensed by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB). The exemption threshold rose from $500 to $1,000 on January 1, 2025.
A Class B license is a General Building Contractor; specialty trades carry “C” classifications (for example C-39 roofing, C-36 plumbing, C-20 HVAC, C-10 electrical, C-27 landscaping). Licensed contractors must carry a contractor’s bond, and you can check any license’s status, bond, and workers’-comp coverage on the CSLB website before you hire.
What “Agent Recommended” means here
On Wiserlist, an agent recommendation is context, not a paid badge. It means a real estate agent has told us they’ve worked with this contractor and would send their own clients — and we show who said it and how they’ve worked together. Treat it as one signal alongside license status, insurance, and reviews; you decide what matters for your project.
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