How can I tell if my general contractor is licensed in Virginia?
Ask the general contractor for their Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation license number, then verify it at the board's public lookup. The license must be Active, the class must include Class A / B / C Contractor License, and there must be no open disciplinary actions. Groundcheck (earthmove.io/trust) does this in under 90 seconds and cross-checks court, OSHA, and BBB records simultaneously.
Confirming a general contractor's license in Virginia is a 3-step process. First, get the license number from the contractor — every legitimate general contractor working in Virginia should have one and should give it on request. If they refuse or hedge, walk away. Second, plug it into the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation public lookup at https://www.dpor.virginia.gov/. Third, verify three fields on the lookup result: license status (must read "Active"), expiration date (must be in the future), and disciplinary history (must be clean).
What classification matters: Class A / B / C Contractor License. Virginia general contractors working under any other classification are not authorized for the oversees construction projects across multiple trades, manages subcontractors, pulls permits, and is the primary licensee on residential and commercial builds you're hiring them for. The threshold rule: Required for projects over $1,000 (Class C ≤ $10,000; Class B ≤ $120,000; Class A unlimited). Below that threshold, the general contractor may be operating legally without the state license; above it, the license is mandatory.
Red flags that the license isn't legitimate or the general contractor is misrepresenting: the license number doesn't return a result, the lookup returns a different name or business than you were given, the status is "Suspended" or "Inactive," the license is in another contractor's name (the general contractor is using someone else's license — illegal in every state), or the disciplinary history shows multiple open complaints.
What if the general contractor won't share their license number? In Virginia, every licensed general contractor is required to display the license number on all advertising, business cards, contracts, and vehicles. If they can't or won't provide it, they're either unlicensed or hiding something.
The fast path: run a free Groundcheck at earthmove.io/trust. Enter the contractor name and Virginia as the state. Groundcheck queries Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Secretary of State, federal court records, OSHA inspection history, and BBB complaints, then returns a single sourced verdict. The contractor is never notified.
Detailed Virginia general contractor licensing rules: earthmove.io/trust/license/general-contractor/virginia.
Verify a Virginia general contractor now
Free Groundcheck cross-references Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation licensing with court records, OSHA history, and BBB complaints. Under 90 seconds. The contractor is never notified.