How do I verify a handyman?

Handyman work occupies a gray zone in contractor licensing. Most states exempt small repair work from contractor licensing requirements, but the threshold varies significantly:

- California: $500 total (labor and materials). Above $500, contractor license required. - Arizona: $1,000. Above $1,000, ROC license required. - Oregon: zero threshold — all construction work requires CCB licensing, regardless of dollar amount. Handyman work is technically illegal in Oregon unless licensed. - Nevada: $1,000. - Florida: $1,000 (for the unincorporated handyman) or $2,500 (where the work is part of the property's general maintenance). - Most other states: no specific threshold, but trade-specific licensing (electrical, plumbing) applies regardless of dollar amount.

Trade-specific work that ALWAYS requires licensing:

- Electrical work (wiring, panels, fixtures hardwired to circuit). Required in nearly every state regardless of dollar amount. - Plumbing (anything past the supply stop valve, drain work, gas piping). Required in nearly every state. - HVAC (refrigerant handling, gas furnace work). Federal EPA cert plus state license. - Roofing in storm-affected areas. State-specific.

What an unlicensed handyman CAN do (in most states):

- Furniture assembly. - Picture hanging, shelving installation. - Caulking, weatherstripping. - Light fixture replacement (where local code allows — debatable). - Interior painting and patching. - Cabinet installation (small jobs). - Door and lock replacement. - Simple drywall repair. - Yard work, gutter cleaning, pressure washing.

What an unlicensed handyman SHOULD NOT do, even if under the licensing threshold:

- Anything requiring a permit. - Anything involving load-bearing structural elements. - Anything involving live electrical past the receptacle (panel work, hard-wired fixture replacement past a junction box). - Gas appliance work. - Roof work above one story. - Work where a failure could cause water or fire damage.

Verification for handymen:

1. Secretary of State search. Are they operating as an LLC or DBA? Confirms a real business identity.

2. Court records. Same as for licensed contractors — civil judgments, liens, bankruptcy, criminal fraud. A handyman with a history of stealing deposits is the same risk as a contractor with the same history.

3. Insurance. Even unlicensed handymen should carry general liability ($300,000-$1M). Request a Certificate of Insurance. Without insurance, any damage they cause to your property comes out of your pocket or your homeowner's policy.

4. References. More important for handymen because public records are thinner — there is no state board complaint history to lean on.

5. Online reviews. Google, Yelp, Nextdoor, neighborhood Facebook groups. Patterns matter; outlier complaints can be discounted.

Red flags specific to handymen:

- "I'll do the electrical for cash, no permit." Illegal, will fail any future inspection, may void your insurance. - "License? I do small jobs, I don't need one." True only if the specific work is under the state's threshold AND not in a state requiring all-work licensing. - "I work under my brother's license." Unlicensed work under a borrowed license is fraud. - No insurance. Any damage they cause is your problem. - Demands cash up front. Same red flag as licensed contractors.

Groundcheck (earthmove.io/trust) handles handyman verification by leaning on Secretary of State, court records, and OSHA (if applicable). The license-board field will be empty (correctly so, for unlicensed work under threshold). For trade-specific work above the threshold, Groundcheck verifies the trade license is in place.

Where Groundcheck flags a handyman as Critical: cash-only, no insurance, no Secretary of State filing, recent court judgments. The same signals that catch fraud in licensed contractors catch fraud in handymen.