Acceptable Experience Documentation

Notice: applicants are not required by law to submit any of the documents listed below, however, failing to submit pertinent documents may significantly delay the investigation and may result in a denial of your contractors license application. In addition, you may be required to provide additional proof of experience from other contractors in the same trade classification.

From what we understand the CSLB will usually ask for further documentation before rejecting the application outright.  Each application is unique and we can't speak for any student's specific situation because the State may have other reasons that that we might not have considered. 

 1.             STATE OR FEDERAL INCOME TAX FORMS which show income from construction activities (W-2 from an Employer; 1099 from a Contractor; Schedule C for Self Employed: etc.) And cover the required time span of the investigation. These are often the most useful documents to the investigator for determining total time in the trade (s). Additional verification of type and level of experience may be required.

 2.             PERMITS (city and/or county building departments) you must provide a statement with the permit detailing the work you performed on the permit if the permit was issued to you. If the building permit was issued to someone other than you; submit the permit and a letter or certificate from the person that was issued the permit. The letter or certificate must show what work you performed in relation to that building permit.

 3.             CONTRACTS copies of contracts you have entered into and actually preformed will be considered, if the work performed was actually related to the classification being applied for.

 4.             PAYCHECK STUBS from employers

 5.             APPRENTICESHIP CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

 6.             UNION JOURNEYMAN BOOK or letter from the union

7.             OFFICIAL COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS

 8.             CANCELED CHECKS copies of both sides of canceled checks from jobs you have performed may be submitted for consideration. The checks must be accompanied by a letter or certificate from the person who paid the check and must state what services were performed.

 9.             COPIES OF DEEDS, PROOFS OF SALE AND PERMITS may be submitted if you are claiming credit for work done on your own properties with an attached statement detailing the work done on the property and the dates of the projects.

 10.          ITEMIZED BILLS AND INVOICES for work performed

 11.          MATERIAL RECEIPTS material receipts submitted for consideration must be accompanied by letters or certificates from the individuals for whom you performed the work and applied the materials,

12.          DD-214 (Discharge papers from the service) if your duties were construction related

13.          NOTARIZED CERTIFICATE OF EXPERIENCE FOR OUT-OF-STATE EXPERIENCE

14.          NOTARIZED CERTIFICATE OR LETTER FOR OUT-OF-COUNTRY EXPERIENCE

All of the above mentioned documents are subject to verification. This list should not be construed to limit you from producing any other documents you may wish to produce. The Registrar may request documentation other than that listed above.

* Reference. Business & professions code 7068, California administration code sections 816 (c) and 824