California Plumbing Contractors by the Numbers: CSLB C-36 License Data (2026)
California has 18,378 current C-36 plumbing contractor licenses. 51.2% of them (9,407) are on file as exempt from workers' compensation because the licensee certified having no employees; 46.1% hold a policy. 758 licenses (4.1%) are suspended, most often for a lapsed contractor's bond (483) or workers' comp (159). 1,258 licenses were issued in the last twelve months.
Workers' compensation coverage
51.2% of California's plumbing licenses are on file as exempt: the licensee has certified to CSLB that the business has no employees. 46.1% have a current policy certificate on file, and 245 licenses (1.3%) have no current workers' comp record at all, which is the condition that leads to suspension.
The exemption matters more than it used to. SB 216 originally required every licensed contractor to carry workers' compensation from January 1, 2026, with or without employees; SB 1455 (2024) postponed that universal requirement to January 1, 2028. Until then a C-36 with no employees may still file the exemption, so on current figures roughly 9,400 plumbing licenses will need a policy they do not have today when the mandate takes effect. An exemption also becomes invalid the moment the contractor hires, and CSLB must receive proof of coverage within 90 days of the hire. When a plumbing contractor must carry workers' comp →
Suspensions and their causes
758 C-36 licenses (4.1%) are currently suspended. Work performed while a license is suspended is treated as unlicensed work, and under Business and Professions Code §7031 a contractor who was not licensed at all times during a job cannot sue to collect for it.
| Cause of suspension | Licenses | Share of suspended |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor's bond, LLC bond, qualifying-individual bond or disciplinary bond lapsed | 483 | 63.7% |
| Workers' compensation lapsed or not filed | 159 | 21.0% |
| Liability insurance (LLC requirement) lapsed | 43 | 5.7% |
| Judgment, family support, Secretary of State, no qualifier and other | 73 | 9.6% |
Bond lapses cause more plumbing license suspensions than everything else combined. A license bond is cancelled 30 days after CSLB receives the surety's cancellation notice; if no replacement is received by then, the license is suspended. A further 229 licenses have a bond cancellation date already on file that has not yet taken effect. How the $25,000 contractor's bond works → · Check a license →
Business structure and LLC bonds
Sole owners and corporations each account for almost half of plumbing licenses. 1,004 licenses (5.5%) are limited liability companies; 1,004 of them have the $100,000 LLC employee/worker bond on file, which CSLB requires for an LLC license to be issued, renewed or reactivated, in addition to the $25,000 contractor's bond and $1 million of liability insurance. The LLC bond explained →
Classification mix
| Classification profile | Licenses | Share |
|---|---|---|
| C-36 only | 11,806 | 64.2% |
| C-36 with B (general building) | 4,281 | 23.3% |
| C-36 with C-20 (HVAC) | 1,945 | 10.6% |
| C-36 with C-10 (electrical) | 1,798 | 9.8% |
Multi-classification licenses change the insurance picture: a plumber who also holds a B license is underwritten and class-coded for general building work as well as plumbing, and a C-20 holder adds HVAC exposure. How class code 5183 and other codes apply →
New licenses and license age
1,258 C-36 licenses were issued in the last twelve months. Because the file holds only current licenses, earlier years show the licenses from that year that are still active today, not the number originally issued. The median active license is 13.5 years old; 18.1% are under three years old and 35.0% are twenty years or older.
New licensees are the group most likely to be buying their first workers' comp policy, first bond and first general liability policy at once. What a new C-36 needs on day one →
Renewals in the next 12 months
Active CSLB licenses expire every two years, so about half of all plumbing licenses come up for renewal within any twelve-month window. Renewal is when a lapsed bond or missing workers' comp certificate most often surfaces, and when an LLC must show its $100,000 bond and liability insurance again.
Carriers and sureties on file
| Workers' comp carrier on CSLB certificates | Licenses |
|---|---|
| State Compensation Insurance Fund | 1,230 |
| Technology Insurance Company Inc | 655 |
| Employers Preferred Insurance Company | 424 |
| Security National Insurance Company | 378 |
| Hartford Casualty Insurance Company | 354 |
| Wesco Insurance Company | 316 |
| Amtrust Insurance Company | 315 |
| Insurance Company of The West | 308 |
| Surety on contractor's bonds | Licenses |
|---|---|
| American Contractors Indemnity Company | 7,409 |
| Western Surety Company | 2,423 |
| Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company | 1,980 |
| Merchants Bonding Company (Mutual) | 1,760 |
| Jet Insurance Company | 1,046 |
| Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company | 837 |
| Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company | 753 |
| Business Alliance Insurance Company | 576 |
Counts of licenses whose certificate names the carrier or surety, among the 8,464 insured and 18,378 bonded licenses respectively. This is market share by license count as CSLB records it, not a ranking of price, service or suitability.
County by county
Counties with at least 50 C-36 licenses. Counties with 250 or more have their own page with the full breakdown.
| County | C-36 licenses | Share of state | WC policy on file | Suspended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 4,867 | 26.5% | 44.6% | 220 |
| San Diego | 1,733 | 9.4% | 44.2% | 73 |
| Orange | 1,546 | 8.4% | 46.6% | 65 |
| Riverside | 1,255 | 6.8% | 45.7% | 56 |
| San Bernardino | 787 | 4.3% | 44.6% | 32 |
| Santa Clara | 672 | 3.7% | 53.3% | 26 |
| Sacramento | 600 | 3.3% | 45.8% | 28 |
| Alameda | 539 | 2.9% | 46.6% | 17 |
| Ventura | 519 | 2.8% | 46.4% | 20 |
| Contra Costa | 518 | 2.8% | 45.0% | 17 |
| San Francisco | 460 | 2.5% | 46.5% | 17 |
| San Mateo | 457 | 2.5% | 52.7% | 12 |
| Sonoma | 362 | 2.0% | 54.1% | 14 |
| Santa Barbara | 283 | 1.5% | 53.0% | 5 |
| Placer | 275 | 1.5% | 39.6% | 14 |
| Kern | 264 | 1.4% | 49.6% | 5 |
| San Joaquin | 239 | 1.3% | 43.9% | 8 |
| San Luis Obispo | 227 | 1.2% | 41.0% | 9 |
| Fresno | 219 | 1.2% | 53.0% | 8 |
| Monterey | 205 | 1.1% | 52.7% | 7 |
| Stanislaus | 199 | 1.1% | 44.2% | 10 |
| Marin | 166 | 0.9% | 56.6% | 4 |
| Solano | 157 | 0.9% | 40.8% | 4 |
| El Dorado | 142 | 0.8% | 38.0% | 7 |
| Santa Cruz | 141 | 0.8% | 49.6% | 5 |
| Tulare | 104 | 0.6% | 42.3% | 8 |
| Nevada | 102 | 0.6% | 42.2% | 1 |
| Butte | 101 | 0.5% | 47.5% | 6 |
| Shasta | 88 | 0.5% | 42.0% | 4 |
| Merced | 78 | 0.4% | 48.7% | 5 |
| Humboldt | 70 | 0.4% | 51.4% | 3 |
| Napa | 67 | 0.4% | 56.7% | 3 |
| Yolo | 62 | 0.3% | 41.9% | 2 |
| Mendocino | 62 | 0.3% | 46.8% | 4 |
Where does your license stand?
Look up any California contractor license and see its status, bond and workers' comp record from the same CSLB file, with plain-English alerts.
Methodology and limitations
- Source. CSLB's License Master file, published on the CSLB Data Portal as a public download. Records in this copy were last updated by CSLB on October 21, 2026; statistics were computed on October 24, 2026.
- What counts. Every license in the file that carries the C-36 (Plumbing) classification, alone or with other classifications. The file lists current licenses only; expired, cancelled and revoked licenses are not in it, so these are counts of licenses that exist today, not of businesses that have ever held one.
- Workers' comp. "Policy on file" means CSLB holds a current certificate of insurance. "Exemption" means the licensee certified having no employees. The file does not say whether an exempt licensee actually has employees; the exemption is a filing, not an audit.
- Suspensions. Taken from CSLB's primary status field. "Bond" groups contractor's bond, bond-payment, LLC employee/worker bond, qualifying-individual bond and disciplinary-bond suspensions.
- Counties. The county of the business address on the license. Licenses with an out-of-state address are counted in the statewide figures only.
- Not in the file. General liability insurance, the bond of qualifying individual, disciplinary case detail, and anything about revenue, employees or claims. Nothing on this page identifies an individual licensee; use the license checker to look one up.
- Carriers and sureties are listed as they appear on CSLB certificates, ranked by count. A listing is a count, not a recommendation or an indication of price or availability.
Statistics are computed from public CSLB records as described above and are general information, not advice about any licensee or policy. Insurance is offered through Pembroke Insurance Solutions, a licensed insurance agency.