Farm Labor Contractor License Is Not a CSLB License

A farm labor contractor license is not the license this site covers. California licenses farm labor contractors through the Department of Industrial Relations’ Labor Commissioner, under the Labor Code. This site covers the Contractors State License Board’s license for construction contracting, issued under a different statute, the Business and Professions Code, by a different department entirely.

Two different regulators

The Department of Industrial Relations’ Licensing and Registration unit states that “Pursuant to the California Labor Code, this unit administers exams, issues and renews permits, licenses, certifications, and registrations to the following: Agricultural Industry Farm Labor Contractors”, on its Registration Services page. That is the Labor Commissioner, not the Contractors State License Board, and the Labor Code, not the Business and Professions Code that this site’s pages are written from.

This page states only which authority holds that license. What it requires of an applicant — any fee, exam, term or renewal step — is not established here and does not appear on this site.

What the Contractors State License Board licenses instead

The Contractors State License Board states that it “protects consumers by regulating the construction industry through policies that promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the public in matters relating to construction, including home improvement”, on its About Us page. Its own pages give its name as “About the Contractors State License Board” — no leading “California”, no apostrophe in “Contractors”.

If you arrived here confusing the two, the Board’s license is the one for building, remodeling and other construction trade work. Its classifications are covered at the classifications the Board licenses, and what an applicant must satisfy is at what a licensed contractor must satisfy. If you already hold or are checking a construction contractor’s standing with the Board, that lookup is at check a contractor’s CSLB license.

An overview of how this site covers licensing a contractor in California starts from the same Board.