How to check if a contractor is registered in New Jersey
Two minutes, one state website, and one number that has to be on their paperwork by law. We are publishing this with our own registration number in it, because the strongest thing a contractor can tell you about their credentials is exactly how to go and verify them.
New Jersey does not license home improvement contractors, it registers them. Search the Division of Consumer Affairs portal at newjersey.mylicense.com/verification, pick Home Improvement Contractor, search the business name, and confirm the status reads Active. The registration number is thirteen characters starting 13VH, and state rules require it on every contract, advertisement, business card, estimate and proposal, so its absence is itself the answer. Ours is 13VH11072100.
The two minute version
- Go to newjersey.mylicense.com/verification, the Division of Consumer Affairs verification portal.
- Choose Home Improvement Contractor as the type. The registration belongs to a business, so search the company name rather than the person who showed up.
- Read the status. Active is the only answer that should let a deposit leave your hands. Expired and suspended are different problems and both are yours if you proceed.
- Check the name matches the entity on your contract. A registered parent company and an unregistered name on the paperwork is a real and common mismatch.
Why searching for a "license" comes up empty
Because in New Jersey there isn't one. Home improvement contractors are registered, not licensed, and the distinction is not pedantry: people search for a license, find nothing, and conclude either that the contractor is illegitimate or that no rules exist. Neither is true. Registration is the system, it is run by the Division of Consumer Affairs, and it is searchable by anyone.
Trades inside the work are a different matter. Plumbing is genuinely licensed in New Jersey, and on a sewer or water service the plumbing connection has to be made by somebody holding that license, with their seal on the subcode application. That is why underground jobs often involve two credentials rather than one, which we explain from the contractor side on our page for trades.
The fastest red flag test
The state requires the 13VH number to appear on all contracts, advertisements, business cards, estimates and proposals for residential work. So you do not have to interrogate anybody. Look at the estimate they handed you. Look at the website that brought them to your door. If there is no 13VH number anywhere, you have your first fact, and you got it before spending anything.
What registration actually guarantees is worth being precise about, because it is oversold in both directions. To hold it, a business must file its formation documents, disclose prior convictions and disciplinary history, and carry commercial general liability insurance of at least $500,000 per occurrence under N.J.A.C. 13:45A-17.6, plus workers compensation unless exempt. That is an accountability record and an insurance floor. It is not a skill test, and no registration number tells you whether someone can actually build.
If yours turns out not to be registered
Stop before more money moves. Performing residential home improvement work unregistered violates New Jersey's consumer protection regulations, and the Division of Consumer Affairs accepts complaints about exactly this. If the job has not started, do not start it. If it has, get the agreement and every payment in writing, stop advancing money, and call the Division.
The situation that leaves people with no recourse at all is the one that starts with cash, no written contract, and no number on anything. That combination is not a bargain, it is the absence of every mechanism that exists to protect you.
Ours, and the rest of it
JWSR LLC is registered as a New Jersey home improvement contractor, number 13VH11072100, and carries US DOT #3767354. Go and check it. Our full list of licenses, certifications and affiliations, and how to get a certificate of insurance sent to your project file, is on credentials.
Questions people ask
How do I check if a contractor is licensed in New Jersey?
Search the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs verification portal at newjersey.mylicense.com/verification. Choose Home Improvement Contractor as the type and search by the business name or the registration number, and read the status: it has to say Active before you pay anybody a deposit. One thing that trips people up is the wording. New Jersey does not license home improvement contractors, it registers them, so searching for a license and finding nothing does not mean what you think it means. Registration is the thing that exists, and it belongs to the business rather than to a person.
What is a 13VH number and why does it matter?
It is the New Jersey home improvement contractor registration number, thirteen characters beginning 13VH, issued to the business. It matters because the state requires it to appear on all contracts, advertisements, business cards, estimates and proposals for residential work. That makes it the fastest red flag test there is: if a contractor's estimate, truck or website carries no 13VH number, you have learned something before you have spent a cent. Ours is 13VH11072100, and it is on this page so you can go and check it.
What does a contractor have to do to stay registered in New Jersey?
File the business formation documents, disclose prior convictions and disciplinary history, and carry commercial general liability insurance of at least $500,000 per occurrence, plus workers compensation insurance unless the law exempts them. The insurance minimum is set by N.J.A.C. 13:45A-17.6. That last part is worth understanding: registration is not a skill test, it is an accountability record. It tells you the state knows who they are and that somebody is insured, not that the work will be good.
What do I do if I find out my contractor is not registered?
Stop before any further money changes hands, and understand your position, which is stronger than it feels. An unregistered contractor performing residential home improvement work in New Jersey is violating the Consumer Fraud Act's regulations, and the Division of Consumer Affairs takes complaints about it. If work has not started, do not start it. If it has, get everything in writing, stop advancing payments, and call the Division. Paying an unregistered contractor in cash with no written contract is how people end up with no recourse at all, and it is exactly the situation registration exists to prevent.
Is registration the same as being licensed to do plumbing or electrical work?
No, and this is where a lot of underground work goes wrong. Home improvement registration is a business registration. Plumbing is separately licensed work in New Jersey, and the plumbing connection on a sewer or water service must be made by somebody licensed to do it, with their seal on the subcode application. A registered excavation contractor and a licensed plumber are two different credentials doing two different jobs, and on a service line replacement you usually want both: we dig it, they make the connection.
What else should I ask for besides the registration number?
A certificate of insurance sent directly for your project file, rather than a photo of one, and confirmation of who is pulling the permit. On underground work, ask who calls in the 811 markout, because New Jersey requires notice three to ten business days before excavation and the answer tells you whether the contractor works to the rules or around them. A contractor who is comfortable with all three questions is telling you something, and so is one who is not.
Sources
- New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, home improvement contractor registration: the 13VH registration number required on all contracts, advertisements, business cards, estimates and proposals, and the requirement to file formation documents and disclose prior convictions and disciplinary history.
- N.J.A.C. 13:45A-17.6, commercial general liability insurance of at least $500,000 per occurrence, plus workers compensation unless exempt by law.
- Verification portal: newjersey.mylicense.com/verification, Home Improvement Contractor type.
General information, reviewed 2026-08-30, not legal advice. The Division of Consumer Affairs is the authority on registration status and on complaints.
Check ours before you call us
Registration 13VH11072100. Then call 862-268-2510 and ask us anything else you want proof of.
Call 862-268-2510