Disgusting Horrible Rude, Entitled Staff. They are never helpful, they hang up on you on purpose, after hours of waiting. Exactly why the whole government should be disbanded. Fat beauracrats sitting on their ass and not doing anything, eating up the tax dole for future generation, just to feel adequate in having a "job" I hate these people. read more

It is very difficult to have someone take your call and you can't understand what they are saying because of their accent. Then instead of transferring the call to another agent she suggest calling back and having someone else help you. So you do that and it's the same agent again. They really need to make sure the people that are taking calls and making appointments can speak clearly and enunciate. read more

I have wrote to the Contractors State license board. 4-2026. About Design Time & title Store. Customer service was bad, the owner didnt Care at all, and rude. Won't back her Flooring , They sure take your money but you are the one that has the headaches after the work is done. They didnt install the flooring properly using the wrong adhesive not knowing how or what really to use, a floor place should know their products better and how to install using the right adhesive . sad they find people that can ruin others that think they are having the right people with the right education on how to install flooring and not cheeping out. Sorry this company i would never go back they need to refund my money back and get their floor out of my home 10,100.00 is alot of money to give out for terriable workmanship Thankyou CSLB Nancy T. read more

I absolutely love them if you have a problem with them then you don't understand how much work they have for as few people. They are so helpful I love them! read more

Worst experience ever ! They never answer phone calls, vague responses that don't help process of obtaining license, background check lady (Shelly) is never in office. All the Staff there needs improvement. read more

Need to contact them tomorrow about a plumbing company that did substandard work and did not give written estimates which is required by law. read more

My technician Emily Houser was amazing throughout the whole process. There were plenty of people I've spoken to before her who were uninformed, uninterested, and unhelpful. Once I was assigned to her as my technician, it was truly a breath of fresh air how helpful she was. I just received my license number today and couldn't be happier. Thanks again Emily! read more

I filed a complaint against Bantam Electric with CSLB in February I jumped through all the hoops that they requested such as bank statements to prove I paid the contractor, all receipts, accounting, bids, etc. I hired Anderholm Electric to finish the work that Bantam Electric left undone or done wrong. I showed all the correct paperwork with photos of everything I hired a handyman to install the fixtures that the Electrician was supposed to have done. CSLB told me that I couldn't claim work that was not done by an licensed electrician (namely installing the fixtures which does not require a license) and they also told me they would not go forward with my claim because Anderholm Electric refused to be questioned. WHAT GOOD IS THE CSLB? THE CONSUMER IS NOT PROTECTED!!!!! read more

Completely corrupt place to deal with. We contacted a company called Minga home to do our kitchen remodel. One old Asian woman came with an Asian man to our home. The woman offered us $3k less of we go through the husband wife team. Our bathroom tiles started falling off from day1 after the remodel was completed. The lady herself did some work. When we complained CSLB, including their highest boss, CSLB did nothing for us. The CSLB employee was apologetic to criminal Asian female contractor who performed the bad job. CSLB wasted 2yrs and we didn't get justice. Hope this dept get closed and everyone loses their job. We will go to grand jury, US labor dept and consumer dept and file complain against CSLB. read more

It takes about a year to get the license. Lazy people work here. Cannot say anything good about the place.

Just like all the over government agency's. Limited hours to talk to Someone, Forced to use online links that DONT WORK. read more

Not much said about the "bad" customer a reputable contractor contracts with. There is no way to know how many frivolous claims are made by any one homeowner against contractors as a pattern the contractor is unaware of. Over 55 years in business in the same location without having to advertise. 99% referrals and zero incidents. One of 3 other reputable contractors on the same job that finally met "that" customer last year. For me just before retirement. Been over a year now waiting for anything conclusive. G C's are just as vulnerable as a consumer. read more

Now listen I know government agency's are a joke......But this one deals directly with public safety.. I have been on hold for over 3 hours trying to report a business that works outside the scope of their license and is installing gas appliances without experience or permits I have tried to call for the last several months and have sent emails and have heard nothing back.... GAS appliances have noxious exhaust and gas can epode.. Killing people and have had no response. And their call hold has no idea what an expected wait time is... Shame on you for putting so many peoples lives in danger...... read more

My husband's counselor is amazing always there to answer a question from us, walk us through any processes we needed to complete. My husband has obtain his license!! Thank you Juan for going above and beyond read more

Name a government agency that actually solves a problem... I sent my license renewal forms in 3 weeks ago (twice for good measure) by mail of course after I didn't even receive the renewal forms in the mail the first time and had to request a duplicate...also sent out by mail only. Paid online...in advance of sending in both. I guess someone in the CSLB must have gone to IT school finally and figured out how to set up online payments on their website...whoah is it 2010 already? My license is now sitting expired and my GC customers are not paying me our monthly draws. So I'm sitting here bleeding thousands of dollars in interest to pay bills with loans in the middle of a world wide pandemic, and our state is on fire. No wonder people are scrambling like rats to get out of this state. GET IT TOGETHER CSLB! read more

Been working with them on a complaint about a bad pool contractor since March, they do nothing, promise phone calls, never respond, it's futile, don't even waste your time, they are overwhelmed and unable to help at all. So disappointing. read more

I have yet to find what they do to prevent contractors from taking advantage of consumers other than 'what to look out for' guides on their website. This isn't a condemnation of the people working there. Seems like there are hundreds of thousands of contractors, the CSLB has a staff of less than a thousand and most of the board are contractors or labor advocates, not consumer. On top of that it is paid for by application, license renewal fees, fines and penalties not the general fund. It is not in their interest to take away an unscrupulous contractors license, possibly just fine them a little or issue a warning. Since contractors can file a lien for non-payment you have to pay them and then take them to court. As far as I can tell CSLB doesn't help with that unless the contractor is unlicensed because then it is in their interest. Makes what is criminal activity in other states civil cases in California. Kind of a consumer protection charade. read more

If you're a homeowner, the CSLB is utterly useless. On the other hand, if you're a sleazy contractor, the CSLB is your best friend. Why? Because they know the CSLB will do absolutely nothing to help homeowners. First, it will take them months to get back to you. Second, if they do send a so called "industry expert" to your house, it will take them about a year. Lastly, why would they help the homeowners when they're in bed with the contractor? Answer? They won't. Unfortunately, in the state of California, having a license is just a license to steal. Yes you read that right and you've been warned. Keep that in mind before you sign a big fat contract with anyone. Because the CSLB can't or won't do anything to stop these shady contractors. But hey, don't take it from me. A former CSLB employee told me all that. He said why use a licensed contractor at all? What's your recourse if things go south? You know what your recourse is? Nothing. You're screwed. Just hire unlicensed folks and only pay them if the job goes well. In reality, you can't even blame these shady contractors for gaming the system. They're just doing what they can get away with... and it's all thanks to the CSLB. Then again, look on the bright side. The CSLB is the only organization out there that could manage to make the DMV look good. LOL... read more

I wish I could give it zero stars. This organization is totally useless and a waste of time.. The roofing contractor caused a lot of damage to my house and ended up carying neither workers comp nor general liability insurance as was required per the terms of the agreement. Making a complaint with the contractors license board has undermine my civil case against the contractor as the alledged "expert" that the contractors license board brought to the job site, who has absoutely no practical experience, is lazy, did not go on the top of the roof claiming it was unsafe, had assigned just a fraction of what it truly cost to fix the roof. The Contractors State License Board is in it for themselves. They fined the contractor for failing to carrying workers comp insurance, doing substandard work and causing numerous damages but they awarded me nothing and the fines are subject to repeated negoatiations with the perpertuator but not the victim. read more

Worst tax payer expense ever. A liar and rude. I had a complaint against a company (Benson Design) about a fake invoice they had created to help benefit a friend of theirs at a commercial unit where i was renting. The company is under Tax suspension and shouldn't being doing business so I filed the complaint with the Contractor Board and got this guy named Rod Smith to help with the case. At first Rod seems smart, was going to ask the contractor, if he did the roofing work and if so why would he do it if he's only licensed as a B (general contractor). I don't believe Rod ever called the contractor but called me back saying that he called the contractor and the contractor had told him that he sub-contract it but can't provide the sub-contractor info... Rod never called the contractor. He just read the license manual, which i also ready, and he just said exactly what the manual mentioned. I asked him about the Tax suspension and he just wanted to brush it off. I ask to speak to his supervisor and he got mad and hung up on me. What kind of public service are we paying for?? Rude workers and a liar. I'm voting this service off, the next voting season. read more

I have relatives who experienced fraud at the hands of a CSLB licensed firm. When calling the phone number 1-800-321-CSLB the introductory message indicates that I would be able to speak to a live representative, however this statement is utterly misleading and dishonest...much like the experience of one of their licensed contractors. The call line appears nothing more than a deterrent to get people with justifiable complaints to mail in forms with the unguaranteed hope that someone qualified will examine their complaint. The mislesding offer of a human being available to help provide guidance prior to submission of the extensive complaint packet makes the process more frustrating and uncertain and doing this to people in need who were taken advantage of is unfortunate and sad. Hopefully they are able to find an actual leader who looks into the customer service aspect of what CSLB is able to provide and makes adjustments to their customer service line accordingly. read more

Filed a complaint against a unlicensed Plumber, who did work for me and didn't complete any of the work. Contractors board came out to take my complaint. Was told that the plumber would be sent a citation and have to pay a fine. I never got an update on the resolves. read more

The number of poor reviews is overwhelming. My issue was in trying to speak to a live body. Their phone menu continues to push you into the automated phone service or online--neither of which answered my question. When I finally got to the point where the automated system was going to transfer me to a live body, the message said the wait was approximately 16 minutes. No option for a call back like many businesses offer. Since I had already been on the phone for almost 10 minutes to get to that stage, I had to hang up due to time constraints. Summary: CSLB does not want to speak with consumers; another waste of tax payers money. This seems to be occurring more and more in govt. agencies today. They can't continue to blame everything on Covid--or can/will they try?? read more

I was under the impression that the CSLB was here to protect the consumer form shady license contractors. I hired Cooper Roofing Service INC, a licensed roofing contractor, to install a new roof. What I got was a faulty roof, that leaked. I filed a complaint. E. Rodriquez, the CSLB investigator, worked harder at trying to get out of investigating my case. Instead he convinced me to go to arbitration. Which was a joke. Its better that you, as a consumer take your issues to court. It is obvious that CSLB protects the contractors. read more

Absolutely the worst service possible. It took them 5 months to process my license renewal during the pandemic, which left my business and I unable to work because we couldn't pull permits and risked getting fines if we did. Recently my GL insurance was renewed with my insurance carrier, yet the CSLB refuses to update it on their website, so now I can't pull permits and work again because it shows that my license is suspended due to an expired GL insurance policy (which is incorrect). I've tried numerous times to get a hold of someone and when I do get a hold of someone, they're rude, unable to help, and transfers me to voicemail. This is absolutely disgusting and shady service. read more

A licensed contractor, who we hired for a remodeling project, engaged in an unethical and illegal business practice, which cost us tens of thousands of dollars in damages. The Contractors State Licensing Board, while not disputing that the contractor broke the law, has decided not to enforce the law, because the contractor has a "clean record." A consumer looking up their license doesn't even see that they got a warning. Should we let a murderer go if they only kill 1 person? Or how about this: should we say that I can get away with not paying a contractor, and they can't put a lien on my house, as long as I only do it once? It seems to be that a licensed contractor should know the rules. Our specific complaint is that the contractor performed extra work without a signed change order. And then he put a lien on our house to force us to pay. These facts are not in dispute. The CSLB is not enforcing the law. When a California consumer sees that a contractor has a "license," they expect that to mean the contractor is ethical, law-abiding, competent, and performs good quality work. But this is not the case. Unless the CSLB enforces the law, the "license" is nothing more than a number on a piece of paper. read more

CSLB is for California area only and is an government organization. Contrary to my original expectation, CSLB responded to my complaint with reasonable amount of timeframe. For the consumers, you do need to file your complaint with accurate and specific items backed up by credible evidence. (Btw, I would not recommend to abuse their help by smearing your contractor as CSLB has plenty of experience anyway, so they won't cite the contractor just because there is a dispute so it's a waste of everyone's time anyway). I'm actually surprised by the overall negative review. Reading through some of the comments, it seems (a few) of the negative ones come from the contractor side. read more

Their website sucks. Tried to print and save address changes many times and it does not work. They said they emailed me 3 different times which of course they did'nt. Its almost as if they enjoy harrassing people with their incompetence and dysfunction. I have nothing good to say about them with all the taxpayers money they are wasting. read more

They are not on your side...no matter what they say. This is a waste of tax payers dollars. The company takes your information and then turns it in favor of the contractor....hence. Contractors .....hire an attorney and do not waste your time. The contractor put a lien on my property that was not in the time limits after he ripped me off. Of course they said they could not help. I do not know who looks over this board....but all I see is complaints.. read more

Summary - The CSLB is useless if like you are a homeowner that got screwed over by a contractor. Backstory.... I had a contractor Stephen Nau Construction of Sausalito do a home renovation for me here in Mill Valley. Before the construction began he provided an estimate for the work. When work began he switched the payment terms to "time and materials for the first two weeks" to "get a better idea of what was entailed to do the job". Little did I know that isn't legal and is a violation of his license. Unfortunately for me he never went back the estimated project cost as we had originally agreed. He did shotty work, only showed up 1 or 2 days per week, and complained constantly. The costs spiraled out of control and what was originally estimated to be a 3 month project ended up taking almost a year to complete. I filed a complaint with the CSLB. They had me fill out a lot of paper work, which took several hours. I did in the hopes that they would address this injustice. Upon submission of the paperwork, they took my statement but then said it would be several weeks before they could investigate. A few months later they alerted me that they closed the case. I was like what???? It turns out that they found him guilty of a violation but wouldn't tell me what the violation was. I escalated to a supervisor who subsequently told me that the violation was that he did work without a proper contract in place. However, because this was his first violation they were not going to do anything about it. This is totally insane because the process that you have to go through to file a complaint is more than most people are willing to do... and so I bet that a lot of issues never get flagged or addressed. Absolutely awful. Complete waste of my time. The CSLB exists to protect consumers and make sure that contractors are living up to the terms of their license. If there is no punishment for a violation then what is the point? If I could give them zero stars I would. read more

Worst organization and a waste of money. This entire department needs a makeover. They have uneducated and one sided investigators. If you are a contractor you will be found guilty before proven innocent and no way to defend yourself against fraudulent homeowner claims. read more

I want to thank the investigators at the CSLB for the excellent and professional way they handled my claim. You do need patience and very good documentation to be successful in this process but the alternative is a costly legal route. Take pictures and keep notes, texts, and emails throughout the project. The investigator gave me realistic timeframes, expectations, and explained that she had 35 other cases. So I was patient. I also researched tips from others who had filed complaints. In the end, the contractor was cited. The CSLB investigators cannot get money back that you have paid to the contractor. You may still need to sue in court for that resolution and if necessary the CSLB can revoke the contractors license if he/she doesn't pay the judgment. It is important to hold contractors accountable to the performance and business conduct requirements that go with the privilege of holding a license. I learned a lot by going through this process that will help me select better contractors in the future and how to protect myself if things go bad. read more

Unbelievable how the folks that are supposed to help are completely incompetent when it comes to construction knowledge. Being in the industry and promoting CSLB, I have seen where they are more interested in closing cases than doing what the CSLB publicly funded agency is intended to do. Better to eliminate CSLB and create an enforcement agency built on competent employees. read more

I've been trying to figure out when my fiancés contractors test is and they said they would send us a test date in early september and we STILL have not received it and we are at the end of october!!! I've left over 5 voicemails and call them every day of the week that they are open and no one answers the phone. I completely hate this place and their lack of effort to help their customers!!! read more

This is a great resource for home owners and business owners alike. ALWAYS check here prior to hiring any contractor. Their responsibility's include, making sure all contractors have valid licenses, operate within the law and that they have the proper insurance check their website for a vast array of educational materials, Learn how to do it right before signing any contract. A few things i have learned over the years, (some of the following were very expensive lessons) 1. check for properly issued License. 2. get at least three bids 3.get three references, and check them, also check the Better Business website for complaints. 4.get EVERYTHING IN WRITING 5. check that insurance is in place. 6. never pay more than 10% down 7. keep a file of all paperwork, permits, insurance certificates, dump receipts, etc. contract needs to always state that the contractor is responsible for operating within all applicable state, federal and local laws. contract should always state that the contractor is responsible for any permits and fees. contract needs to have a projected start and end date. read more

I was searching for a local office to drop in for a form to renew a license. I've been searching on their website and left messages however the form was no where to be found. I called the Sacramento office (916-255-3900) to ask if there is a local office and I got 2 options: automated system or get charged to continue. The website does not have the form. This is bad!!! read more

As contractor who pays yearly fees to maintain this CSLB , dismayed at the VERY poor service , probably impossible to speak to a live person, tried many times read more

really bad can't answer phone call trying to contact by email, mail phone nobody responded they don't care I cslb can you do better?

Very disappointed! First of all, the license processing is two months ‍. To check the application you need two months!?Guys, are you serious? This is how federal organizations work. Second, they have the exams, but they don't have the training materials for that. All the books that I found on the Internet don't have the proper information to be prepared for the exams. read more

The complaints is for this woman, SUSAN FENSTEMACHER that my husband mistaken as sir, and how rude she is. She talks to me like I am a nobody and while I just tried to get my husband's license taken care of. She refuse to talk to me because I am not on the license so I got my husband on the phone. When asked a question my husband have no answer to because I take care of all the paperworks. So I answer for him and she told my husband that "she needs to be quite". I understand that she can't talk to me because I am not on the license, but normaly the normal people would stills talk to me becasuse all I want is to take care of the problems, especailly when I told her I take care of the paperwork and that my husband doesn't even know what she is talking about. But she stills talks to me like I don't have a voice so therefore she wants me silent. How miserable does she have to be to treat another human being or better yet another woman the way she does? read more