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How do you check a contractor license in Maryland?

In Maryland, the Home Improvement Commission licenses home improvement contractors and salespersons. It offers a license search for active licensees, listed in the sources below; for disciplinary actions, the Commission asks you to contact it.

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.
Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission license search, read 22 October 2026.

The license lookup is yours to run on the state's site.

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By InstaBids editorial team with AI research agents. Sources last read: 22 October 2026

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Key facts

Trade license pages

Where do you search for a Maryland contractor license?

In the Commission's license search, listed in the sources below.

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission license search, read 22 October 2026.

The query page, read 22 October 2026, opens its list of search options with this line: "You may search for active licensees practicing in the State of Maryland as follows:"

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission license search, read 22 October 2026.

What does the Maryland query cover?

Active licensees of the Home Improvement Commission. For disciplinary actions, the query page asks you to contact the Commission.

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission license search, read 22 October 2026.

The page puts it this way: "Note: Please contact us if you need information regarding disciplinary actions against a licensee."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission license search, read 22 October 2026.

The Commission's main page gives the route: it says its contacts page lists e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of individual staff members.

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

Which jobs count as home improvement in Maryland?

The Commission's license covers work on a home: altering, remodeling, repairing or replacing a building or part of one used as a residence, including work on an individual condominium unit. It does not include work done on commonly owned areas of condominiums or buildings that contain four or more single family units, in the main page's words.

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

The Commission's main page, read 22 October 2026, says: "Home improvement work includes alteration, remodeling, repair or replacement of a building or part of a building used as a residence."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

It also draws the edge of that scope: "Home improvement does not include work done on commonly owned areas of condominiums or buildings that contain four or more single family units."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

The rule itself sits in the Maryland Code, Business Regulation §8-301(a): "(a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a person must have a contractor license whenever the person acts as a contractor in the State."

Source: Maryland General Assembly, Business Regulation §8-301, read 22 October 2026.

Subsection (b) of the same section covers selling: "(b) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a person must have a salesperson license or contractor license whenever the person sells a home improvement in the State."

Source: Maryland General Assembly, Business Regulation §8-301, read 22 October 2026.

The section also lists people it does not apply to. One item on that list reads: "(4) an architect, electrician, plumber, heating, ventilation, air–conditioning, or refrigeration contractor, or other person who: (i) is required by State or local law to meet standards of competency or experience before engaging in an occupation or profession; (ii) currently is licensed in that occupation or profession under State or local law; and (iii) is: 1. acting only within the scope of that occupation or profession; or 2. installing a central heating or air–conditioning system;"

Source: Maryland General Assembly, Business Regulation §8-301, read 22 October 2026.

The Commission's main page adds: "The law continues to provide that only MHIC licensed contractors may enter into contracts with homeowners to perform home improvement work."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

On the same page: "Home improvement subcontractors may work without a license when performing home improvements for an MHIC licensed contractor in the state of Maryland."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

How do complaints and fund claims differ in Maryland?

A complaint against a contractor or salesperson pays the homeowner nothing, while a claim to the Commission's fund can pay for actual losses, and only on work done by a contractor who held a license; the fund claim has its own form, and you get the form by contacting the investigator assigned to your complaint.

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.
Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

The complaint page, read 22 October 2026, says: "A complaint may be filed against a contractor or a salesperson."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

It is plain about money: "There is no monetary award for homeowners in the complaint process."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

It goes on: "If a licensed contractor was used, the homeowner may be compensated for actual losses through the Guaranty Fund claim process."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

On the form: "There is a form, separate from the complaint form, which must be filed with the Commission for compensation from the Guaranty Fund."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

It adds: "To obtain a claim form, contact the investigator who is assigned to your complaint."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

On the fund, the main page says: "The Fund applies only to work done by licensed contractors."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

The complaint page adds: "The Fund does not apply to salespersons, or unlicensed contractors."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

The main page sets the most a homeowner can recover: "The maximum amount that a homeowner may recover through the Fund is the amount paid to the contractor, up to $30,000."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

The complaint page sets the time limit: "A claim must be filed within three years of the date of discovery of loss or damage caused by a licensed contractor."

Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

What should you have ready before searching the Maryland query?

Get the contractor's license number and trade name in writing and find out whether a salesperson is part of the deal; the search is then an optional public-record step you can take yourself. These are practical suggestions, not Commission rules.

  1. Ask for the license number and the trade name the contractor uses with the Commission, in writing.
  2. Ask whether a salesperson is selling you the job, and note that person's name.
  3. Look the contractor up on the Commission's license search, listed in the sources below.

    Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission license search, read 22 October 2026.

  4. Remember the query searches active licensees; for disciplinary information, contact the Commission through the contacts page its main page names.

    Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission license search, read 22 October 2026.
    Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission main page, read 22 October 2026.

  5. If no active record comes up, ask the contractor again, in writing, for its license number, and search once more.
  6. Keep a note of each search and its date, in case you ever file a complaint and, through it, a fund claim.

    Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Home Improvement Commission complaint page, read 22 October 2026.

Who sees your contact details when you post a job on InstaBids?

One point about InstaBids follows. Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, live-page excerpts, read 22 October 2026.

Post your job on InstaBids, and contractors can bid in writing on one written scope.

Homeowners anywhere in the US can post a job; once you send it, InstaBids finds contractors to bid on it.

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