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How do you check a contractor license in Minnesota?

Minnesota's Department of Labor and Industry describes an online search, open without an account, that shows a license's status and any enforcement actions against it. The state license covers residential building contractors, remodelers and roofers who contract directly with a homeowner, and the department says a registration is not the same thing.

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, license and registration lookup, read 22 October 2026.
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, 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 is the Minnesota contractor license search?

Start from the department's license and registration lookup page, listed in the sources below: it points to iMS, the department's licensing system, and you can search there without an account, by business name or by license number.

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, license and registration lookup, read 22 October 2026.
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Contractor Recovery Fund, read 22 October 2026.

The lookup page, read 22 October 2026, says: "Visit iMS, our licensing management system, to check the status of a license, continuing education completion, work experience, plumbing bond holders and whether there are enforcement actions against a license."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, license and registration lookup, read 22 October 2026.

It adds: "An account is not required to search."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, license and registration lookup, read 22 October 2026.

The department's Contractor Recovery Fund page says: "You can find a contractor by business name or by their license number."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Contractor Recovery Fund, read 22 October 2026.

Who needs a state license to build or remodel in Minnesota?

It turns on the work and on who signs the contract: the department's licensing page ties the license to contracting directly with the owner of a home of one to four units, for work in more than one special skill or for roofing.

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.

The licensing page, read 22 October 2026, says: "Any individual or company that contracts directly with an owner of residential real estate (one to four units) to provide work in more than one special skill must have a residential building contractor or residential remodeler license."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.

For roofing it says: "Any individual or company that contracts directly with an owner of residential real estate (one to four units) to provide just roofing work must have a residential building contractor, residential remodeler, or residential roofer license."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.

It draws the line between the two main license types: "A residential remodeler can only perform work on existing structures; they cannot build new homes or detached garages".

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.

On one-skill trades it says: "Specialty contractors who provide only one special skill are not required to have a state license (except residential roofers)."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.

The Office of the Revisor of Statutes publishes the text of section 326B.805, subdivision 3:

Source: Minnesota Statutes section 326B.805, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, read 22 October 2026.

"Except as provided in subdivision 6, no persons required to be licensed by subdivision 1 may act or hold themselves out as a residential building contractor, residential remodeler, residential roofer, or manufactured home installer for compensation without a license issued by the commissioner."

Source: Minnesota Statutes section 326B.805, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, read 22 October 2026.

Is a Minnesota contractor registration the same as a license?

No, by the department's own account: its hiring tips page describes registration as a separate program for contractors outside the license rule, and it tells homeowners not to hire on the strength of a registration alone.

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, read 22 October 2026.

The tips page, read 22 October 2026, says: "Contractors who are not required to be licensed must register through a contractor registration program to be treated as an independent contractor (as opposed to an employee) by contractors who hire them."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, read 22 October 2026.

It adds that "homeowners should not hire a contractor based on the fact that they are registered, as the registration program does not provide the same consumer protections that our licensing program does."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, read 22 October 2026.

It also says that "registered contractors are not required to provide proof of insurance or bonding and they do not contribute to the Contractor Recovery Fund."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, read 22 October 2026.

The same page warns: "If a homeowner hires an unlicensed contractor, they will not have access to the Contractor Recovery Fund".

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, read 22 October 2026.

What happens if you complain about a Minnesota contractor?

Complaints go to the department in writing. The department describes its role as action against a contractor's license; it says it cannot make a contractor fix the work or pay damages, and its recovery fund page asks for a court judgment before a homeowner applies.

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential building contractor complaints, read 22 October 2026.
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Contractor Recovery Fund, read 22 October 2026.

The complaints page, read 22 October 2026, says: "Complaints must be submitted in writing before an investigation can begin."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential building contractor complaints, read 22 October 2026.

It describes the limit this way: "our authority is limited to initiating administrative disciplinary action against a contractor's license if they have broken state law."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential building contractor complaints, read 22 October 2026.

It continues: "We have no authority to: compel a contractor to perform corrective work or pay damages; or impose the settlement of contractual or other civil disputes."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential building contractor complaints, read 22 October 2026.

Among the conditions to apply, the Contractor Recovery Fund page lists: "You obtained a final, docketed judgment against that licensed contractor."

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Contractor Recovery Fund, read 22 October 2026.

What should you ask a Minnesota contractor before you search?

Ask what the job covers and which Minnesota license the contractor holds, get the business name as it will appear on the contract, and then run the search yourself. The search is an optional public-record step; these are practical suggestions, not department rules.

Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Contractor Recovery Fund, read 22 October 2026.
Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.

  1. Ask for the business name exactly as it will appear on the contract, and any Minnesota license number.

    Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Contractor Recovery Fund, read 22 October 2026.

  2. Ask whether the job takes more than one special skill or includes roofing, the lines quoted above.

    Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, residential contractor licensing, read 22 October 2026.

  3. If you are shown a registration rather than a license, reread the department's words on registration quoted above.

    Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, read 22 October 2026.

  4. In the search, read the status and any enforcement action shown.

    Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, license and registration lookup, read 22 October 2026.

  5. The tips page lists, among contractors to avoid, those that "refuse to give a license number issued by the state of Minnesota".

    Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, tips for hiring a contractor, 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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