Iowa contractor license lookup
Iowa requires state registration for general contractors and roofing contractors. It issues state licenses for electrical contractors, plumbing contractors and HVAC contractors. and Licensing lists 17,988 active contractor registrations and licenses as of October 5, 2026.
Look up a license
| Trade | Credential | Board | Official lookup |
|---|---|---|---|
| General contractor | State registration (no competency license) | Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Building and Construction Division, Contractor Registration | Search general contractor licenses We could not load this lookup when we checked, so confirm the link on the board site. |
| Electrical | State license | Iowa Electrical Examining Board (DIAL) | Search electrical licenses |
| Plumbing | State license | Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board (DIAL) | Search plumbing licenses |
| HVAC | State license | Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board (DIAL) | Search HVAC licenses |
| Roofing | State registration (no competency license) | Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Contractor Registration | Search roofing licenses We could not load this lookup when we checked, so confirm the link on the board site. |
Verify a contractor
For homeowners hiring in Iowa.
- Open the official Iowa lookup run by DIAL and search the contractor by name or number.
- For electrical work, also check the electrical contractor lookup from DIAL.
- For plumbing work, also check the plumbing contractor lookup from DIAL.
- For HVAC work, also check the HVAC contractor lookup from DIAL.
- DIAL registers contractors partly to make information about them available to the public. source Licensed plumbing and mechanical contractors can be searched or verified on the board's public portal. source Subcontractors are not covered by the general contractor's registration and must register on their own. source Check with the city or county for local requirements on each project. source The Iowa Regulatory Licensing public search finds plumbing and mechanical licensees by license number, business, name, program and status, including disciplinary action. source
- Confirm the record is active and the class matches the job (Construction contractor registration). The board's own record governs. A registration is required for jobs above Registration required for anyone earning at least $2,000 a year from construction work (an annual earnings test, not a per-job threshold). source
- Check the bond and insurance on the record against the state minimums: Surety bond of $25,000 for contractors whose principal place of business is outside Iowa; it guarantees payments owed to the state and only the state can collect on it. source Proof of workers' compensation insurance with the registration application; no liability insurance minimum found. source
- Homeowners can file a complaint about an electrician or electrical contractor through DIAL. source
Homeowner protections in Iowa
Get licensed
For a general contractor working in Iowa.
- Register with DIAL as a Construction contractor registration.
- Post a surety bond of $25,000 for contractors whose principal place of business is outside Iowa; it guarantees payments owed to the state and only the state can collect on it. source
- Carry proof of workers' compensation insurance with the registration application; no liability insurance minimum found. source
- Pay the contractor registration application fee, per year: $50. source
- Registration renewed every year (the rule also allows a three-year registration for $150). source
Other trades
- Electrical: state license, $375 fee. Requirements
- Plumbing: state license, $5,000 bond, $400 fee. Requirements
- HVAC: state license, $5,000 bond, $400 fee. Requirements
- Roofing: state registration, $25,000 bond, $50 fee. Requirements
Requirements by trade
| Exam | Not found on an official source. On an official source. |
|---|---|
| Experience | Not found on an official source. On an official source. |
| Bond | Surety bond of $25,000 for contractors whose principal place of business is outside Iowa; it guarantees payments owed to the state and only the state can collect on it. source |
| Insurance | Proof of workers' compensation insurance with the registration application; no liability insurance minimum found. source |
| Renewal | Registration renewed every year (the rule also allows a three-year registration for $150). source |
| Reciprocity | Not found on an official source. On an official source. |
| Fees |
| Exam | Yes. The contractor must be or employ a master electrician, and a master license requires a board-approved written exam with a score of 70 or higher. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | 1 years (Master electrician: one year as a licensed journeyman (journeyman requires a registered apprenticeship)). source |
| Bond | Not found on an official source. Statute requires a surety bond as set by the board, but no bond amount was found in the board rules. |
| Insurance | $1,000,000 (General and completed operations liability insurance of at least $1 million). source |
| Renewal | 3 years (Electrical licenses expire every three year). source |
| Reciprocity | Reciprocal agreements with Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. source |
| Fees |
| Exam | Yes. The contractor must hold or employ a master of record, and master licenses require passing the board master exam for the discipline. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | 2 years (Master of record: a journeyperson license plus two years of journeyperson work experience in the discipline (journeyperson exam requires a 36-month registered apprenticeship)). source |
| Bond | Surety (performance) bond of at least $5,000 covering the contractor's customers, plus the $25,000 registration bond if based out of state. source |
| Insurance | Public liability insurance of at least $500,000. source |
| Renewal | Licenses run on a fixed 3-year period (current period July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029). source |
| Reciprocity | Reciprocity with South Dakota for journeyperson and master plumbing licenses obtained by written exam; no reciprocity found for the contractor license itself. source |
| Fees |
|
| Exam | Yes. The contractor must hold or employ a master of record, and master licenses require passing the board master exam for the discipline, here assumed to be HVAC/refrigeration or mechanical. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | 2 years (Master of record: a journeyperson license plus two years of journeyperson work experience in the discipline (journeyperson exam requires a 36-month registered apprenticeship)). source |
| Bond | Surety (performance) bond of at least $5,000 covering the contractor's customers, plus the $25,000 registration bond if based out of state. source |
| Insurance | Public liability insurance of at least $500,000. source |
| Renewal | Licenses run on a fixed 3-year period (current period July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029). source |
| Reciprocity | Not found on an official source. No reciprocity found for HVAC or mechanical licenses; the only published agreement (South Dakota) covers plumbing only. |
| Fees |
|
| Exam | Not found on an official source. On an official source. |
|---|---|
| Experience | Not found on an official source. On an official source. |
| Bond | Surety bond of $25,000 for contractors whose principal place of business is outside Iowa; it guarantees payments owed to the state and only the state can collect on it. source |
| Insurance | Proof of workers' compensation insurance with the registration application; no liability insurance minimum found. source |
| Renewal | Registration renewed every year (the rule also allows a three-year registration for $150). source |
| Reciprocity | Not found on an official source. On an official source. |
| Fees |
Licenses on record
17,988 active records in Active Iowa Construction Contractor Registrations (Iowa Data Hub dataset 1052), Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, as of October 5, 2026. 15,861 expire within the next year.
| Trade | Active |
|---|---|
| General contractor | 5,587 |
| Electrical | 1,724 |
| Plumbing | 1,436 |
| HVAC | 1,436 |
| Roofing | 880 |
| License type | Active |
|---|---|
| Construction contractor registration (mixed) | 17,988 |
| Specialty | Active |
|---|---|
| Residential Remodelers | 3,396 |
| All Other Specialty Trade Contractors | 1,794 |
| Electrical and Wiring Installation | 1,724 |
| Plumbing/Heating & A/C Contractors | 1,436 |
| Other/Undefined | 1,367 |
| Commercial & Institutional Bldg Construction | 1,177 |
| Roofing Contractors | 880 |
| Finish Carpentry Contractors | 807 |
| New Single-Family Housing Construction | 736 |
| Site Preparation Contractors | 624 |
| Painting & Wall Covering Contractors | 474 |
| Poured Concrete Foundation Contractors | 348 |
| Flooring Contractors | 303 |
| Drywall & Insulation Contractors | 285 |
| Other Foundation/Structure &Bldg Exterior | 285 |
Show all specialties
| Specialty | Active |
|---|---|
| Masonry Contractors | 277 |
| Framing Contractors | 244 |
| Highway/Street and Bridge Construction | 240 |
| Water/Sewer Line Construction | 231 |
| Power/Communication Line Construction | 223 |
| Siding Contractors | 194 |
| Other Building Finishing Contractors | 146 |
| Other Building Equipment Contractors | 121 |
| Industrial Building Construction | 111 |
| New Housing For-Sale Builders | 104 |
| Other Heavy/Civil Engineering | 101 |
| Structural Steel/Precast Concrete Contractors | 99 |
| Glass and Glazing Contractors | 75 |
| New Multifamily Housing Construction | 63 |
| Oil/Gas Pipeline Construction | 50 |
| Tile/Terrazzo Contractors | 49 |
| Land Subdivision | 24 |
| City | Active |
|---|---|
| Des Moines | 1,030 |
| Cedar Rapids | 614 |
| Sioux City | 309 |
| Ankeny | 296 |
| Davenport | 265 |
| Dubuque | 250 |
| Urbandale | 238 |
| West Des Moines | 238 |
| Council Bluffs | 229 |
| Waterloo | 225 |
| Iowa City | 224 |
| Ames | 192 |
| Marion | 187 |
| Indianola | 138 |
| Grimes | 132 |
| Cedar Falls | 128 |
| Johnston | 123 |
| Waukee | 122 |
| Fort Dodge | 118 |
| Bettendorf | 116 |
Show more cities
| City | Active |
|---|---|
| Marshalltown | 109 |
| Altoona | 105 |
| Muscatine | 105 |
| Norwalk | 102 |
| Mason City | 97 |
| North Liberty | 93 |
| Ottumwa | 91 |
| Clive | 86 |
| Clinton | 84 |
| Spencer | 80 |
| Boone | 79 |
| Adel | 74 |
| Spirit Lake | 73 |
| Burlington | 71 |
| Pleasant Hill | 70 |
| Carroll | 67 |
| Newton | 64 |
| Coralville | 63 |
| Winterset | 61 |
| Decorah | 59 |
| Bondurant | 58 |
| Washington | 58 |
| Manchester | 57 |
| Hiawatha | 56 |
| Oskaloosa | 53 |
| Carlisle | 52 |
| Pella | 52 |
| Independence | 51 |
| Solon | 51 |
| Polk City | 50 |
- A snapshot of the Active Iowa Construction Contractor Registrations (Iowa Data Hub dataset 1052), Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing as of October 5, 2026. The board's live lookup may differ.
- Counts are Iowa construction contractor registrations, not licenses. Iowa requires registration from anyone earning a set minimum a year from construction work; it does not test or grade contractors.
- The publisher lists only active registrations (18,000 rows) and the file has no status field; 17,988 have an expiration date after October 5, 2026 and are counted as active. Every row names a business; most also name a person, so business and individual registrations cannot be told apart and are not split.
- Trade comes from the registrant's single self-reported primary activity (a NAICS category). A firm doing several trades shows under one. Plumbing and HVAC share one category, Plumbing/Heating and A/C Contractors, so those two counts are the same rows.
- Cities come from the business address. 4,055 registrations with an out-of-state address are left out of the city table.
- The file has no discipline field, so no discipline count is shown.
- The file holds 18,000 rows, the publisher's own row count for the dataset. The same download service returns larger files in full for other datasets, so this is the complete list, not a download limit.
- Data from the Iowa Data Hub, licensed CC BY. Snapshot as of October 5, 2026.
How these counts are defined
- Rows Total
- Every row in the publisher's file. The publisher lists active registrations only.
- Active Total
- Registrations in the file whose expiration date is after October 5, 2026.
- Active by license type
- Iowa has one credential type, the construction contractor registration. Most rows name both a business and a person, so the two cannot be split.
- Active by specialty
- The registrant's self-reported primary activity, one per registration. Rows under 10 are not shown.
- Active by trade
- Primary activities grouped into five trades. Plumbing and HVAC share one category, so they count the same registrations. General covers the building construction categories.
- Cities
- City of the business address, for Iowa addresses only. Spelling is not corrected. Top 50 cities with at least 10 registrations.
- Active Out Of State
- Active registrations with a business address outside Iowa.
- Expiring within the next year
- Active registrations that expire after October 5, 2026 and on or before October 5, 2027.
- As Of
- The date the publisher last refreshed the dataset. The publisher updates it weekly.
Counts only, no personal data. Small groups are left out. Rows marked business, individual or mixed count different holders and are never added together.
- Source: Active Iowa Construction Contractor Registrations (Iowa Data Hub dataset 1052), Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, as of October 5, 2026. Data license: CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International). Source: Active Iowa Construction Contractor Registrations, Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, via the Iowa Data Hub (https://data.iowa.gov/datasets/1052), licensed CC BY 4.0. Aggregated counts by this site.
Questions
- Does Iowa require a contractor license?
- Yes, in most cases Iowa requires a state registration for general contractors. Registration required for anyone earning at least $2,000 a year from construction work (an annual earnings test, not a per-job threshold). The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Building and Construction Division, Contractor Registration issues it as the Construction contractor registration credential. Registration is not a test of skill.
- How do I look up a contractor license in Iowa?
- The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Building and Construction Division, Contractor Registration keeps the record for general contractors in Iowa. Use the official lookup linked in the Look up a license table, and treat the board's own record as final.
- How do I look up an electrician license in Iowa?
- The Iowa Electrical Examining Board (DIAL) keeps the record for electrical contractors in Iowa.
- How do I look up a plumbing license in Iowa?
- The Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board (DIAL) keeps the record for plumbing contractors in Iowa.
- Does Iowa have an HVAC license?
- The Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board (DIAL) keeps the record for HVAC contractors in Iowa.
- Do roofers need a license in Iowa?
- The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Contractor Registration keeps the record for roofing contractors in Iowa.
- How many contractors are registered or licensed in Iowa?
- The Active Iowa Construction Contractor Registrations (Iowa Data Hub dataset 1052), Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing lists 17,988 active records as of October 5, 2026.
Sources
- https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/building/contractors
- https://laborportal.iwd.iowa.gov/iwd_portal/dashboards/contractor-home
- https://dial.iowa.gov/boards/electrical-examining-board
- https://dps-eeb.my.site.com/LicenseSearchPage
- https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/103.pdf
- https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/building/plumbing-mechanical
- https://amanda-portal.idph.state.ia.us/adpereh/portal/#/public/public-search
- https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/building/plumbing-mechanical/plumbing-licensure/contractor-license
- https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/04-15-2026.481.465.pdf
- https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/08-06-2025.481.401.pdf
- https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/building/electrical-licensing/electrical-licensing-faqs
- https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/building/plumbing-mechanical/plumbing-licensure/master-license
- https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/building/plumbing-mechanical/plumbing-licensure/examination
- https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/building/plumbing-mechanical/plumbing-licensure/licensing-period-fees
- https://dial.iowa.gov/i-need/complaints
- https://data.iowa.gov/datasets/1052
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This is not a government site. The licensing board's own record governs; always confirm on the official lookup. Information as of October 6, 2026.