Checking a tree company: public registers and licence lookups by country

This page describes what official pages say about their own lookups. It is not legal advice, and a lookup is only as complete as the records the agency holds. A clean result is not a guarantee and a missing result is not proof of a problem. The guides on which US states license arborists, starting a tree service and subcontracting and cover explain the rules themselves. This one covers only where to look. No company is named or judged here.

Four questions a lookup can answer

Is the business registered? A business registry shows that a name, number and status exist.
Is it licensed? Only some places license tree work. Where they do, a licence register names who holds one.
Is it covered? A workers' compensation agency shows whether a firm has cover or is in good standing with its premiums.
Does it have a safety record? A safety regulator may publish inspections, notices or prosecutions.

Each is a separate record held by a separate agency. A result from one does not answer the others.

United States

The US has no national register of tree companies. Checks run through state agencies and one federal safety database.

Contractor and tree licences

Lookup	What it shows	Worth knowing
California contractor license check	A contractor license or home improvement salesperson registration, with complaint disclosure.	Works from the license number, which is numeric only.
Maryland licensed tree expert search	Names and addresses of licensed tree experts, by company, county or last name.	The state says a name can be missing if its insurance certificate is not on file.
Louisiana licensed arborist lists	Dated lists of licensed arborists and of licensed utility arborists.	Lists are documents, not a live search.
New Jersey Board of Tree Experts directories	The board's menu offers a licensee directory and a business directory.	Tree care adverts must carry the business registration number.

California. The Contractors State License Board has a check a license page that lets anyone look up a contractor license to verify information, including complaint disclosure. It says license numbers have no letters, and that the database is unavailable from Sunday 8 p.m. to Monday 6 a.m. for maintenance, so a failed search in that window may only be the maintenance. The page also links a tool that builds a list of licensed contractors by city or ZIP code. The board's D-49 Tree Service Contractor page says that classification prunes trees, removes trees, limbs or stumps (including grinding) and engages in tree or limb guying. Its C-49 Tree and Palm page gives the C-49 class, covering planting, maintaining and removing trees and palms. The guide on starting a tree service covers how the two relate. A license search shows the board's record for that license. It does not show who is on the crew.

Maryland. The Department of Natural Resources says all tree care professionals practising in the state must obtain a license and may not practise or advertise tree care without one. Its licensed tree experts search is described as a public service listing names and addresses. The same page gives a way to file a complaint against a licensed tree expert.

Louisiana. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry says on its arborist licensing page that arborist licenses are required if you work on trees for a fee, with a separate utility arborist license for removal along utility rights of way. It lists the renewal requirements, including proof of general liability and workers' compensation insurance, if applicable. It links two lists dated July 2026, so a company licensed after that date would not appear.

New Jersey. The Board of Tree Experts says on its page for consumers that doing tree care business in the state needs a board registration and at least one licensed individual. It says the public can be misled by a general business license or a pesticide license, which are not the same thing. It tells consumers to ask to see the company's business registration, its insurance and the name and licence number of the licensed person.

Business registration

Each state runs its own business entity search through its secretary of state or equivalent. They show whether a named entity exists and its status. They do not say whether the business holds a tree licence or insurance.

Workers' compensation cover

State	Lookup	Notes from the agency
New York	Employer coverage search, policy data from 1/1/2002	Name search matches only the start of the name, exactly as typed.
Florida	Proof of Coverage and Exemption Search databases	Contractors keep a screen print as evidence for a subcontractor.
Texas	Subscriber lookup, plus open lists of subscribers and non-subscribers	Most private employers may choose not to carry cover.

New York. The Workers' Compensation Board's employer coverage search holds policy and coverage information from insurers, and says its proof of coverage data is updated daily from insurer filings. The name search returns employers whose names begin exactly with what was typed, so a different spelling or trading name can return nothing. A cancellation date in the future does not mean cover has ended, because cover is in effect until the date of cancellation. If you cannot find an employer, the page points to a whistleblower form for suspected uninsured employers.

Florida. The state's Division of Workers' Compensation answers on subcontractors say a prime contractor is responsible for ensuring the subcontractor has coverage, and that a screen print from the Proof of Coverage database confirms cover is in effect. A business owner with an exemption is shown in a separate Exemption Search database. The page says construction employers need cover from one employee and non-construction employers from four.

Texas. The Department of Insurance says in its coverage verification page that private employers can choose to carry workers' compensation but it is not required in most cases. It points to a coverage check on a separate site, an open data list of subscribers and an open data list of registered non-subscribers. A business missing from the first list may be on the second, which the page describes as employers choosing not to provide coverage. The page gives a contact address for cases the online lookups cannot settle.

OSHA inspection history

The US Department of Labor's OSHA establishment search finds enforcement inspections by establishment name, inspection number or industry code, and lets results be filtered by open or closed status and by with or without violations. It says citation details are viewable for violations that Federal OSHA cited. It warns that different companies may have similar names and that close attention to the address may be necessary. It also says entries for open cases are subject to continuing correction, so a citation on an open case is not final. The page says its data runs through 10/02/2026. A listing means OSHA inspected a workplace. An empty result means no listed inspection under that name, not that the business is safe. The separate OSHA data page offers severe injury reports and fatality inspection lists.

Canada

Business registration, workers' compensation and safety enforcement are provincial. Quebec's registers and agency pages are in French.

Province	Cover check	What it confirms
British Columbia	WorkSafeBC clearance letter	Business is registered and paying premiums.
Alberta	WCB-Alberta clearance letter	Whether the contractor has WCB cover and the account is in good standing.
Ontario	WSIB clearance certificate	Business is registered and up to date on premiums and reporting.
Quebec	CNESST compliance services	Compliance of a contractor's insurance premium file.

British Columbia. WorkSafeBC says on its clearance letter page that a letter confirms a business is registered and paying its premiums, and that a hirer of a registered subcontractor who is not paying could be liable for premiums on that work. Its get a clearance letter page says the online application can search any registered business by account number or its precise legal or trade name, up to 150 firms at once. A letter saying a firm is active and in good standing is honoured up to the date shown in the letter. A prime contractor can only rely on a letter addressed to them. Letters confirming a firm is not registered must be requested by phone or fax. A separate page on contractors and subcontractors says privacy law stops WorkSafeBC from saying whether an individual has bought personal coverage.

Alberta. WCB-Alberta says a clearance letter states whether a contractor has coverage through WCB-Alberta and whether the account is in good standing. A second page on when a clearance is needed says the Workers' Compensation Act makes a hirer who skips this check potentially responsible for a contractor's unpaid premiums, and that the status of any company registered with WCB can be searched.

Ontario. The WSIB says on its clearances page that a clearance is a unique number showing a business, contractor or subcontractor is registered and up to date, valid for up to 90 days. A quick access option needs no log-in to find, view and download clearances. Independent operators outside construction might not be obliged to register, so no clearance would exist for them. The Ontario Business Registry is the province's registry for entities registered, incorporated or licensed to carry on business there.

Quebec. The CNESST describes three compliance services. Validation de conformite gives a contractor proof before a contract, and only the contractor can use it. Suivi de l'etat de conformite reports changes during a contract. Attestation de conformite, at the end of a contract, releases the hiring employer from liability for the contractor's unpaid contribution. When the hirer asks, the contractor has 14 days to approve or dispute the contract details. The Registraire des entreprises business register search is free and shows the Quebec enterprise number, registration status, names used, establishment addresses and managers.

In every province, a clearance is a point in time. It says a firm was in good standing on that date, not that it stays in good standing afterwards.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK says information about a company from Companies House is free, including registered address, date of incorporation, current and resigned officers, filed document images, previous names and insolvency information. The page also links a search for disqualified company directors. A sole trader is not a company, so there may be nothing on this register for one.

The Health and Safety Executive publishes two registers for Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). Its find a conviction page says cases are published 9 weeks after conviction and organisation convictions stay for 10 years. The case search shows when and where a company or individual was prosecuted and the offence. Its improvement and prohibition notices page says notices appear 5 weeks after being served and stay for 5 years. It adds that some notices were on a temporary register, so both may need checking. Northern Ireland has a separate register on the HSE NI website. HSE also lists crown censures and carriage of dangerous goods notices on its registers overview.

Australia

The Australian Business Register runs a free ABN Lookup service. It needs no login and shows whether an ABN is active or cancelled, the business type, GST status, public details given to the register and historical trading names where available. It searches by ABN, ACN or name. An ABN record says nothing about licences, insurance or safety.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission page on searching ASIC registers offers the business names register and the company and organisation registers. ASIC's company and business name registers cover companies and business names. They are not a record of safety or insurance.

Safety regulators publish enforcement outcomes state by state. WorkSafe Victoria's prosecution result summaries directory says it publishes summaries only of prosecutions ending in a guilty plea or finding, from 2012, with enforceable undertakings from 2007, and the directory can be searched by keyword. SafeWork NSW's prosecutions page says prosecution is a discretionary option used where it is in the public interest, and that its brief summaries cover cases with a finding of guilt and a conviction. Its page on improvement, prohibition and penalty notices describes those as separate outcomes, some issued instead of prosecution. A notice is not a conviction.

New Zealand

The New Zealand Companies Office register searches companies, and directors and shareholders. It has a search for banned directors, and publishes removal notices, and its news page carries notices of intention to remove companies from the register. The NZBN Register is searchable by keyword. A sole trader, partnership or trust in business can apply for an NZBN, and owners choose whether to make their business information public, so a sole trader may show less than a company.

WorkSafe New Zealand's prosecutions page offers court summaries of completed prosecutions since 2013. Its enforceable undertakings page lists accepted and court-ordered undertakings, which it calls legally binding agreements generally used as an alternative to prosecution. WorkSafe also has a form for people who want to know whether enforcement action has been, is or will be taken on a particular matter, described on its interest in enforcement action page.

At a glance

Country	Registered	Safety record
United States	State entity search	OSHA establishment search
Canada	Provincial registry	Clearance letters show premium status only
United Kingdom	Companies House	HSE convictions and notices
Australia	ABN Lookup, ASIC	State prosecution lists
New Zealand	Companies Register, NZBN	WorkSafe prosecutions

The Sources below link each official page.