Contractor licence for tree work in Washington: registration, bond and insurance

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) position as read on its own registration page and on the Legislature's text of RCW chapter 18.27 on October 8, 2026. A short phrase in quotation marks is the source's own. Washington calls this registration, not a licence, so the page title uses the same word as the other states in this family.

What the statute says about tree work

RCW 18.27.010(1)(a) defines a contractor as any person, firm, corporation or other entity who, in the pursuit of an independent business, undertakes to, offers to undertake or submits a bid to construct, alter, repair or improve a building, road or other structure or improvement attached to real estate, and the definition includes "performing tree removal services." The words tree pruning, tree trimming and stump grinding do not appear in that definition. Section 18.27.020(1) says every contractor shall register with the department.

Section 18.27.020(2) makes it a gross misdemeanor for a contractor to advertise, offer to do work, submit a bid or perform any work as a contractor without being registered, to do the same while the registration is suspended or revoked, to use a false or expired registration number in buying an advertisement for which a registration number is required, to transfer a valid registration to an unregistered contractor, or to subcontract to or use an unregistered contractor. Subsection (5) says a person is guilty of a separate gross misdemeanor for each day worked, after a citation from the department, while unregistered, and for each worksite on which the person violates subsection (2).

What the registration page says

The L&I page on registering as a contractor says the department regulates 63 specialties that each require contractor registration, and lists tree removal among them with roofing, painting and heating and air conditioning. It says there are two classifications. General contractors can perform most types of construction work and hire subcontractors in several specialties. Specialty contractors can only perform work in the specialty they are registered in and cannot hire subcontractors. The page says working without registering carries "substantial penalties and fines."

The steps it lists are to register the business with the Department of Revenue, get a surety bond or an assignment of savings, buy a general liability insurance policy, complete the Application for Contractor Registration and pay the application fee of US$150.20. The application must carry original, notarized signatures. The page says mailed applications were taking 3 to 4 weeks to process, and that once registered a business is listed in the department's Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson, or Business tool. The renewal fee shown is also US$150.20.

Bond and insurance

RCW 18.27.040(1) sets the bond at US$30,000 for a general contractor and US$15,000 for a specialty contractor, issued by a surety insurer, continuous, with the state of Washington as obligee. It says a cancellation of the bond automatically suspends the registration until a new bond or reinstatement notice is filed and approved. The registration page gives the same amounts and says the alternative to a bond is an assigned bank account, which can be posted as cash, a certificate of deposit, a time deposit or a money market account at a bank, savings and loan or credit union with a branch in Washington.

The page gives the liability insurance amounts as US$200,000 in public liability and US$50,000 in property damage, or US$250,000 combined single limit, with L&I listed as certificate holder. It adds that a model disclosure statement notice to the customer is provided for all residential jobs of US$1,000 or more and for commercial projects of US$1,000 to US$60,000.

Registration number on advertising, and pesticides

The page says that by law a contractor who advertises, solicits bids or offers to perform work must always include the contractor registration number, naming business cards, directory ads, newspaper ads, internet ads, estimates and bid proposals. Rules on display in other states are on the page about licence number display rules. It also says that a contractor who will apply pesticides is directed to the Washington State Department of Agriculture's licensing program, which is separate from contractor registration.

Other states that run tree work through contractor boards are on the contractor licences overview. The pages for Oregon and California cover two states with a licence rather than a registration.