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Contractor licences for tree work: which state boards cover it

Which state contractor licensing laws name tree work, read from California's and Oregon's contractor boards and Washington's contractor registration statute, with a page for each.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. Each row names the law and the official source it was read from on October 8, 2026. Only three states have been read for this page, so a state missing from the table has not been read, which is different from a state with no rule. States that run tree work through an arborist board instead of a contractor board are on the guide to state arborist licenses.

States read

StateWho licensesWhat the official source says about tree work
CaliforniaContractors State License BoardClassification C-49 Tree and Palm Contractor, open to applications from January 1, 2024. The older C-61/D-49 Tree Service classification no longer takes applications.
OregonConstruction Contractors BoardORS 701.005(5)(e) lists a person engaged as an independent contractor to remove trees, prune trees, remove tree limbs or stumps or engage in tree or limb guying among the people the chapter calls a contractor, except a landscape contracting business, nurseryman, gardener or person engaged in the commercial harvest of forest products.
WashingtonDepartment of Labor and Industries (registration, not a licence)RCW 18.27.010(1)(a) includes "performing tree removal services" in the definition of a contractor, and the department's page lists tree removal among 63 specialties that each require contractor registration.

California, Oregon and Washington each have their own page: California with the classification text, the board's fee list and the workers' compensation rule, Oregon with the statute sections, the exam, the endorsements and the fees, and Washington with the registration statute, the bond and insurance amounts and the fee.

Oregon

The Oregon Construction Contractors Board's licence page also lists tree servicing among the work that requires a licence. Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 701, on construction contractors, defines "contractor" in section 701.005(5). Paragraph (e) is the tree work paragraph quoted in the table. Section 701.021(1) says a person or joint venture that undertakes, offers to undertake or submits a bid to do work as a contractor must have a current licence issued by the Construction Contractors Board and an appropriate endorsement, except as provided in section 701.010. The Legislature's page for the chapter notes that some sections were amended or repealed in the 2026 regular session and that the amendments to section 701.005 made by chapter 78 of the Oregon Laws 2025 become operative July 1, 2027. The text of paragraph (e) is the same in the version in force at the date read and in the version operative from July 1, 2027.

California

The California board's classification list names C-49 Tree and Palm Contractor among its specialty classifications, and its page for that class says a Tree and Palm contractor plants, maintains and removes trees and palms. The details are on the California page below.

Tree businesses that use a licence number on advertising are covered on the page about licence number display rules. The guide on checking a company lists where a licence can be looked up.

Contractor licences, state by state

Sources