Step 1: Reporting a Judgment or Private Arbitration Decision

A contractor is required to report a construction-related civil court judgment to CSLB within 90 days of the judgment date. When a copy of the judgment is received by CSLB, the information is entered on the contractor's license record and a notice is sent to the contractor.

The judgment entered on a contractor's record can affect any license for which they may apply and any other license that includes them (i.e. a sole ownership license and a corporation license, both bearing the same personnel would be affected).

Failure to report a judgment within 90 days, results in an immediate suspension of the contractor's license from the date that the judgment is reported. The license remains suspended until the judgment is resolved.

Tip symbol TIP A private arbitration decision is considered the same as a judgment. See Business & Professions Code Section 7071.17.

Alert symbol ALERT Anyone can report a construction-related judgment against a contractor by sending a copy of the judgment to the CSLB Judgment Unit at the headquarters office. In fact, most of the judgments received by CSLB are sent by the person to whom the contractor owes money. See Business and Professions Code Section 7071.17.

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