Running the Business · Part 0
What happens after you pass: the 90-day clock and the six things CSLB needs
Passing the C-36 exam does not make you a contractor. CSLB sends a bond verification and license fee notice, and you have 90 days from that notice to return the initial license fee, a $25,000 contractor's bond, a bond of qualifying individual if one applies, workers' compensation proof or a defensible exemption, and the asbestos open-book exam form. Miss the 90 days and the application is void. This lesson runs the sequence in the order CSLB processes it, with the mistakes that hold licenses up.
What the full lesson covers
- The pass letter is a notice with a clock, not a license. You cannot bid or contract for work of $1,000 or more, or any job that needs a permit, until the license number issues (B&P 7028, 7048).
- You have 90 days from the fee notice to pay the initial license fee, or the application is void and you start over (B&P 7074).
- Six items must all be received: the initial license fee ($200 sole owner / $350 other entities), the $25,000 contractor's bond, the $25,000 bond of qualifying individual unless the RMO owns 10 percent or more, workers' compensation proof or exemption, the asbestos open-book exam verification form, and LLC bond and insurance if you are an LLC.
- Workers' compensation: a C-36 with no employees can still file an exemption today, but CSLB begins verifying exemption claims by January 1, 2027, and coverage becomes mandatory for every licensee on January 1, 2028 (SB 216 as amended by SB 1455). If you might hire, carry the policy from day one.
- Wall certificate and pocket card arrive about a week after the license issues. Track it with CSLB's Check Application Status tool.
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More lessons in From Pass Letter to License Number
- 1What happens after you pass: the 90-day clock and the six things CSLB needsYou are here
- 2The $25,000 bond: what it protects, what it does not, and how it quietly disappears
- 3Workers' compensation: what a C-36 must carry today, and what changes in 2027 and 2028
- 4Who qualifies the license: sole owner, RMO, RME, and why lending your license ends careers
- 5Your business name: what CSLB allows, the fictitious business name filing, and the 90-day rule for changes
- 6Case: three applicants, three delays. What held each one up