Can I transfer my contractor license to my new LLC?

No. A California contractor license is issued to one specific legal entity. A sole proprietorship, a corporation, and an LLC are three different entities, so forming a new one means applying for a new license with a new number. Nothing transfers.

Does my contractor bond transfer to the new entity?

No, for the same reason. The bond names the licensee, so a new licensee needs a new $25,000 bond filed against the new license number. Do not cancel the old bond until you are certain the old license is no longer needed.

Can I keep working while the new license is pending?

Only under the old entity, and only while the old license is still active. The moment you sign contracts or invoice as the new entity before its license issues, you are operating unlicensed. This is the single most expensive mistake in the whole process.

What extra does an LLC need that a corporation does not?

An LLC contractor must also carry the $100,000 employee and worker bond under BPC §7071.6.5, and liability insurance under BPC §7071.19 in an amount that scales with headcount. Budget for both before you choose the entity.

Do I lose my license history and my bonding record?

The new license starts its own record, which is why the transition is worth planning. Your surety, though, underwrites the people and the operation, so the track record you built does not evaporate. Tell your broker early and the bonding usually moves across with far less friction than the license does.

Changing Your Business Entity Without Losing Your License

Q: Do I have to retake the exam?

Not necessarily. BPC §7065.1 provides for a waiver of examination in defined circumstances, and a qualifier who recently held the same classification on an active license is the usual case. Eligibility is fact-specific, so confirm your own situation with CSLB before you plan around it.

California licensing, by the numbers

$25,000: California contractor license bond, required since Jan 1, 2023; CA Business & Professions Code, 2023
$100,000: Additional worker bond required of LLC contractors; CA Business & Professions Code
~290,000: Licensed California contractors, across 44 classifications; CSLB, 2025
$450: CSLB license application processing fee; CSLB

The rule that catches people

A California contractor license is issued to a legal entity, not to a person and not to a business name. A sole proprietorship, a corporation, and a limited liability company are three different entities in the eyes of the CSLB, even when the same person owns all three and does the same work.

So there is no such thing as converting your license. You apply for a new license, with a new number, held by the new entity. The old license stays with the old entity until you decide what to do with it.

What does not carry across

The license number. New entity, new number. Anywhere the old number appears — trucks, business cards, ads, contracts, your website — has to change once the new one issues.
The bond. Your $25,000 contractor license bond names the licensee. The new licensee needs its own bond, filed against the new number.
The license history. The new license starts its own record with CSLB.
Contracts already signed.Work under contract in the old entity's name generally stays there. Novating it to the new entity is a legal question, not a licensing one.

What usually does carry across

Two things soften the reset. First, the exam: BPC §7065.1 provides for a waiver of examination in defined circumstances, and a qualifier who recently held the same classification on an active license is the ordinary case for it. Eligibility depends on your facts, so confirm yours with CSLB rather than assuming.

Second, your bonding relationship. A surety underwrites the people and the operation, not the license number. The experience, financials, and clean job history you built under the old entity are the same evidence supporting the new one. Told early, most sureties move a program across with far less friction than the license takes — which is exactly why you want your broker in the loop before the entity changes, not after.

The gap, and why it is the expensive part

There is a window between forming the new entity and its license issuing. During that window the new entity is not licensed. If it signs a contract, pulls a permit, bids a job, or invoices for work, that is unlicensed contracting — with the collection and disgorgement consequences that carry in California, entirely separate from anything CSLB does.

Keep the old entity and its license active until the new license issues, and keep working under it.
Do not cancel the old bond early. An active license needs an active bond; cancelling it can suspend the license you are still relying on.
Do not invoice under the new name before the new number is live, however administratively convenient it seems.
Wind the old entity down afterwards, once open contracts are closed out and warranty obligations are accounted for.

If the new entity is an LLC

An LLC carries obligations a corporation does not. Alongside the $25,000 license bond you will need the $100,000 employee and worker bond under BPC §7071.6.5, plus liability insurance under BPC §7071.19 in an amount that scales with how many people are in the business. Both are conditions of holding the license, not optional extras, and together they change the cost comparison against incorporating. The LLC contractor requirements guide covers the full list.

A sensible order of operations

Form the new entity with the Secretary of State and get your FEIN.
Tell your surety broker now, so the new bonds are ready to file the moment CSLB asks for them rather than adding a week at the end.
Apply to CSLB for the new license, with the qualifier and classifications you need.
File the bonds, and the workers' compensation certificate or exemption.
Once the new license is issued, switch everything over — then close out and retire the old entity.

Tell us before you file and we will have the new bonds ready to go, so the license is not waiting on us. Start a quote, or read how the license application works. This is general information about California licensing, not legal advice — confirm your own situation with CSLB, and use a lawyer for the entity work.