How do I find a licensed contractor for home repairs and check their license?

The Registrar of Contractors licenses and disciplines contractors statewide. Its public search shows the licence class (for example residential, electrical, plumbing, air conditioning), its status and history, the bond on file and complaints or disciplinary actions. The “handyman exemption” allows unlicensed work only under 1,000 dollars in labour and materials and only where no permit is required; everything else, including most air-conditioning, roofing, electrical and pool work, needs a licence [1].

Hiring licensed matters beyond legality: homeowners who used a licensed residential contractor can claim from the Residential Contractors’ Recovery Fund for faulty or abandoned work, up to a capped amount, after a Registrar ruling; with an unlicensed contractor you have only the courts [1]. Get a written contract with the licence number, scope, schedule and payment stages, and never pay the bulk up front.

Many projects also need a city permit, and the city, not the contractor, is where you confirm it was pulled and inspected; Phoenix handles permits and inspections through its planning and development department, other cities through theirs [2]. Door-to-door roofing and air-conditioning offers after a storm are a known scam pattern; the Attorney General publishes alerts and takes complaints [3].