The verification cheat sheet
Before you sign anything, verify:
| Check | Where |
|---|---|
| Construction Contractor Registration active | L&I Verify |
| Bond (general contractor minimum $30,000; specialty contractor $15,000, both effective 2024-07-01) | L&I Verify |
| General liability insurance (minimum $50,000 property damage + $200,000 public liability, or $250,000 combined single limit) | L&I Verify |
| Workers' comp current | L&I Verify |
| Prior Seattle DADU permits | SDCI Permit and Site History Research Tool |
| No active L&I complaints or discipline | L&I Verify |
A 30-minute exercise that handles most due-diligence questions before the contract conversation starts.
Bond minimum bumped in 2024. Washington raised the GC bond from $12,000 to $30,000 effective 2024-07-01 — the first increase in 22 years. A contractor still showing the old $12,000 bond is out of compliance.
The site visit
Beyond the paperwork, visit one finished DADU the GC built. Walk through it. Ask the owner:
- Did the project come in at the bid price? If not, what changed?
- Did it finish on schedule? If not, what slipped?
- How were change orders handled?
- How was cleanup at the end?
- Would you hire them again?
Owners are remarkably honest in person. A 30-minute walkthrough tells you more than five reference calls.
Why local DADU history matters
GCs with several recent Seattle DADUs already have working relationships with the local electricians, side-sewer contractors, and SDCI inspectors. They know the current submittal expectations, the inspection sequence, and the sub-coordination patterns specific to this project type. Across published Seattle builder retrospectives (Brutsky, Hammer & Hand, Stephen Husted), the projects that ran closest to bid were consistently led by GCs with that local fluency.
Go deeper
Optional reading. Skip if you only need the headline.
›WA L&I contractor bond change effective July 2024 — what to verifyThe first WA contractor bond increase in 22 years. What it changed, what it didn't, and how to spot a contractor whose record never caught up.
What changed
Effective July 1, 2024, Washington raised the surety bond minimums for registered contractors for the first time since 2002:
| Registration type | Old bond | New bond |
|---|---|---|
| General contractor | $12,000 | $30,000 |
| Specialty contractor | $6,000 | $15,000 |
Liability insurance minimums ($50,000 property damage + $200,000 public liability, or $250,000 combined single limit) and the workers' comp requirement didn't change.
Why the bond matters
The bond isn't insurance for you. It's a small fund the state can pay out of if a court orders the contractor to compensate a homeowner or sub. It's intentionally small relative to the typical claim. On a Seattle DADU averaging $400K–$650K, a $30K bond covers a small fraction of a worst-case claim.
What the bond really does is gate access to L&I registration. A contractor who can't qualify for a $30K surety bond can't be a registered general contractor in WA. The bond's existence is the screening signal; the dollar amount is largely symbolic.
What to verify on the L&I lookup
When you pull the contractor's record on the L&I Verify tool, check three fields:
- Bond status — should show "Active." "Inactive," "Cancelled," or "Suspended" means the registration isn't currently in good standing.
- Bond amount — should show $30,000 for a general contractor or $15,000 for a specialty. A general contractor still showing $12,000 is on the pre-2024 minimum.
- Bond effective date — should be on or after 2024-07-01. An older effective date paired with a $12,000 amount means the contractor's record hasn't caught up to the current minimum.
When the bond doesn't match — administrative lag vs. real gap
Two things it usually means:
- Administrative lag. The contractor renewed the bond and the surety company hasn't sent the update to L&I yet. Ask the contractor for a copy of the current bond rider showing $30,000 effective on or after 2024-07-01. If they send it within a day, the lookup will catch up.
- Pre-2024 registration not yet updated. The contractor hasn't increased the bond. The fix is straightforward (the surety files a rider) but until it's filed, the registration is technically out of compliance — either wait for the update or pick a GC whose record is current.
Other L&I fields that matter as much as the bond
- UBI number matches the entity name on the contract. Sole proprietors sometimes operate under a DBA that doesn't match their L&I registration. The contract counterparty has to be the registered entity, not the DBA.
- Workers' comp account in good standing. A lapsed L&I account means the contractor's crew may not be covered, and homeowner liability gets messier.
- No active complaints or infractions. Recent infractions show up on the verify page — click through to read what the dispute was about.
- License history length. A registration first issued in the last 12 months is a yellow flag for a Seattle DADU at $500K. Not a dealbreaker, but pair it with a stronger reference list and consider escrow.
Sources for this section
- WA L&I — 2024 Contractor Registration Updates (bond increase, effective 2024-07-01) · retrieved April 23, 2026
- WA L&I — Verify Contractor / Tradesperson License · retrieved April 23, 2026
Where this information came from
- SDCI Tip 116B — Establishing a DADU · retrieved April 22, 2026
- Building Connections — Side sewer transfer to SPU · retrieved April 22, 2026
- King County Wastewater Capacity Charge · retrieved April 22, 2026
- L&I Verify a Contractor · retrieved April 22, 2026