# Your license record is public. Whose phone is on it? > Contractor license records are public, and some boards release the phone of record in a bulk download. Here is which contact fields you can change, and where a separate public number fits. By Elie Mendlow · Published November 9, 2026 Section: Brokers & Harassment › From the Notebook · Series: Stop the Calls (https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/stop-the-calls) Canonical: https://mcafax.com/notebook/contractor-license-permit-records-calls Source: MCAFax, The Broker's Notebook (https://mcafax.com/notebook). MCAFax is not a lender or a law firm. --- "Got your cell off the state license list. Need equipment money?" The caller may not be bluffing. Your cell may have sat on that record since the day you got licensed. Is that record the reason for the calls? It can be one source. A contractor license record is public, and some boards release the phone and mailing address on it as a bulk download. The decision factor is the contact field: update the phone and address of record where your board allows it, and point records you can't change at a separate public number. General information, not legal advice. ## Which contact fields does a license board actually publish? Boards differ, so check your own board's public records page. Two big states show the range. California's Contractors State License Board (CSLB) posts a master list of licensed contractors. Its data portal says the license file includes business name, address, telephone number, status, classifications, bond and workers' comp details. CSLB says there is no charge for the download. Email addresses are not provided, citing Business and Professions Code section 27: https://www.cslb.ca.gov/onlineservices/dataportal/ContractorList CSLB also says mailing and business street addresses are public information: https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Contractors/Maintain_License/Change_Name_Or_Address.aspx. Its address change form says the street address is used for internal purposes. Treat both as visible. Florida's DBPR lists the columns in its construction download files. The licensee file shows names, DBA, address lines, county and license status, with no phone column. The construction and electrical applicant file does list a phone number and extension: https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/construction-industry/public-records/ That last point matters. The phone you wrote on an exam application can be public before the license is even issued. ## Which of those fields can you change? In California, you must report a name or address change within 90 days under section 7083. CSLB's Application to Change Business or Personnel Address (form 13L-20) is marked No Fee. It has lines for business phone, fax and email. An owner, partner or officer must sign it. A responsible managing employee cannot. Do this once: 1. Look up your own license the way a stranger would. Note every contact field shown. 2. Pick the number that belongs there: the public line you control, not your personal cell. Part 18 shows how to set one up: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-18-public-number 3. File your board's change form. In California that is 13L-20. 4. Check the license lookup after processing. Confirm the new number shows. 5. Add a "number dialed" column to your call log. Changing the record does not pull your number back off lists that already copied it. It only changes what new downloads show. ## What about permit paperwork? Permits sit with your city or county, not the license board. In one older thread, a homeowner traced roof inspection cold calls to a scanned county permit PDF that showed a phone number. Pull up one of your own permits on the local portal and see which contact fields display. On new applications, use the public number wherever the form asks for a contractor phone. Rules vary by jurisdiction, so ask the building department what it publishes. ## Will changing the record stop the calls? No promise. It slows new lists. It does nothing for the ones already out there. For those, use a company-specific stop request. FCC rules require telemarketers calling residential subscribers to honor company-specific do-not-call requests. Whether a cell you also use for work counts is a gray area. The parent rule is 47 CFR 64.1200: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200 The National Do Not Call Registry is for personal numbers. Business lines are not covered: https://www.donotcall.gov/faq. The FCC lists blocking tools and complaint steps here: https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls-and-texts Say this when a caller reads you your own license number: "This line is for customers. Put this number on your company's do-not-call list. What is your company's legal name and a callback number?" Write down the answer or "refused." Then hang up. ### Worked example All names and numbers are made up. Mesa Tile, a California tile contractor, had the owner's cell on the license since 2019. Over 10 workdays the log showed 9 unsolicited calls a day, 90 in all. The owner set up a public VoIP number and filed form 13L-20 with it. Calls kept coming to the old cell from old lists. New callers who quoted the license now dialed the public line, so the log showed the source. The written stop process lives in Part 2: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-2-written-stop-request. List seller opt-outs are in Part 6: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-6-lead-sellers. The full playbook: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-mca-broker-calls When a caller pitches money for the business, check the product first. The contractor funding guide: https://mcafax.com/notebook/construction-business-loans. Funding types side by side: https://mcafax.com/notebook/where-to-get-business-funding ## Questions readers ask **Does the license board sell my number to brokers?** CSLB says its master list download has no charge, so anyone can get it. That does not tell you who called you. A number-dialed column in your call log is the closest thing to proof you will get. **Can I leave the phone field blank on my license record?** Check your own board's form. The CSLB address change form has a business phone line, so put your public number there instead of a personal cell. **What if my license is in another state?** Search your board's site for its public records or data download page and its address change form. Check which fields it lists and whether the form has a phone line. **Is my email on the California license download?** CSLB says email addresses are not provided in its download, citing Business and Professions Code section 27. **Do I have to tell the board when my address changes?** In California, yes. CSLB says name and address changes must be reported within 90 days under Business and Professions Code section 7083.