California C-49 Tree and Palm Contractor License: Scope, Verification, and Workers' Comp

The C-49 classification covers tree and palm work: planting, maintaining, trimming and pruning, and removing trees and palms, including stump removal and the related cabling and bracing.

The C-27 landscaping classification can also perform some tree work as part of a landscape job, but a dedicated tree service performing removals should hold the C-49 (or the legacy D-49 described below).

C-49 'Tree and Palm' became its own classification on January 1, 2024. Before that, tree work was a C-61 limited specialty (D-49 'Tree Service'). CSLB stopped issuing D-49, but existing D-49 licenses stay valid, so a legitimate tree contractor may show either C-49 or D-49 today. CSLB regards the two as the same scope of work: treat both as covering tree work.

An ISA Certified Arborist credential is a voluntary professional certification: useful, but it is not a CSLB contractor license and does not authorize contracting. Verify the CSLB license (C-49 or D-49) separately. City tree-removal permits are also separate, required by many municipalities regardless of who does the work.

Any project where labor, materials, and all other items total $1,000 or more must be performed by a CSLB-licensed contractor. The threshold rose from $500 to $1,000 on January 1, 2025 under Assembly Bill 2622 (Business & Professions Code §7048). Below $1,000, a narrow minor-work exemption can apply only if the job is casual, minor, and standalone (not part of a larger project), requires no building permit of any kind, no one is employed on the job, and any advertising discloses that the person is not licensed.

Many cities also require a permit to remove a protected or street-facing tree, a separate requirement from the contractor's license. For removals, look for an Active C-49 (or legacy D-49).

Tree work is high-risk, and the workers' compensation no-exemption list in Business & Professions Code §7125 names C-61/D-49 Tree Service, the legacy code, alongside C-8 (concrete), C-20 (HVAC), C-22 (asbestos abatement), and C-39 (roofing): those contractors must carry coverage regardless of employees. C-49 Tree and Palm, the successor classification issued since January 1, 2024, is not yet named in the statute or on CSLB's workers' comp pages, though CSLB regards the two classifications as the same scope of work.

Senate Bill 1455 will extend that requirement to every CSLB licensee, regardless of employees, on January 1, 2028, with CSLB's exemption-verification process due by January 1, 2027. Whatever code a tree contractor holds, given the danger of the work, confirm active workers' compensation coverage before any climbing or removal begins, and if the record shows a no-employee exemption instead, ask who will actually be on the crew.

Confirm the license is Active and the C-49 (or legacy D-49) classification is listed, either on the CSLB "Check a License" tool or on the contractor's profile in this directory. Match the license to the business you're hiring. Check that the $25,000 contractor bond is on file (Business & Professions Code §7071.6) and that workers' compensation coverage, or a valid exemption, is shown.

For tree work especially, treat 'licensed and insured' as one check: a missing or lapsed workers'-comp record is a reason to pause. Browse California tree contractors and see each one's dated CSLB status before you hire.