Garage door rules & licensing in Washington

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) — official site

"Washington State requires all construction contractors to register with L&I. State law also requires construction contractors to be bonded and insured to protect the public." There is no garage-door-specific licence and no trade exam for this work. Registration is either as a general contractor or as a specialty contractor; a specialty contractor "can only perform work in the specialty they are registered in" and cannot hire subcontractors, while a general contractor may hire subcontractors across multiple specialties. Contractors must display their registration number on all business communications and advertising.

Surety bond of $30,000 for general contractors and $15,000 for specialty contractors, plus general liability insurance of either $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined single limit. Registration fee $150.20.

Washington has a statewide building code. WAC chapter 51-51 is the "State building code adoption and amendment of the 2021 edition of the International Residential Code", so residential garage door work is governed by the 2021 IRC as amended by Washington.

Washington adopts the 2021 International Residential Code by rule, chapter 51-51 WAC (State Building Code Adoption and Amendment of the 2021 Edition of the International Residential Code). WAC 51-51-0301 amends Section R301.2, Climatic and geographic design criteria, to read: "Buildings shall be constructed in accordance with the provisions of this code as limited by the provisions of this section. Additional criteria shall be established by the local jurisdiction and set forth in Table R301.2. The local jurisdiction shall designate the salt water coastal areas within their jurisdiction." Washington therefore publishes no single statewide design wind speed for houses: the ultimate design wind speed, the exposure category and any salt water coastal designation come from the local jurisdiction’s completed Table R301.2. Get those entries from the building department before specifying a garage door’s design pressure.