The ID, the seal on the plans and the name on the contract should all point to the same licensed people. Ten minutes on two government websites tells you if they do. Illustrative photo.
Short answer: for the engineer or architect, look up the licence on the PRC's online verification page, verification.prc.gov.ph, using the profession, the licence number and the person's birthdate. Then check that the plans carry that same name, a signature and a seal on every sheet, and this year's PTR number. For the contractor, look up the firm on PCAB's portal, pcab.construction.gov.ph/verify. You want "License Valid!", a classification that fits your job, a Valid To date past your finish date, and the same firm name on your contract. A DTI registration or a mayor's permit isn't a contractor's licence. Both lookups are free and take about ten minutes. Most owners we talk to have done neither, and the scorecard below shows what that costs: a typical "looks fine" engineer-and-contractor pair scores 60 out of 100, medium risk. The same pair scores 90, low risk, once the PRC lookup matches and the PCAB record shows a valid licence, a Valid To date past your finish and no suspension.
The scorecard runs that check on the people you're about to hire. After it: the PRC steps, what the ID, PTR and seal actually prove, the PCAB portal, what the categories mean, the red flags, and a checklist to finish before you sign anything.
Answer what you actually know about the engineer or architect and the contractor you're considering. The weights are AEDO's own judgement of how much each check protects you. They are not a legal test and not a PRC or PCAB rating. Anything marked as a red flag makes the result high risk regardless of the score.
The Professional Regulation Commission runs an online lookup on its Licensure Examination & Registration Information System (LERIS) at verification.prc.gov.ph. We opened it in September 2026. The page has three tabs: Verification of Rating (for exam results), Verification of License (by Name) and Verification of License (by License No.).
If nothing comes up, don't panic yet. PRC's page carries its own disclaimer that "human or mechanical error remains a possibility, as does delay in the posting or updating of the information." Newly registered professionals can lag. Ask for the Certificate of Registration and check again later, or ask PRC. What you shouldn't do is sign on the strength of an ID you couldn't match to any record.
RA 8981, the PRC Modernization Act of 2000, is the law behind the card. Section 7(e) has the Commission issue certificates of registration bearing "the registrant's name, picture, and registration number," and says that certificate "shall be the authority to practice." The professional identification card is issued "to be used solely for the purpose of identification." So the ID identifies the person. The registration behind it is what lets them practise, and that's what LERIS checks.
What to read on the ID:
What the ID doesn't tell you: whether this person drew your plans, has done a building like yours, or will ever come to your site. Those are questions for the interview, not the lookup. Our contractor selection guide has the interview questions.
The Professional Tax Receipt comes from Section 139 of the Local Government Code (RA 7160). It's a local tax, not a PRC document:
Cities can levy it too: Section 151 lets a city impose the taxes a province may. That's why you'll see PTRs issued by a city treasurer.
How to read it: the PTR on your plans should be dated the year the plans were sealed. An old-year PTR on new plans usually means a title block copied from an older job. That's worth a question, since it hints the sheets weren't prepared fresh for you. A current PTR proves the tax is paid. It doesn't prove competence and it doesn't replace the LERIS check.
A sealed plan is the professional's legal statement that the sheet is their work or was done under their direct supervision. Three rules matter to an owner checking a set:
The model title block in Figure III.2 of the Revised IRR has spaces for the PRC number and validity, the PTR number, date and place, and the TIN. So a proper title block lets you do every check in sections 1 to 3 from the sheet itself. Look at the seal too. A crisp embossed or inked impression is normal. A seal that looks scanned and printed into the drawing, identical down to the smudge on every sheet, deserves a question.
There's one law that puts the owner directly in the frame. RA 544 Section 23 says it is unlawful "for any person to order or otherwise cause the construction, reconstruction, or alteration" of a building for public assembly, or of the other engineering structures in Section 2, unless the plans were prepared under the responsible charge of, and signed and sealed by, a registered civil engineer, and the work runs under a civil engineer's responsible charge and direct supervision. Read with Section 2, which lists "buildings," it reaches owners, not just engineers. How far it applies to a small house is untested, but it's a reason to insist on sealed plans and licensed supervision.
Contractors are licensed under RA 4566, the Contractors' License Law of 1965. The board it created was abolished by PD 1746 in 1980, which moved its funds, records and functions to the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) under the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP) (Section 4). PCAB now runs the public lookup.
CIAP's own directory lists two addresses for it: pcab.construction.gov.ph/verify and pcabgovph.com/verify. We used the first in September 2026. One trap: the "Online License Verification" item in CIAP's main-site menu pointed to an under-construction page when we tried it, so go to the address directly.
One firm can show up in more than one row, for example once under a Trade classification and once under General Building, each with its own category. Click the row that matches the work you're hiring them for.
PCAB's FAQ describes two kinds of licence. A regular licence goes to a domestic firm (at least 60% Filipino equity, per the FAQ). A special licence goes to a joint venture, a consortium, a foreign contractor, or a project owner, and covers "only... a single, specific project/undertaking." The FAQ also says a regular licence "will automatically qualify the licensee to participate in private projects." The separate registration for government projects (the last column) is only needed for public works.
Two different labels sit on every licence, and people mix them up.
Classification is the kind of work. RA 4566 Section 16 splits contracting into three branches: general engineering, general building and specialty contracting. Section 9 defines them:
| Classification (RA 4566) | What the law says it covers | What it means for an owner |
|---|---|---|
| General Building, §9(d) | Structures "for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or movable property," using "more than two unrelated building trades or crafts" | Houses, shops, clinics, warehouses, offices. The classification you want for a whole building |
| General Engineering, §9(c) | Fixed works needing specialised engineering: roads, bridges, drainage, water supply, dams, ports, earthworks, paving | Site works, roads and drainage. Not the natural fit for a house on its own |
| Specialty, §9(e) | Work requiring special skill whose "principal contracting business involves the use of specialized building trades or crafts" | Electrical, plumbing, aircon, waterproofing and other trades. The portal shows these as Specialty-Trade |
Section 17 lets the Board "limit the field and scope of the operations of a licensed contractor to those in which he is classified." Section 18 allows a specialty contractor to take on other trades only when they are "incidental or supplemental" to its own. So a Specialty-Trade licensee quoting your whole two-storey house, structure and all, is outside what that licence is for. A trade contractor doing your electrical works is exactly what it's for.
Category is the size. PCAB's FAQ lists the categories as E/Trade, D, C, B, A, AA, AAA and AAAA, and the portal shows them in the Category column. PD 1746 Section 2(d) gave CIAP the power "to establish criteria for the classification and categorization of contractors which accurately reflect their contracting capacity and performance capability." A higher category means PCAB rated the firm for bigger work.
Contractor guides online publish a peso ceiling for each category. We looked for the current official table on CIAP's site and found only old scanned rules that we couldn't read reliably. We didn't find a current PCAB board resolution with the ranges that we could read and cite, so we don't repeat them here. For a house or a small shop the practical questions are simpler. Is the classification General Building? Is the licence valid for the length of your job? If your project is large, ask the contractor to show in writing that the job sits inside their category, and check with PCAB.
The 1965 law tied licences to the fiscal year, with renewal by June 30 (old Section 40). RA 11711 (2022) changed that. A licence now runs one year from issuance (Section 23 as amended). Contractors in good standing for 10 to 25 years may renew every two years, and those with 25 years or more every three years, with renewal filed 90 to 30 days before expiry (Section 38 as renumbered). A licence suspended for more than a year before renewal still can't be renewed (Section 39, formerly 41). PCAB's FAQ still shows the old fiscal-year rule, so go by the portal.
The records we opened showed validity periods like July 1, 2023 to November 13, 2026, and the Valid To column runs into 2027 and 2028 for many firms. The working answer for an owner: trust the Valid To date on the portal, not the date on a photocopy.
The same logic applies to your engineer. RA 544 Section 14 and RA 9266 Section 20(1) make sealing after the certificate expires unlawful, so check that the licence was valid on the date the plans were sealed, not just today.
These are the ones we see most in the province. Each has a specific rule behind it.
| What you hear or see | Why it's a problem | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| "We have a DTI permit and a mayor's permit" | Those register a business name and let it operate. They are not a contractor's licence. RA 4566 §35(a) (as amended by RA 11711) fines contracting "without first securing a license" ₱100,000 to ₱500,000 plus 0.1% of the project cost | The PCAB licence number, then look it up yourself |
| "We'll use my cousin's licence" or a licence in another firm's name | RA 4566 §28(d) makes "allowing one's license to be used by an unlicensed person" a ground for discipline, and §35(d) (as amended by RA 11711) punishes presenting "the license certificate of another" with ₱500,000 to ₱1,000,000 and one to six years in prison | A contract with the licensed firm itself, signed by its AMO or an authorised officer |
| "Pirma lang": an engineer or architect who signs plans someone else drew | For civil engineers, RA 544 §14 ties the seal to plans "prepared by, or under the direct supervision of" the engineer; for architects, RA 9266 §20(3) forbids signing for work "not actually performed by him/her" | Meet the engineer who designed it. Ask who ran the calculations |
| Seal without a signature, or a signature without a seal | IRR §302(3) wants documents "prepared, signed and sealed over the printed names" | Every sheet signed over the printed name and sealed |
| Expired PRC ID, or an old-year PTR on new plans | Sealing after the certificate expires is unlawful (RA 544 §14, RA 9266 §20(1)); the PTR is due every January 31 (LGC §139(d)) | A LERIS match and a renewed ID; this year's PTR |
| A civil engineer's seal on the electrical sheets | RA 7920 §31 gives the Professional Electrical Engineer "the sole authority to seal electrical plans" | Each sheet group sealed by its own profession |
| A Specialty-Trade licensee quoting the whole building | RA 4566 §17–18: the Board can limit a licence to its classification; other trades only when "incidental or supplemental" | A General Building licence, or a general contractor who subcontracts the trade |
| One job split into many small contracts | RA 4566 §13 exempts only work under ₱10,000, and says the exemption doesn't apply where a job is divided "for the purpose of evading" the Act | One contract for the whole scope |
| The name on the portal isn't the name on the contract or receipts | You may be contracting with someone the licence doesn't cover | Contract, receipts and licence all in one firm name |
The flag behind most bad endings isn't on this list, and no website can check it: a big downpayment with no billing schedule tied to finished work. Our progress billing guide covers how to pay against work in place, and the abandoned project guide covers what happens when it goes wrong anyway.
A lot of houses in the province are built by a pakyaw crew: a foreman and his workers paid a lump sum for labour, while the owner buys the materials. Most crews have no PCAB number to look up, and in most cases no firm behind them. PCAB does issue pakyaw licences, though (about 500 on the portal's Pakyaw Licenses tab in September 2026, numbered like P00000027, some in an individual's name), so if a foreman says he has one, look it up there. Our pakyaw vs contractor guide compares the two routes, their real costs and who carries the risk.
How the law treats an unlicensed crew is less clear than people assume. RA 4566 doesn't mention pakyaw. Its definition of a contractor in Section 9(b) is broad: anyone who "undertakes or offers to undertake... or does himself or by or through others, construct, alter, repair" a building, "or to do any part thereof." The only size exemption is the ₱10,000 one in Section 13. We couldn't find PCAB's rules for issuing pakyaw licences that we could read and cite, so we won't tell you what PCAB requires of a labour crew.
The practical point is the one that matters. With a pakyaw crew, you are running the job. You carry the materials, the schedule and the risk. That makes the engineer side of the scorecard more important, not less. Get properly signed and sealed plans, and a licensed civil engineer or architect doing the inspection and supervision that Section 308 of the Revised IRR of PD 1096 requires. And put the crew's scope and pay in writing. Our contract types guide compares a labour-only arrangement with a lump-sum contract.
Tick these off before the first peso moves. None of them needs a lawyer.
If you're comparing firms that design and build under one contract, the same checks apply to both halves. Our design-build guide explains why the designer's seal and the builder's licence are still two different things even when it's one company. There's a Filipino version of the selection guide as well: Paano pumili ng contractor.
Most of the time a failed check just means you walk away before signing. If you've already signed or paid, these are the routes the laws themselves provide:
What AEDO checks for you. AEDO's engineers are licensed civil engineers. Anywhere in the Philippines we can review a plan set and a contract remotely: run the LERIS and PCAB lookups, check that every sheet carries the right seal and signature, and list what to ask the contractor for before you sign. In Negros Oriental we also design and build, with our own licensed engineers on site. We won't sign plans we didn't prepare or supervise, and we'd rather lose the job than do it.
The PRC lookup steps and fields were read from verification.prc.gov.ph; the PCAB steps, columns, tabs and record fields from pcab.construction.gov.ph/verify, CIAP's directory page and PCAB's instructional guide; licence types, categories and the one-year validity statement from PCAB's FAQ on construction.gov.ph. Contractor licensing is from RA 4566 (Sections 9, 13, 16, 17, 18, 28, 29 and 30; Section 35 as amended; and Sections 38 and 39, formerly 40 and 41), as amended by RA 11711 (Sections 1, 2, 5 and 6), and PD 1746 (Sections 2(d) and 4). The PRC ID and registration are from RA 8981 Section 7(e) and 7(w). The PTR is from RA 7160 Sections 139 and 151. Seals and signatures are from RA 544 Sections 14, 22 and 23, RA 9266 Sections 20, 21 and 29, RA 7920 Sections 27 and 31, and Section 302(3), Figure III.2 and Section 308 of the 2004 Revised IRR of PD 1096. The scorecard weights and risk bands are AEDO's judgement, not a legal test.
How do I check if an engineer or architect is licensed in the Philippines?
Use the PRC's online verification page, verification.prc.gov.ph, part of its Licensure Examination and Registration Information System (LERIS). Pick Verification of License by license number, then enter the profession, the licence number and the professional's birthdate; or search by name with the profession, first name and last name. Compare the result with the PRC ID and with the name, licence number and seal on your plans. PRC's own disclaimer says posting delays and errors are possible, so if nothing comes up, ask for the certificate of registration before assuming the worst.
How do I check if a contractor has a PCAB licence?
Go to the PCAB online licence verification at pcab.construction.gov.ph/verify, the address CIAP lists in its own directory. The Regular Licenses table shows the name of firm, licence number, Authorized Managing Officer, category, the Valid To date and whether the firm is registered for government infrastructure projects. Search by firm name or licence number, click the record, and the portal shows whether the licence is valid, its validity period, the principal classification and any other classifications. There are separate tabs for special licences and for suspended and revoked licences.
What do the PCAB categories AAAA, AAA, AA, A, B, C, D and Trade mean?
They are PCAB's size categories, from the largest (AAAA) down to D, plus E, the Trade category for specialty trade contractors. PD 1746 gave CIAP the job of categorizing contractors to reflect their contracting capacity and performance capability, so a higher category means PCAB rated the firm for bigger work. Separately, RA 4566 Section 16 splits contracting into general engineering, general building and specialty contracting, and the portal shows each firm's principal classification. We could not read a current official copy of the peso limits for each category, so we do not quote them; ask the contractor and check with PCAB if your project is large.
Is a DTI business name or mayor's permit enough for a contractor?
No. A DTI business name registration and a mayor's permit let someone run a business; they are not a contractor's licence. Section 35(a) of RA 4566, as amended by RA 11711 in 2022, fines anyone who bids for, contracts for or undertakes construction for a price without first securing a licence 100,000 to 500,000 pesos plus one-tenth of one percent of the project cost, and Section 13 exempts only work with an aggregate contract price under ten thousand pesos, which is not a house or a shop. Ask for the PCAB licence number and look it up on the PCAB portal.
What is the PTR number on my building plans?
PTR is the Professional Tax Receipt. Under Section 139 of the Local Government Code, a professional pays an annual professional tax of up to 300 pesos to the province where he or she practices or keeps a principal office, on or before January 31, and must write the receipt number on plans and designs. Cities may levy it too under Section 151. A PTR dated this year shows the tax is paid for the year. It says nothing about competence, and it does not replace the PRC licence check.
Does a pakyaw crew need a PCAB licence?
RA 4566 does not mention pakyaw. Its definition of a contractor in Section 9(b) is broad, covering anyone who undertakes, himself or through others, to construct, alter or repair any building or any part of it, and its only size exemption is for work under ten thousand pesos. We could not find PCAB's rules for pakyaw licences that we could read and cite, so we do not claim how PCAB treats a labour-only crew. In practice most pakyaw crews have no licence for you to check; if yours claims one, look it up on the PCAB portal's Pakyaw Licenses tab. Either way you carry the materials and the risk, and your protection comes from signed and sealed plans, a licensed engineer or architect supervising, and a written agreement.
Official lookups, laws and issuances read for this article. External links open in a new tab.
We did not find a current official PCAB table of peso limits per category that we could read and cite, so none is claimed. We also found no PCAB rules we could read for issuing pakyaw licences, though the portal lists about 500 of them. The scorecard weights and risk bands are AEDO's judgement. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Send us the names, the licence numbers, the plans' title block and the contract. A licensed civil engineer will check them before your money moves.
