Is a California contractor working completely outside the specialty (class C) license, considered an unlicensed contractor, example, a concrete contractor building arbors and sheds?
Was all the work done outside the "C" classification? If so then it appears under B&P 7031 that the contractor would be unlicensed. I'm not aware of any case law expressly holding that a specialty contractor is "unlicensed" and entitled to no compensation if they perform some work within their classification and some work outside of their classification. However, the statute requires the contractor to prove they were licensed with the correct classification, which the contractor would not be able to do for all of the work. It appears there is a good chance that a court would find a contractor working outside their classification is unlicensed and subject to disgorgement at least for the portion of the work that is outside of their classification.