How to get a contractor license: the path most states follow

No federal agency issues a general contractor license in the United States. Each state decides who needs a license, for which kinds of work and above what job size, and some hand part of the job to cities and counties. This guide lays out the patterns most state systems share, four state examples read on the boards' own websites on October 7, 2026, and the federal certifications that apply no matter which state you work in. It is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, and your state board has the final word, so confirm every detail with it before you bid.

Who licenses contractors?

State boards do most of it. Their names vary (contractor board, registrar, licensing department, bureau of construction codes), and so does their reach. Across the country you will run into a handful of setups:

• Statewide licensing for most construction work, usually split into general and specialty classifications.
• A dollar threshold, where the state license starts once a job passes a set value.
• A separate residential license, often called a home improvement or residential builder license.
• Registration, where you file with the state and meet its conditions, sometimes with no exam.
• Local licensing, where a city or county runs its own exam or registration.

Two examples show how far apart the triggers can be. California's Contractors State License Board (CSLB) requires a license if a project needs a building permit, if it uses additional workers, or if the labor and materials on the project's contracts add up to $1,000 or more. North Carolina's Licensing Board for General Contractors requires its license on projects valued at $40,000 or more. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC work usually fall under their own trade licenses, often from separate boards, and local permit offices keep their own rules on top.

Begin with your state in our state-by-state start directory, where each state's page links its licensing boards. Then call the building department in each city where you plan to work, since permits, inspections and local registrations come from them.

What do most states check before they license you?

The details differ from state to state. The categories repeat.

The state details below come from each board's own site as read on October 7, 2026. They show the range. None of them is a full account of that state's rules. Each state also has a page in our directory: California, Florida, Michigan and North Carolina.

How do you build and prove the experience?

Experience rules assume you learned the work under someone else and then started running jobs. California's CSLB asks applicants to be at least 18 with four full years of experience within the past 10 years, in the classification they are applying for, at the journeyman level or as a foreman, supervisor or contractor. Its journeyman FAQ describes that level as an experienced worker, not a trainee, who is fully qualified to do the trade without supervision. Its experience page allows up to three years of credit for technical training, apprenticeship or education, with at least one year of practical work. A person with firsthand knowledge of your work has to verify it, such as an employer, contractor, foreman, coworker, union representative, building inspector, architect, engineer or homeowner.

Florida's Construction Industry Licensing Board asks for four years of field experience in the license category, one of them supervisory. Up to three years of military service or college credit can stand in for field experience.

If you are still learning a trade, a registered apprenticeship builds the paper trail boards ask for. The Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov says a Registered Apprenticeship is a paid job that pairs on-the-job training from an experienced mentor with related classroom study, and ends with a credential that travels with you. Approval comes from the federal Department of Labor or from a State Apprenticeship Agency. The site has a job finder for open programs.

What do the exams and pre-license courses cover?

States that test commonly pair a trade exam on the work itself with a business and law exam on running a contracting company under that state's rules. Formats and timing vary:

• California. Applicants pass a law and business exam plus a trade exam for their classification. The CSLB exam FAQ gives 18 months from the date an application is accepted to pass, with a 21-day wait between attempts.
• Florida. The board's FAQ says the certification exams are open book and computer-based (except the plumbing trade knowledge exam), you retake only the parts you failed, and every part must be passed within four years of the first attempt.
• Michigan. Residential builder and maintenance and alteration contractor applicants complete 60 hours of approved prelicensure education before the exam or application. At least 6 hours must go to each of seven subjects: business management, estimating and job costing; design and building science; contracts, liability and risk management; marketing and sales; project management and scheduling; the Michigan Residential Code; and MIOSHA construction safety standards. The other 18 hours come from approved electives, and PSI gives the exam.

One national option can save a repeat trade exam. The National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies (NASCLA) offers an accredited exam for commercial general building contractors, and participating states accept a passing result in place of their own trade exam. NASCLA's list of participating agencies includes California, Florida and North Carolina. Every other step of each state's application still applies.

Is the license yours or your company's?

Many boards separate the person who proves competence from the business that signs contracts with customers. That split decides what happens when you form an LLC, take on a partner or lose a key employee.

• California calls that person the qualifier: the individual on CSLB records who meets the experience and exam requirements for the license. Every classification on a license needs one.
• Florida has contractors qualify a construction business with their individual license. The qualifying agent needs supervisory authority and final approval over the business's construction work, and the business name appears on the license.
• North Carolina grants licenses to specific legal entities, and its contractor FAQ says they cannot be transferred to another entity. A qualifier who is an owner, officer, LLC member or managing employee can qualify up to two licenses.

Settle your business structure before you apply; our comparison of LLCs and sole proprietorships walks through that decision. Because North Carolina licenses cannot move to another entity, a sole proprietor there who forms an LLC later should expect the LLC to need its own license; the same FAQ says qualifying exams can be transferred between licenses, so ask the board how the switch works before you file. If your license rests on one employee's credentials, ask the board what happens the week that person quits.

Bonds, insurance and financial requirements

States use different tools to protect customers, and the mix changes what you need ready on application day.

• California requires a $25,000 contractor's bond before the license issues, an amount in effect since January 1, 2023. The CSLB says it is filed for consumers harmed by defective construction or other license law violations, and for employees owed unpaid wages. A license qualified by a managing employee, or by an officer who owns less than 10% of the voting stock, also needs a separate $25,000 bond of qualifying individual.
• Florida requires active licensees to carry insurance at all times: $300,000 of liability and $50,000 of property damage coverage for general and building contractors, and $100,000 and $25,000 for other categories unless board rule sets other amounts. Licensees must also keep workers' compensation coverage or an exemption. Applicants submit a credit report, and those with a FICO score below 660 must also complete a board-approved 14-hour financial responsibility and stability course.
• North Carolina says its general contractor license carries no insurance or bonding requirement; a bond comes in only if you use one in place of the minimum financial requirement. Each license has a limitation that caps the size of a single project, and you meet a financial requirement set for the limitation you apply for. A limited license covers individual projects up to $750,000, intermediate up to $1,500,000, and unlimited has no dollar limit. The board measures working capital as total current assets minus total current liabilities.

A license requirement is a minimum. Homeowners, property managers and general contractors hiring subs may ask for a certificate of insurance whether the state does or not. Our guides to surety bonds and contractor insurance explain what each one covers and who it protects.

What does it take to keep the license?

Renewal usually means a fee, proof of any required insurance or bond, and continuing education. The hours range widely:

• Florida lists 14 hours of continuing education for renewal, with at least one hour each in workplace safety, workers' compensation, business practices, the advanced building code module, and laws and rules. For general, building, residential, roofing and some specialty contractors, one of the 14 hours must cover wind mitigation. Certified contractors renew on August 31 of even-numbered years, and registered contractors on August 31 of odd-numbered years.
• North Carolina requires 8 hours a year for building, residential and unclassified licenses, completed by at least one qualifier, including a mandatory 2-hour course the board produces. The CE year runs January 1 through November 30.
• Michigan sets heavier hours early on. Under MCL 339.2404b, residential builders and M&A contractors first licensed on or after January 1, 2009 complete at least 21 hours in each 3-year cycle, with at least 3 hours each calendar year for the first six years and at least 3 hours on codes and laws, safety, and changes in construction and business management law. After two full cycles, a licensee with no disciplinary action drops to 3 hours per cycle. LARA's continuing competency sheet tells licensees to keep proof for at least five years in case of audit.

Put the renewal date and the CE deadline in the same calendar or CRM that runs your jobs, with a reminder 60 days out, so a busy season never runs past the deadline.

Does your license carry over to another state?

Expect to apply again in each state. North Carolina's FAQ says the board has no full reciprocity with any state, and lists exam waiver agreements with South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Even with a waiver you file a full new application, the other state's board completes a waiver form, and the qualifier still passes North Carolina's business and law exam. Florida's FAQ says that since June 1, 2021, contractors licensed in a state with a reciprocity agreement with its board can apply by reciprocity, which is still an application with its own requirements. The NASCLA exam can spare you a second trade exam where it is accepted. If you work near a state line, budget for a separate application, exam, financial proof and renewal cycle in each state.

Which federal certifications apply on top of a state license?

Federal agencies issue no general contractor license. They do certify specific kinds of work. Three come up on everyday residential and HVAC jobs:

• EPA lead-safe (RRP) certification. Under the EPA's lead renovation rule, known as RRP, anyone paid for work that disturbs paint in a home, preschool or child care facility built before 1978 must, in general, be certified, with employees trained in lead-safe work practices. The EPA notes the rule includes an emergency provision that exempts firms from certain requirements after a disaster. Firms apply online, and a certified renovator must be assigned to each job. The EPA runs the program in most states and has authorized some, including North Carolina, Georgia and Wisconsin, to run their own. Our remodeling startup guide covers how it plays out on a job.
• EPA Section 608 refrigerant certification. Under the EPA's Section 608 rules, technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release refrigerant into the atmosphere need certification, earned by passing an EPA-approved test from an approved certifying organization. Type I covers small appliances, Type II high- and very high-pressure appliances, Type III low-pressure appliances, and Universal covers all of them. The credentials do not expire. If you sub out HVAC work, ask to see the card.
• OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour cards. OSHA describes its Outreach Training Program as voluntary: finishing it satisfies no training rule in an OSHA standard, and OSHA itself does not require it. OSHA adds that some states, cities and others may require it as a condition of employment, and it points supervisors and workers with some safety responsibility to the 30-hour class.

Once you hold a license, show it where customers look

Some states tell you exactly where the number goes. The CSLB's advertising guidelines say licensed contractors must put their license number in all construction contracts, subcontracts, calls for bid and all forms of advertising, including websites and online posts that solicit work. The same sheet says you cannot advertise work outside your classification, and it says the law bars noting in your advertising that you are bonded. The sheet dates from 2018, so check the CSLB's current rules, and your own state's, before you print anything.

Wherever you work, put the license number in your website footer and on every quote, and link to the state's public license lookup so a customer can check it. Use the word "licensed" only for work your license actually covers. Our guide to trust signals for contractor websites covers where the number belongs, and our website service page explains how we build contractor sites.

A step-by-step plan

1. Find the right license. Open your state in the state directory, go to the board's site, and match your work to a classification: general, residential, specialty or a trade license.
2. Check the triggers. Note any dollar threshold, permit or employee rule, then ask each city's building department about local licenses and registration.
3. Document your experience. Collect proof of years worked and line up the people who will sign for you.
4. Set up the company. Form the entity, get an EIN and decide who qualifies the license, so the application goes in under the right name.
5. Take the courses and exams. Finish any required pre-license hours, apply, and schedule the trade and business and law exams.
6. Line up the money pieces. Get the bond, insurance certificates, workers' compensation and any financial statements the board asks for.
7. Calendar the renewal. Record the expiration date, CE hours and required topics as soon as the license issues.

Licensing is one piece of the setup. The rest of the order (entity, EIN, bank account, insurance, phone, website) is on our start a company hub. If you run renovation work, our remodeling industry page lays out a website, phone and CRM setup for long projects. When the license number is ready to publish, a free launch plan lists the domain, business phone, Google Business Profile and website pages a new company needs, in the order to set them up.

Frequently asked questions