New Hampshire contractor licenses: no general license, but four trades are regulated

New Hampshire takes a narrow approach. Instead of a broad contractor license, it regulates a short list of trades where mistakes start fires, flood houses or poison people. If your work falls outside that list, the state does not ask you to hold a trade license, and the rules that apply come from your town. This page sorts the trades into those two groups and gives the rules that most affect a new service company. Facts were read from the New Hampshire statutes and rules in October 2026.

What New Hampshire does not license

The New Hampshire Insurance Department says in a consumer guide that general contractors are not required to hold a state license, though specialty trades such as electricians and plumbers are regulated. In practice that covers carpentry, remodeling, roofing, siding, painting, flooring, masonry and handyman work. You still need the right insurance, any town permits, and the federal lead-safe rules if you disturb paint in older homes.

Because the state does not vet general contractors, customers lean on references and reviews more than they would in a licensing state. That makes your Google Business Profile and your own site do more work. See our New Hampshire startup page for formation fees, workers' comp and tax, and the wider guide to getting a contractor license for how licensing usually works elsewhere.

Electricians: licensed regardless of voltage

The electrician statute is short and strict. RSA 319-C:1 says no electrical installation for compensation may be made unless it is made by an electrician or other person licensed by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC). RSA 319-C:2 defines electrical installations as the installation, repair, alteration and maintenance of conductors, fittings, devices and fixtures for heating, lighting or power purposes, regardless of the voltage. The definition leaves out portable appliances that plug into a fixed outlet.

That "regardless of the voltage" language is worth underlining. The Electricians' Board page adds that an active license is required to work with 30 volts or higher, and the statute separately exempts work on automatic irrigation systems operating at 30 volts or less (RSA 319-C:3, XI). Low-voltage lighting and similar jobs fall between those lines, so ask the Electricians' Board before you quote.

• License levels. The Electricians' Board licenses apprentice, journeyman, master and high or medium voltage electricians, according to the board's page.
• Business entities. Under RSA 319-C:10, the OPLC can license a corporation or partnership that does electrical installations when an officer, employee or partner in direct charge of the business affairs is a licensed master electrician. A journeyman must work for a licensed master electrician or a licensed entity.
• Penalty. RSA 319-C:15 makes unlicensed electrical installation a misdemeanor for a natural person and a felony for any other person. Employing an unlicensed worker, other than an apprentice, to make installations carries the same classification.
• Exceptions. RSA 319-C:3 exempts utilities, plant maintenance employees, and regular employees of property owners doing incidental electrical work. It also exempts installation of fuel oil, natural gas or propane furnace and boiler equipment and its connected controls.
• Homeowners. RSA 319-C:15 says the chapter does not prevent a homeowner from making electrical installations in or about a single-family residence they own and occupy, or will occupy as their bona fide personal abode.

Plumbers and fuel gas fitters

Plumbing and fuel gas fitting belong to the Mechanical Licensing Board under OPLC, which sits under the Mechanical Licensing subdivision of RSA chapter 153. RSA 153:29 lists nine licenses or endorsements: hearth system installation and service technician, fuel gas installation technician, fuel gas service technician, fuel gas piping installer, fuel gas trainee, domestic appliance technician, master plumber, journeyman plumber and apprentice plumber. A licensee may not do work outside the specialty on their license.

Under RSA 153:28, the board's rules must require field experience within a 60-month window: 1,000 hours for a fuel gas installation technician and 2,000 hours for a fuel gas service technician. Up to 500 and 750 of those hours, respectively, may come from heating oil appliance work. The board's page also lists a voluntary oil heating technician license.

The exceptions in RSA 153:36 are what make this trade different here:

• Heating, cooling and water systems. The plumbing license does not apply to a person or business doing plumbing in connection with installing heating, cooling, air conditioning or domestic water heating systems (solar, oil, gas or electric), or installing and servicing water treatment systems or swimming pools. That plumbing must still meet the technical standards and code, application and inspection rules.
• Owners. A property owner, or their agent, may install, repair or replace plumbing in the owner's single-family detached or townhouse residence, including new construction, and may make minor repairs on their own property. The plumbing must conform to the state plumbing code.
• Fuel gas fitting in your own home. The gas fitting exemption is narrower: an existing single-family, stand-alone home that the person owns, occupies and uses as a primary residence.
• Employees. Public utility employees and a business's regular employees who do incidental plumbing on their employer's property are exempt.

The practical lesson for an HVAC or water treatment company is that you may not need a plumbing license for the plumbing that comes with your install, yet gas piping is a separate license. Check the exact work against the statute. State inspectors can enter premises to inspect regulated work and order corrections (RSA 153:34), and a town building inspector may enforce the board's rules as well (RSA 153:35). Our guides on becoming a licensed electrician and a licensed plumber cover the national path.

Pesticides: lawn, tree and pest work

Spraying for hire is regulated by the Division of Pesticide Control in the Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food. RSA 430:33 bars anyone from commercial application of pesticides without a valid certificate of registration. The annual fee is $60 for a commercial application registration and $20 for a private applicator registration, with no fee for nonprofit or government entities. The applicant must pass an exam or other competency check, show proof of financial responsibility in an amount set by rule, and keep operational records that go in with each renewal.

The rules in chapter Pes 300 sort licenses by category. Shade and ornamental pest control is G1, turf is G2, and industrial, institutional, structural and health-related pest control is F1. All commercial applicators must pass an exam, and applicants at the supervisory level also take an oral exam after the written ones. Mowing alone does not involve a pesticide, but weed killers and grub controls do. Our pest control license guide shows how other states handle it.

Trades the state leaves unlicensed, and what you still need

Lawn mowing, snow plowing, house cleaning, pressure washing and junk removal are not named in the statutes above, so the state does not require a trade license for them. Check these items instead:

• Registering the business, and a trade name if you operate under one (see the startup page).
• Your town's building or code office. The Insurance Department notes that general contractors need no state license, so permits and inspections for general work come from your town, and RSA 153:35 lets town building departments enforce the plumbing and gas rules.
• Workers' compensation for employees, which comes from the Department of Labor, not OPLC.
• A disposal site's rules if you haul junk.

Where your work crosses from one of these services into repair, such as rebuilding steps or replacing a water heater, run the plumbing and electrical rules above first.

What this means for your marketing

Because no one verifies general contractors statewide, do not imply you are state licensed unless you hold one of the licenses above for the work you advertise. If you are a licensed electrician, plumber or gas fitter, say so with the license number on your site and your Business Profile. We summarize the state's other rules on websites, calls and email in our New Hampshire website, phone and email rules page. This is general information from sources read in October 2026, and it is not legal advice. Confirm with OPLC, the Division of Pesticide Control and your town. Compare states on our licensing boards table.

Frequently asked questions