Jurisdiction
State requirements
2 tools · 5 guides · 12 state sheets
Who issues the license in each state, the dollar threshold that triggers it, how to verify a number, and which states honour each other.
All 19 pagesCURRENT · 09 2026
Contractor license & insurance requirements by state
Fees, bond amounts and thresholds read from the board that sets them, with the date we read them. Calculators that show their arithmetic. Nothing here is copied from another summary.
Date September 2026
Four pillars
Licensing splits into four questions. Each one has its own tools, guides and jurisdiction notes.
Procedure
Licensing process
6 tools · 4 guides · 1 comparison
The path from experience hours to a license number: what a board wants on the application, what the exam covers, what it costs, and when it lapses.
All 11 pages
Coverage
Bonds & insurance
6 tools · 7 guides · 6 comparisons
The surety bond a board demands, the general liability a general contractor demands, and the workers' comp a state demands — with the numbers that set each premium.
All 19 pages
Trade
Trade licenses
3 guides · 3 comparisons
Electrical, mechanical, plumbing and roofing licenses run on their own ladders — apprentice hours, a trade exam, and in some states a separate bond.
All 6 pagesHow to use this site
- § 1
Find the board that issues your license
Three models cover all fifty states: a state board for generals, state trade licenses only, or local registration. Which one you are in decides everything after it.
Requirements by state - § 2
Price the whole thing, not the application fee
The board fee is the small part. The bond premium, the first year of liability cover and the exam spend are the rest, and the bond line moves furthest with your credit.
License cost calculator - § 3
Put the renewal date somewhere that is not an inbox
In a board state an expired license is no license, and work contracted while it is expired can reach your right to be paid for it.
Renewal tracker
Jurisdictions
12 sheets written from the board’s own pages. The remaining codes are registers we requested directly on 2026-10-18 — they open the lookup directory.
Start here
- Contractor license requirements by stateThe three licensing models, and the state sheets we read in full.2026-09-04
- Contractor license classifications, explainedA, B and C classes, and what each one actually lets you build.2026-10-18
- How to get a contractor licenseEvery step from first experience hour to a number on a certificate.2026-10-18
- General contractor license requirementsExperience, exam, financials, bond and insurance — what boards test.2026-09-04
- General liability insurance for contractorsWhat it covers, the limits GCs ask for, and the exclusions that bite.2026-09-04
- Contractor surety bonds: how they actually workLicense bonds, performance bonds, underwriting and what a claim does to you.2026-09-04
- Electrical contractor licenseApprentice to journeyman to contractor, and the hours each rung wants.2026-09-04
- HVAC license and EPA 608The mechanical license, plus the EPA 608 certification nobody waives.2026-09-04
Keep your license current.
55 pages, every figure read from the regulator that publishes it and stamped with the date. Last full check 2026-09-04.