How to become a general contractor in 2026

There is no national contractor license. In the US the question "do I need a contractor license?" has a different answer in each state, and the honest way to answer it is state by state, from the boards. Some license general contractors at state level with experience years, exams, a bond and a financial test; others leave general building to the city or county and license only the trades inside the job — electrical, plumbing, heating and air. Here are the big ones, each from its own agency or statute:

• California — a state license for any job of $1,000 or more. The B General Building license covers "a contractor whose principal contracting business is in connection with any structure built, being built, or to be built, for the support, shelter, and enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or movable property of any kind" and may not take a prime contract "unless the prime contract requires at least two unrelated building trades or crafts" beyond framing or carpentry (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §7057). The qualifier needs "not less than four years experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in the particular class", and training or an apprenticeship cannot "count for more than 3 years of the experience" (16 CCR §825); CSLB's own guide puts it as "four years within the last ten years as a journeyperson, foreperson, supervising employee, contractor, or owner-builder", then "a trade exam and/or a business and law exam", fingerprints for everyone on the application, a contractor bond, and "Workers' compensation insurance or exemption" (CSLB, applying for a sole owner license). The bond is "twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)" (§7071.6). The fees: "Original Application (exam or waiver for one classification) $450", "Initial License Fee (Sole Owner) $200", "Initial License Fee (Non-Sole Owner) $350", a "Dept. of Justice Processing Fee $32" and an "FBI Processing Fee $17" for the fingerprints, and "Active Timely Renewal (Sole Owner) $450" every two years (CSLB fee list) — the statute lets the Board raise the $450 to $563 and the $200 to $250 (§7137). And the deposit a home-improvement contract may take: "the downpayment shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or 10 percent of the contract amount, whichever amount is less" (§7159.5).
• Florida — certified for the whole state, or registered for one county. "A person must be certified or registered in order to engage in the business of contracting in this state" (Fla. Stat. §489.113); a "contractor" is anyone who "for compensation, undertakes to, submits a bid to, or does himself or herself or by others construct, repair, alter, remodel, add to, demolish, subtract from, or improve any building or structure" (§489.105). To be certified: be 18, and have "at least 4 years of active experience as a worker who has learned the trade by serving an apprenticeship as a skilled worker who is able to command the rate of a mechanic in the particular trade or as a foreman … provided, however, that at least 1 year of active experience shall be as a foreman", or a four-year degree in engineering, architecture or building construction "and has 1 year of proven experience" (§489.111); pass the licensing examination; and show financial responsibility through "a credit report from a nationally recognized credit agency", with the board's net worth, cash and bonding minimums capped at "no more than $20,000" for Division I and "no more than $10,000" for Division II (§489.115).
• Arizona — four years, an exam, and a bond sized to your volume. The qualifying party must "Have a minimum of four years' practical or management trade experience, at least two of which must have been within the last ten years", with technical training creditable but "in no case may credited technical training exceed two years", and pass the written exam "taken not more than two years before application" (A.R.S. §32-1122). The license bond for a general residential contractor is "not more than $15,000 and not less than $5,000"; a general commercial contractor under $150,000 of annual volume posts "five thousand dollars", rising by bracket to "not less than $50,000 or more than $100,000" above $10,000,000 (§32-1152).
• Nevada — four years, two exams, a bond and a fee schedule. "The trade qualified individual must have, within the 10 years immediately preceding the filing of this application, at least 4 years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in the specific classification requested." "A Business and Law (CMS) examination will be required. A trade examination may be required depending on the classification requested." "The fee to apply is $300. If your license is approved the license fee is $600 for a two year license." And "It is your responsibility to file a Contractor's Bond in the amount required by the Board", from $1,000 to $500,000 (Nevada State Contractors Board FAQ).
• Oregon — a 16-hour course, an exam, a bond and insurance, no experience test. "Complete at least 16 hours of pre-license training from an approved pre-license education provider and pass the Oregon exam." "There are 80 multiple choice questions; a passing score is 70 percent (56 correct answers)." "The RMI must be an owner or employee of the business and manage or supervise its construction activities." The bond for a "Residential general contractor: $25,000", liability cover "Residential General Contractor: $500,000 per occurrence", and the application "$400 (beginning 7/1/2025)" (Oregon Construction Contractors Board).
• North Carolina — a license at $40,000. "In the State of North Carolina, a general contractor must be licensed if the contract is valued at $40,000 or higher." (NC Licensing Board for General Contractors FAQ). The board's three limitations and their working-capital tests sit on pages that refused to open the day we read them, so no figure is printed here.
• Georgia — a state license with a net-worth affirmation. The board's licensing rules ask for "at least one year of proven experience working as or in the employment of a general contractor" from an applicant with a construction-related degree, or "four years of proven active experience working in a construction industry related field" without one, an examination approved by the general contractor division, and a net worth affirmation of "$150,000" for the standard tier or "$25,000" for the limited tier, which is capped at contracts of "no more than one million dollars" (Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors, rules chapter 553-4). Georgia's dollar exemption for small repair work lives in a statute whose hosts refused every reader, so it is not printed.
• Alabama — $100,000. A general contractor is "one who undertakes to construct or superintend the construction, alteration, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, remediation, reclamation, or demolition of any building, highway, sewer, structure, site work, grading, paving or project or any improvement in the State of Alabama where the cost of the undertaking including labor and materials is $100,000 or more" (Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors, the law).
• Louisiana — $50,000 commercial, $75,000 residential. A commercial license at "$50,000 or more for major and specialty classifications", a residential license for work "In excess of seventy-five thousand dollars for a residential construction project", and the home improvement registration at "$7,500 or more for home improvement projects", with "An exam/administrative fee is required for each classification and for Business and Law" (Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors FAQ).
• Texas — no state license for the general contractor, and the trades licensed at any price. The Department of Licensing and Regulation's list of regulated industries has electricians and air-conditioning contractors on it and no general-contractor entry (TDLR); "a person or business may not perform or offer to perform electrical work or residential appliance installation unless the person or business holds an appropriate license" (Tex. Occ. Code §1305.151), "A person may not engage in air conditioning and refrigeration contracting unless the person holds an air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license" (§1302.251), and "A property owner is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform plumbing in the property owner's homestead" — nobody else is (§1301.051). Your city may register contractors on its own; ask its building department.
• Washington, Virginia, New York City and the registration states. "Washington State requires all construction contractors to register with L&I" — a "$30,000 for general contractors" bond, "$200,000 in public liability and $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined single limit", and "The required application fee of $150.20" (Washington L&I). Virginia tiers its license by job value: Class C "over $1,000 but less than $30,000", Class B "$30,000 or more, but less than $150,000", Class A "$150,000 or more" (Va. Code §54.1-1100). New York has no state license; in New York City "A person or business must have a Home Improvement Contractor license to do construction, repair, remodeling, or other home improvement work to any residential land or building", with a 30-question exam, "$200" into the trust fund or "a $20,000 Surety Bond", for two years (NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection). Utah licenses from "$7,000, including both labor and materials" (Utah Code §58-55-305); Minnesota licenses the residential building contractor who offers more than one skill above "$15,000" of annual receipts (Minn. Stat. §326B.805); Maryland's Home Improvement Commission "licenses and regulates home improvement contractors" with no floor (Maryland MHIC); New Jersey registers anyone "in the business of making or selling home improvements" (N.J.A.C. 13:45A-17.3); Pennsylvania registers from "$5,000 during the previous taxable year" and caps the deposit on a contract over $5,000 at one-third of the price (Pennsylvania Act 132 of 2008).

One exam for several states. NASCLA's accredited commercial general building exam travels: "NASCLA transcripts are used to waive the trade examination portion for a regulatory agency. Once a transcript is purchased, the receiving regulatory agency will be electronically notified through the National Examination Database (NED)", and "The application fee is $65.00 per application" (NASCLA, accredited examinations FAQ). Oregon's own exam is the NASCLA business, law and project management test. The business-and-law exam is the one every licensing state sets in some form; the trade exam is what NASCLA's transcript can waive.

The one federal rule. "EPA's RRP Rule requires that anyone paid to perform work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 be certified and their employees be trained" (EPA, updated June 17, 2026), "This includes all firms, even sole proprietorships", except "Minor repair and maintenance activities that disturb six square feet or less of paint per room inside, or 20 square feet or less on the exterior" (EPA, for contractors). The firm certification is $300 (40 CFR 745.92), good for five years (40 CFR 745.89), with a renovator course that "must last a minimum of 8 training hours" (40 CFR 745.225).

You are self-employed from the first draw. In the US a one-truck contractor is a sole proprietor by default: "Use Schedule C (Form 1040) to report income or (loss) from a business you operated or a profession you practiced as a sole proprietor" (IRS, Schedule C instructions); "The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%" (IRS); sole proprietors "generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe tax of $1,000 or more" (IRS); and "You never have to pay a fee for an EIN" (IRS). If you want an LLC — and the licensing boards license the entity and its qualifier, so decide before you apply: Texas $300 (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §4.154); Florida $100 plus $25 for the registered agent and $50 a year (Fla. Stat. §605.0213); New York $200 (N.Y. LLC Law §1101) plus a notice "published once in each week for six successive weeks, in two newspapers of the county" (§206); California $70 (Cal. Gov. Code §12190) and "Every LLC that is doing business or organized in California must pay an annual tax of $800" (Franchise Tax Board). Workers' compensation: "In Texas, private employers can choose to carry workers' compensation insurance coverage, but it is not required in most cases" (Texas Department of Insurance); "All California employers must provide workers' compensation benefits to their employees" (California DIR). Sales tax on the work: Texas — "Labor to repair, remodel, or restore residential real property is not taxable", while "the total amount charged for remodeling, repairing, or restoring nonresidential real property is taxable" (Texas Comptroller, Publication 94-116); California — "Construction contractors are always the consumers of materials that they furnish and install in the performance of a lump sum contract. Tax applies to the cost of materials to the construction contractor." (CDTFA Publication 9, February 2025); New York — a capital improvement "is not taxable" while "Repairing a broken step, replacing a thermostat on a hot water heater, or painting existing cabinets are all examples of taxable repair and maintenance work" (New York TB-ST-104, updated October 16, 2026); Florida — items "permanently installed into a structure … are classified as real property and are not subject to sales tax" (Florida DOR GT-800067). Confirm the details with your accountant.

The money to start. Our arithmetic from the pages that print each price, for a California sole-owner license: the $450 application, the $200 initial license fee, the $32 and $17 fingerprint fees, and a year of general liability at Insureon's general-contractor median of $1,950 come to $2,649. The fuller paperwork start — commercial auto at $3,444, tools cover at $505, workers' compensation for the first hire at $2,348 and the $300 EPA certification on top — is $9,246. Neither prices the $25,000 bond's premium: every surety company's page refused to open, so ask three. The insurance is a median, not your quote: "General contractors pay an average of $162 per month, or $1,950 annually" for general liability, "$125 per month, or $1,503 annually" for a business owner's policy, "$196 per month, or $2,348 annually" for workers' compensation, "$287 per month, or $3,444 annually" for commercial auto, and "$42 per month for inland marine insurance, or $505 annually" (Insureon, updated July 31, 2026). The truck, the tools and the cash you float are the construction business plan's job — its startup lines run $18,600 to $86,500 as planning ranges before workers' compensation. The step after this guide is how to start a construction business; the name comes from construction company names, and the site from the construction website builder.

In the UK: there is no general-contractor license; the controls are the building regulations — "You might also need building regulations approval for many alteration projects", and "You do not need to get approval yourself if you use someone registered with a competent person scheme" (GOV.UK; the schemes). In Australia the principle inverts: in New South Wales any home building work "above $5,000 (except specialist work)" needs a licensed contractor, and the specialist trades need one at any value (Legal Aid NSW). Check your own state's contractor board, and your city's building department, before you bid the first job.