General contractor license requirements and dollar thresholds by US state
Do I need a contractor license for this project in my state, and what does it take to get one? Every US state handles general contractor licensing differently: some require a state license for any construction work, others only above a dollar threshold ($1,000 in Arizona, $10,000 residential in Alabama, $100,000 commercial in Alabama), and some have no state-level license at all (municipal only). One record per license type per state, sourced from the state's licensing board. Answers 'do I need a contractor license in Florida', 'what is the minimum project size for a contractor license in Alabama', 'general contractor license requirements by state', and 'how much is a contractor license bond'. New Jersey added a formal licensing system effective February 2026; Montana transitioned from registration to licensing in 2026. The assembled versions on page one are all from insurance lead-gen sites (nextinsurance.com, insureon.com) selling general liability to contractors. Extends the electrician-licence-progression-by-state pattern to general contractors.
The data
| License type | State | Licensing authority | Dollar threshold | Exam required | Application/license fee | Surety bond | Insurance required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Contractor | Alabama | Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors | $100,000 or more. Swimming Pool construction of $5,000 or more | ||||
| Commercial | Louisiana | Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) | $50,000 or more (including labor and materials) | ||||
| Home Improvement | Louisiana | Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) | seven thousand five hundred dollars or more | ||||
| Mold Remediation | Louisiana | Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) | $7,500 or more | ||||
| Residential | Louisiana | Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) | exceeding $50,000 (including labor and materials) | ||||
| Construction Contractor | Oregon | Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB) | There are 80 multiple choice questions; a passing score is 70 percent (56 correct answers) | $400 fee for a two-year license | |||
| General Contractor | South Carolina | South Carolina Contractor's Licensing Board (SC LLR) | greater than $10,000 | ||||
| Contractor | Tennessee | Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors | $25,000 or more | Tennessee “Business and Law” exam, and a trade exam is required for certain license classifications | |||
| Home Improvement Contractor | Tennessee | Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors | from $3,000 to $24,999 | $250 | $10,000 | General Liability and Worker’s Compensation required | |
| General Contractor (registration) | Washington | Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) | $150.20 | $30,000 for general contractors | $200,000 in public liability and $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined single limit | ||
| Specialty Contractor (registration) | Washington | Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) | $150.20 | $15,000 for specialty contractors |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 7 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- genconbd.alabama.govhttps://genconbd.alabama.gov/about/law/
- lslbc.govhttps://lslbc.gov/types-of-licenses/
- oregon.govhttps://www.oregon.gov/ccb/Pages/CCB%20License.aspx
- llr.sc.govhttps://llr.sc.gov/clb/faq.aspx
- tn.govhttps://www.tn.gov/commerce/regboards/contractors/license/get/contractor.html
- tn.govhttps://www.tn.gov/commerce/regboards/contractors/license/get/home-improvement.html
- lni.wa.govhttps://lni.wa.gov/licensing-permits/contractors/register-as-a-contractor/
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.