Who licenses what in South Carolina
| Work | Credential (SC LLR) | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Building, repairing or improving a home (up to 3 floors, up to 16 units in an apartment building) | Residential Builder license, Residential Builders Commission | over $5,000 |
| Roofing, siding, carpentry, flooring, insulation and other specialty trades on homes | Residential Specialty Contractor registration | over $500 |
| Residential electrical, plumbing, HVAC | Residential Electrical, Plumbing or HVAC Contractor license (Residential Builders Commission) | — |
| Commercial general and mechanical contracting | Contractor's Licensing Board license | over $10,000 |
The builder definition is quoted from the Commission's Residential Builder FAQ, the specialty threshold from its Specialty Contractor FAQ, and the commercial threshold from the Contractor's Licensing Board FAQ. A residential specialty contractor "is not authorized to construct additions to residential buildings or structures without supervision by a residential builder or other appropriately licensed person or entity".
Licensed builders must use registered subcontractors for the specialty trades, and the FAQ says a builder who has not passed the trade exams "will be required to contract with an appropriately licensed subcontractor to provide electrical, plumbing or HVAC work".
Bonds
| Credential | Bond |
|---|---|
| Residential Builder | $15,000 surety bond in the licensee's own name |
| Residential Specialty Contractor doing work over $5,000 | $5,000 surety bond |
| Contractor's Licensing Board (commercial) | equal to the net worth required for the license group |
The bond is filed with the Commission and continued at each renewal. We did not find a homeowner recovery fund on SC LLR's pages.
How to look a contractor up, step by step
- Ask for the SC LLR license or registration number. A roofer should have a specialty registration with a roofing classification; a builder doing an addition needs a Residential Builder license.
- Search the Residential Builders lookup for builders and specialty contractors, or the Contractors lookup for commercial licenses.
- Match the classification to the job. Roof-mounted solar, the specialty FAQ says, needs a specialty contractor with a roofer classification (or a GC with a roofing license), and any structural roof upgrade a residential builder or a carpenter-classified specialty contractor.
- In Charleston, the permit application asks the contractor for an SC LLR license number and a City of Charleston business license number. Look up the address's permits with the Charleston or Greenville permit-search guides.
Our permit data in South Carolina
| Place | Permits | Period | Remodel | New homes | Additions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | 7,775 | Oct 2024 – Sep 2026 | 2,722 | 1,142 | 591 |
| Greenville | 2,982 | Oct 2024 – Sep 2026 | 663 | 750 | 533 |
These are building permit counts, not contractor lists; trade permits are almost absent from both files. Charleston's rules: remodel and new home permits.
Red flags on a South Carolina job
- A home job over $5,000 from someone with no Residential Builder license.
- A roofer, painter or siding installer with no specialty registration on a job over $500.
- A specialty contractor quoting an addition with no residential builder supervising.
- A builder doing his own wiring or plumbing without a residential electrical or plumbing license.
How we know this
Thresholds, definitions and bond amounts are quoted from the SC Residential Builders Commission's Residential Builder and Specialty Contractor FAQs and the Contractor's Licensing Board FAQ, read 25 October 2026. Charleston's application requirements are from its New Residential permit application, read 24 October 2026. Counts come from each city's public permit file, read 19 October 2026; we have not matched South Carolina contractor names to license records.
Numbers come from public permit records in 57 cities, data through October 19, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- When does a South Carolina home builder need a license?
When the cost of the undertaking exceeds $5,000. A residential builder builds, repairs or improves a residential building up to three floors and up to sixteen units in one apartment building "when the cost of the undertaking exceeds five thousand dollars" (S.C. Code § 40-59-20(6)).
- Do South Carolina roofers and other specialty trades need a license?
They register as residential specialty contractors when the job exceeds $500. Specialty contracting includes roofers, plumbers, electricians and other trades listed in § 40-59-20(7). A specialty contractor doing work over $5,000 must file a $5,000 surety bond.
- Where do I look up a South Carolina contractor?
On SC LLR's Licensee Lookup at verify.llronline.com. Use the Residential Builders lookup for home builders and specialty contractors, and the Contractors lookup for general and mechanical contractors licensed by the Contractor's Licensing Board.
- When does a South Carolina general or mechanical contractor need a license?
For commercial work, when the total cost of construction is greater than $10,000. The Contractor's Licensing Board raised the threshold from $5,000 in the 2023 statutory changes.
- What bond does a South Carolina residential builder post?
The Residential Builders Commission's FAQ lists a surety bond of $15,000 in the licensee's own name as one of the financial requirements for a residential builder license.
Build your own list
Pick your city and the kind of work. Every firm with a permit on record, sorted by what you value.
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- Arlington, VA contractor license lookup: DPOR class and specialty, the County permit search, and what the permits show
- Residential Builders Commission — SC Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (2026-10-25)
- Residential Builder FAQ (PDF) — SC Residential Builders Commission (2026-10-25)
- Residential Specialty Contractor FAQ (PDF) — SC Residential Builders Commission (2026-10-25)
- Licensee Lookup, Residential Builders — SC LLR (2026-10-25)
- Contractor's Licensing Board — SC LLR (2026-10-25)
- Contractor's Licensing Board FAQ — SC LLR (2026-10-25)
- Licensee Lookup, Contractors — SC LLR (2026-10-25)
- New Residential Building Permit Application, Form 1.2 (updated 25 August 2021) — City of Charleston (2026-10-24)