Contractor license fees by state
Fees quoted from each board's own page, read 20 to 22 October 2026. "Get" is what a new contractor pays the board; exam and training fees paid to others are noted where the board lists them.
| State | What it is | To get it | To keep it | Bond or fund on top | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | CSLB licence (exam) | $450 application + $200 initial licence (sole owner) or $350 (company) | $450 or $700 every two years; C-10 electrical $470 or $720 | $25,000 contractor's bond | CSLB fee list |
| Oregon | CCB licence | $400 for two years; exam $60 to the provider; 16 hours of training | $400 every two years | Bond $25,000 residential general, $20,000 residential specialty | Oregon CCB |
| Washington | L&I contractor registration | $150.20 application | $150.20 renewal | Bond $30,000 general, $15,000 specialty; liability insurance | WA L&I |
| Arizona | ROC licence, two years | Residential general $870 ($180 + $320 + $370 recovery fund); residential specialty $720; commercial general $780 | Residential general $590; specialty $540; commercial general $580 | Recovery fund assessment is in the totals | Arizona ROC |
| Florida | Certified residential contractor (individual) | $245 or $145 application, by date filed; exam fees separate | $230 active renewal, $280 with a qualified business (after 31 Aug 2026) | — | DBPR |
| Ohio | OCILB licence (electrical, HVAC, plumbing, hydronics, refrigeration) | $25 exam application + $25 issuance | $60 a year, or $180 for three years | $500,000 liability insurance for individual licence holders | OAC 4101:16-2-09 |
| North Dakota | Contractor licence, by largest job | Class A $450, B $300, C $225, D $100 | Renewed every year | — | NDCC 43-07-07 |
| Iowa | Contractor registration | $50 a year, no exam | $50 a year | — | Iowa DIAL |
| Pennsylvania | Home improvement contractor registration | $100 every two years | $100 every two years | Proof of insurance | PA Attorney General |
| Vermont | Residential contractor registration | $75 individual, $250 business | Same, every two years | $1,000,000 liability insurance | Vermont OPR |
| Texas | No state general contractor licence | No state licence to buy | — | Trades (electrical, air conditioning) are licensed by TDLR; plumbers by the State Board of Plumbing Examiners | TDLR |
Cities add their own. Cincinnati charges contractors $131.25 a year to register (City of Cincinnati).
Three readings from the table. California and Arizona are the expensive states to enter, but even there the fee is under $1,000. Washington is cheap to register and expensive to stay in, because of the bond and insurance. And a cheap state can be a strict one: Ohio's trade licence costs $50 to get, but the person needs five years in the trade and an exam (ORC 4740.06, per our Ohio guide).
What the fee does not buy
The fee pays for the board's paperwork. Whether a licence means anything to you depends on what the board checks:
| Check | Example |
|---|---|
| Exam | Oregon (after 16 hours of training), California, Ohio's trade licences |
| Experience | Ohio: five years in the trade |
| Bond | Oregon $25,000 residential general; Washington $30,000 general |
| Insurance | Washington: $200,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined; Vermont $1,000,000 |
| A cap on job size | North Dakota: Class D up to $100,000 per job, Class A no limit |
| Little beyond the fee | Iowa registration: no exam and no experience requirement |
So a licence lookup tells you the firm paid and met the board's bar; it does not tell you whether it finishes jobs. The permit file does, which is what our compare pages rank on.
How often the firms in our cities match a licence
| City | Trade | Firms | Matched to an active state licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento County, CA | Remodel | 864 | 83.8% |
| Sacramento County, CA | Roofing | 748 | 78.9% |
| Medford, OR | Remodel | 88 | 79.5% |
| Bellingham, WA | Remodel | 101 | 70.3% |
| Seattle, WA | Electrical | 749 | 82.6% |
| Miami, FL | Remodel | 1,475 | 90.9% |
| Cape Coral, FL | Roofing | 465 | 99.4% |
A firm without a match is not necessarily unlicensed: the name on the permit may differ from the name on the licence, or it may be a homeowner's own permit. It is a reason to ask for the licence number and look it up yourself.
Check it in five minutes
- Ask the contractor for its licence or registration number, and the state that issued it.
- Look it up on the board's site; our verification guide links each state's lookup.
- Check that the class or endorsement covers your job (a North Dakota Class D on a $150,000 addition does not), and that the bond is active where the state requires one.
- Then look the firm up on our compare page, for example Sacramento County remodelers, for its permit record.
Compare Sacramento County remodelers and their licence status →
What this does not tell you
Fees change, sometimes yearly; Florida's renewal fee changed on 31 August 2026. We list board fees, not the cost of exam prep, training courses, bonds or insurance premiums, which are set by private providers. We read eleven states' boards; for the rest, the board's own fee page is the source. Licence-match shares depend on how well permit names match licence names, and some cities' files carry no licence data at all.
How we know this
Fees are quoted from the CSLB, Oregon CCB, Washington L&I, Arizona ROC and Florida DBPR pages and from Ohio Administrative Code 4101:16-2-09, read 22 October 2026, and from the North Dakota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Cincinnati pages, read 20 October 2026. Licence-match shares are the share of firms on each city's permits over its three-year window ending September 2026 whose name matched an Active licence in the state board's public file.
Numbers come from Sacramento County building permits on single-family, duplex and townhouse homes in the unincorporated county (the County's Accela permit layer); City of Medford building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits on single-family, duplex and cottage homes (the city's TRAKiT permit exports); City of Bellingham permits on single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes; City of Miami building permits (since 2014); City of Cape Coral building permits (the city's open permit table starts January 2025); City of Seattle (SDCI) building, trade and electrical permits on single-family and duplex homes (the city's open-data exports), data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- How much does a contractor license cost in California?
$650 to $800 in CSLB fees to get it: a $450 application fee plus a $200 initial licence fee for a sole owner or $350 for a company. Renewal is $450 or $700 every two years ($470 or $720 for C-10 electrical). Add the $25,000 contractor's bond and any exam prep (CSLB fee list, read 22 October 2026).
- How much does an Oregon CCB license cost?
$400 for a two-year licence, new or renewed, since 1 July 2025, plus $60 for the exam paid to the exam provider and 16 hours of pre-licence training. The bond is $25,000 for a residential general contractor and $20,000 for a residential specialty contractor (Oregon CCB).
- How much does it cost to get a handyman license?
In many states there is no handyman licence to buy. California lets an unlicensed handyperson take jobs under $1,000, labour and materials together, that need no permit (CSLB, AB 2622). Texas has no state licence for general contractors or handymen, only for trades such as electricians and air conditioning contractors (TDLR). Above those limits, a handyman needs the state's contractor licence or registration.
- Why is a contractor license so cheap compared with the job?
Because the board fee is the smallest part. Washington charges $150.20 to register but requires a $30,000 bond for a general contractor and $200,000/$50,000 or $250,000 of liability insurance. Arizona's $870 for a new residential general licence includes a $370 recovery fund assessment. The bond, insurance, exam and experience requirement cost more than the fee.
- Does a cheap license mean a contractor is less qualified?
No. The fee says nothing about the test. Iowa's $50 registration has no exam; Oregon's $400 licence needs 16 hours of training and an exam; Ohio's $50 trade licence needs five years in the trade and an exam. Read what your state's licence checks, then look the firm up.
- How much does a Florida contractor license cost?
A certified residential contractor's application is $245 if filed between 1 May of an even year and 31 August of an odd year, or $145 otherwise (DBPR form CILB 5-C, July 2024). Renewal of an active certified licence is $230, or $280 with a qualified business, after 31 August 2026 (DBPR). Exam fees are separate.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- What's a good completion rate for a contractor? The benchmarks from 12 trades and cities
- What does a suspended contractor license mean? The rules, and how often it shows up in permits
- Permit vs no permit: what happens if you build or remodel without one, what it costs, and how to get a permit after
- Does a contractor need a license? By trade, in 10 states
- What a building permit record shows (and what "final" means)
For one city
- List of All CSLB Fees — Contractors State License Board (accessed 2026-10-22)
- CCB License — Oregon Construction Contractors Board (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Fee Increase — Oregon Construction Contractors Board (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Register as a Contractor — Washington L&I (accessed 2026-10-22)
- License and Renewal Fees — Arizona Registrar of Contractors (accessed 2026-10-22)
- DBPR CILB 5-C Certified Contractor as an Individual (Residential) application, eff. July 2024 — Florida DBPR (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Certified Contractors renewal insert — Florida DBPR (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Ohio Administrative Code 4101:16-2-09 Fees and insurance (effective 13 May 2022) (accessed 2026-10-22)
- North Dakota Century Code Chapter 43-07 Contractors (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Construction Contractor Registration — Iowa DIAL (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Home Improvement Contractor Registration — Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Residential Contractor FAQs — Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Contractor Registration — City of Cincinnati Buildings & Inspections (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Handyperson Exemption to Increase to $1,000 in 2025 (CSLB press release, AB 2622) (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Programs Licensed and Regulated by TDLR (accessed 2026-10-21)