Which Minneapolis contractors need a state license?

Anyone who contracts with a homeowner for work in more than one special skill needs a Minnesota DLI residential building contractor or remodeler license, and roofers need one even for roofing alone. DLI's eight skills are excavation, masonry/concrete, carpentry, interior finishing, exterior finishing, drywall and plaster, roofing, and general installation specialties.

Does Minneapolis license contractors itself?

Yes, for some trades. The City licenses mechanical contractors (HVAC, refrigeration and gas piping), keeps a list of companies approved for plumbing work, and licenses residential specialty contractors who do one type of work, such as masonry or drywall.

How do I look up a Minnesota contractor license?

On DLI's iMS system (ims.dli.mn.gov): choose Continue as guest and enter the full license number, or use Search License/Registration holders. It shows status, plumbing bond holders and enforcement actions.

What does a Minneapolis HVAC contractor need?

For an HVAC-A license (air handling and air distribution), the City asks for a City of Minneapolis competency card holder, a $25,000 State of Minnesota bond, and liability insurance of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate for both bodily injury and property damage.

Can a small contractor work without a DLI license?

A residential building contractor with less than $15,000 a year in gross receipts from residential work can hold a DLI certificate of exemption instead. Ask for the certificate and check its number on DLI's lookup.

Minneapolis contractor license lookup: DLI, city and permits

Which license each job needs in Minneapolis

Work	Who licenses it	Where to check	Minneapolis firms matched to an active DLI license
Roofing	DLI residential roofer license (required even for roofing alone)	DLI lookup	75.9% of 1,483
Remodels, additions, new homes: two or more skills	DLI residential building contractor or remodeler license	DLI lookup	75.0% (remodel), 74.6% (addition)
Siding, windows: one skill only	DLI license if the firm offers more than one skill; otherwise a City residential specialty license	DLI, and the City's residential specialty list	80.1% (siding), 78.7% (windows)
Plumbing, water heaters	DLI plumbing contractor; on the City's list of approved plumbing companies	DLI, and the City's plumbing contractor list	74.0% of 497
Furnaces, A/C, ducts, gas piping, refrigeration	City mechanical contractor license (for example HVAC-A), with a State bond	City mechanical and heating list; DLI for the bond	67.4% of 298
Electrical	DLI electrical contractor license	DLI lookup	not in our Minneapolis data

DLI's rule is the one to know: a license is needed by anyone who "contracts directly with an owner of residential real estate to provide work in more than one special skill", and "roofers are required to obtain a license" (DLI, read 22 October 2026). A firm that only does one skill, say siding, needs no state license, which is where the City's residential specialty license comes in; the City describes those firms as "licensed by the City to perform one type of residential construction work".

For HVAC, the City's HVAC-A application asks for a City of Minneapolis competency card holder, "a State of Minnesota $25,000 bond", and liability insurance of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury and the same for property damage (City of Minneapolis, read 22 October 2026).

How to run the lookup in five minutes

Get the DLI license number from the quote (for a roofer, remodeler or plumber), or the City license for HVAC.
Search DLI's iMS: choose "Continue as guest", enter the full number, and check status and enforcement actions. iMS also shows plumbing bond holders.
HVAC or plumbing: find the firm on the City's mechanical and heating or plumbing contractor list, or call Business Licenses on 612-673-2080.
Read the record: open the firm on our Minneapolis roofing, HVAC or plumbing list.

How to search Minneapolis permit records

The City's Property information search looks up an address and returns building and zoning information, licenses and license history, and inspection history (City of Minneapolis, read 22 October 2026). It is organised by property. Our pages are organised by contractor: every permit a firm pulled in Minneapolis in three years, the share closed and the usual days to close, plus the Minneapolis permit statistics and ZIP code pages.

What 74,258 Minneapolis permits show

Trade	Permits	Firms	Closed	Usual days to close	Active DLI match
Plumbing	20,012	497	70.6%	113	74.0%
Roofing	18,620	1,483	93.0%	85	75.9%
HVAC	18,180	298	75.6%	85	67.4%
Remodel	5,552	1,424	75.5%	161	75.0%
Windows	5,528	478	81.8%	98	78.7%
Siding	1,823	462	88.9%	113	80.1%
Solar	1,321	35	93.6%	76	57.1%
Basement waterproofing	1,029	100	81.9%	48	69.0%
Garage	706	185	93.4%	143	74.1%
Deck	692	338	65.9%	166	71.9%

"Closed" is the share of permits a year or more old that the City closed. The usual re-roof was filed at $13,000, a remodel at $15,000.

Two numbers matter for hiring. First, 171 roofing firms and 143 remodel firms that pulled Minneapolis permits matched a DLI license that is not active now, and 144 roofing firms with 5 or more permits have filed none in the last 12 months. Second, the HVAC spread: among the 141 HVAC firms with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile firm closed 57.5% and the 90th 93.6%, with 40 under 70%.

See every Minneapolis roofer by closed permits and DLI license →

Red flags in Minneapolis

A roofer with no DLI license. There is no one-skill exception for roofing.
A remodeler doing several trades on a specialty license. Two or more skills means a DLI license.
A DLI license that is not active, or enforcement actions on iMS.
A furnace installer not on the City's mechanical list.

What this lookup does not tell you

Electrical permits are not in our Minneapolis data, so electricians are not here; check them on DLI. We match firms by name to DLI's residential, plumbing and mechanical contractor files, so a firm that permits under another name shows as unmatched (21.8% of HVAC firms), not as unlicensed; we do not match City licenses. Plumbing and HVAC permits rarely record a job value. A license says the firm may do the work, not how its last job went. Statewide rules, the contractor recovery fund and penalties are in How to check a contractor's license in Minnesota; for roofs, see Metal roof vs shingles in Minneapolis.

How we know this

Permits are City of Minneapolis construction permits (CCS), 2023-10 to 2026-09, grouped into the trades above; utility permits are left out. "Closed" uses permits a year or more old; the percentile figures use firms with 10 or more permits. License status is our name match against Minnesota DLI residential, plumbing and mechanical contractor files. Rules are quoted from DLI and City of Minneapolis pages, read 22 October 2026.

Numbers come from City of Minneapolis construction permits (CCS), data through October 16, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

Questions

Which Minneapolis contractors need a state license?
Anyone who contracts with a homeowner for work in more than one special skill needs a Minnesota DLI residential building contractor or remodeler license, and roofers need one even for roofing alone. DLI's eight skills are excavation, masonry/concrete, carpentry, interior finishing, exterior finishing, drywall and plaster, roofing, and general installation specialties.
Does Minneapolis license contractors itself?
Yes, for some trades. The City licenses mechanical contractors (HVAC, refrigeration and gas piping), keeps a list of companies approved for plumbing work, and licenses residential specialty contractors who do one type of work, such as masonry or drywall.
How do I look up a Minnesota contractor license?
On DLI's iMS system (ims.dli.mn.gov): choose Continue as guest and enter the full license number, or use Search License/Registration holders. It shows status, plumbing bond holders and enforcement actions.
What does a Minneapolis HVAC contractor need?
For an HVAC-A license (air handling and air distribution), the City asks for a City of Minneapolis competency card holder, a $25,000 State of Minnesota bond, and liability insurance of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate for both bodily injury and property damage.
Can a small contractor work without a DLI license?
A residential building contractor with less than $15,000 a year in gross receipts from residential work can hold a DLI certificate of exemption instead. Ask for the certificate and check its number on DLI's lookup.