North Carolina contractor license requirements
What you need before your first paid job in North Carolina, one page for each trade. The license, the least insurance you must carry, whether the state asks for a bond, when you charge sales tax, and the deadlines that protect your right to be paid.
Plumbing in North Carolina
- License you need
- Plumbing Contractor, Class IRenews annual
- Insurance you must carry
- No state minimumcustomers usually ask for $1,000,000
- Workers' comp
- Requiredonce you have three or more employees on a regular basis
- North Carolina does not ask a plumbing contractor for liability insurance or a bond to get or keep the license. Nothing in G.S. 87 Article 2 or the Board's rules sets an insurance minimum. Websites that list one are quoting another state or a city permit rule.
- There is no continuing education. The Board dropped the requirement on December 31, 2012, and the CE rule (21 NCAC 50 .1401) is repealed.
HVAC in North Carolina
- License you need
- Heating Group No. 3 Contractor, Class IRenews annual
- Insurance you must carry
- No state minimumcustomers usually ask for $1,000,000
- Workers' comp
- Requiredonce you have three or more employees on a regular basis
- North Carolina sorts HVAC work into three heating groups by system type, and then into Class I or Class II by building. Group 3 covers systems of 15 tons or less, and any system in a single-family home whatever its size. Group 2 covers systems over 15 tons outside single-family homes, and has no Class II. Boilers and steam or hot water heat are Group 1. No license is needed for minor repairs or minor replacements to a system already installed.
- Replacing a whole central air conditioner, heating unit, or duct system is a capital improvement. You charge the customer no sales tax and pay tax yourself on the equipment. Replacing a coil, blower, condenser coil, control, or a section of duct is a taxable repair, and you charge tax on the whole bill, labor included.
Electrical in North Carolina
- License you need
- Limited (L) electrical contracting licenseRenews every year
- Insurance you must carry
- No state minimumcustomers usually ask for $1,000,000
- Workers' comp
- Requiredonce you have three or more employees on a regular basis
- Electrical has its own board. Plumbing, heating and fire sprinkler share one board; electrical contractors answer to a different one, with different rules and a different renewal date.
- Your license class is set by the size of a single job, not by your skill. Limited stops at $60,000, Intermediate at $150,000, Unlimited has no ceiling.
Across states
Can you charge sales tax on labor? The rule in 25 states. Which states tax the work itself, which tax only the parts, and how a repair differs from a new install.