North Carolina General Contractor License & Exam Prep

This classification covers all building construction and demolition activity including: commercial, industrial, institutional, and all residential building construction. It includes:

Limited License - $750,000 per individual project
Intermediate License- $1,500,000 per individual project
Unlimited License - Valid for projects of any size

Do you need to perform work for only residential structures? Click the link below to learn more about the Residential Contractor License.

North Carolina Building Contractors License

This classification covers all building construction and demolition activity including: commercial, industrial, institutional, and all residential construction. It includes parking decks; all site work, grading and paving of parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, and gutters; storm drainage, retaining or screen walls, and hardware and accessory structures; and indoor and outdoor recreational facilities including natural and artificial surface athletic fields, running tracks, bleachers, and seating. It also covers work done under the specialty classifications of S(Concrete Construction), S(Insulation), S(Interior Construction), S(Marine Construction), S(Masonry Construction), S(Roofing), S(Metal Erection), S(Swimming Pools), and S(Asbestos), and S(Wind Turbine).

North Carolina Residential Contractors License

This classification covers all construction and demolition activity pertaining to the construction of residential units that are required to conform to the residential building code adopted by the Building Code Council pursuant to G.S. 143-138; all site work, driveways, sidewalks, and water and wastewater systems ancillary to the aforementioned structures and improvements; and the work done as part of such residential units under the specialty classifications of S(Insulation), S(Interior Construction), S(Masonry), S(Roofing), S(Swimming Pools), and S(Asbestos).

North Carolina Highway Contractor

This classification covers all highway construction activity including: grading, paving of all types, installation of exterior artificial athletic surfaces, relocation of public and private utility lines ancillary to a principal project, bridge construction and repair, culvert construction and repair, parking decks, sidewalks, curbs, gutters and storm drainage. It also includes installation and erection of guard rails, fencing, signage and ancillary highway hardware; covers paving and grading of airport and airfield runways, taxiways, and aprons, including the installation of fencing, signage, runway lighting and marking; and work done under the specialty classifications of S(Boring and Tunneling), S(Concrete Construction), S(Marine Construction), S(Railroad Construction), and H(Grading and Excavating).

North Carolina Public Utilities Contractor

This classification includes operations that are the performance of construction work on water and wastewater systems and on the subclassifications of facilities set forth in G.S. 87-10(b)(3). The Board shall issue a license to a public utilities contractor that is limited to any of the subclassifications set forth in G.S. 87-10(b)(3) for which the contractor qualifies. This license covers work done under the specialty classifications of S(Boring and Tunneling), PU(Communications), PU(Fuel Distribution), PU(Electrical-Ahead of Point of Delivery), PU(Water Lines and Sewer Lines), PU(Water Purification and Sewage Disposal), and S(Swimming Pools).

North Carolina Specialty Contractor

This classification covers all construction operation and performance of contract work outlined below:

- H (Grading and Excavating)
- S (Boring and Tunneling)
- PU (Communications)
- S (Concrete Construction)
- PU (Electrical-Ahead of Point of Delivery)
- PU (Fuel Distribution)
- PU (Water Lines and Sewer Lines)
- PU (Water Purification and Sewage Disposal)
- S (Insulation)
- S (Interior Construction)
- S (Marine Construction)
- S (Masonry Construction)
- S Railroad Construction
- S (Roofing)
- S (Metal Erection)
- S (Swimming Pools)
- S (Asbestos)
- S (Wind Turbine)

General Contractor License Limitations in North Carolina

1. Limited License:

- have current assets that exceed the total current liabilities by at least seventeen thousand dollars ($17,000) or have a total net worth of at least eighty thousand dollars ($80,000);
- pass the examination which shall contain subject matter related to the specific contracting classification chosen by the applicant with a score as set out in Rule .0404 of this Chapter; and
- if the applicant or any owner, principal, or qualifier is in bankruptcy or has been in bankruptcy within five years prior to the filing of the application, provide to the Board an agreed-upon procedures report on a form provided by the Board or an audited financial statement with a classified balance sheet as part of the application. This requirement shall not apply to shareholders of an applicant that is a publicly traded corporation

2. Intermediate License:

- have current assets that exceed the total current liabilities by at least seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000), as reflected in an agreed-upon procedures report on a form provided by the Board or an audited financial statement prepared by a certified public accountant or an independent accountant who is engaged in the public practice of accountancy; and
- pass the examination which shall contain subject matter related to the specific contracting classification chosen by the applicant with a score as set out in Rule .0404 of this Chapter.

3. Unlimited License:

- have current assets that exceed the total current liabilities by at least one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000), as reflected in an agreed-upon procedures report on a form provided by the Board or an audited financial statement prepared by a certified public accountant or an independent accountant who is engaged in the public practice of accountancy;
- pass the examination which shall contain subject matter related to the specific contracting classification chosen by the applicant with a score as set out in Rule .0404 of this Chapter.