Colorado to North Dakota: general contractor license reciprocity
Colorado does not issue a statewide general contractor license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is North Dakota's standard path for out-of-state applicants.
Your origin state does not issue a statewide license at this level, so there is no license to transfer. The destination's standard out-of-state path is shown; expect to meet it in full.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Contractor license for every applicant, wherever they come from (all states)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
An unlimited or general contractor license from another state gives an applicant no advantage in North Dakota, and none is needed. Whatever the size of the project, North Dakota asks for a sworn application naming the class of license sought, a signed statement of the applicant's experience and qualifications, a certificate of liability insurance with the Secretary of State named as certificate holder, a Workforce Safety and Insurance certificate of payment or letter of good standing, and the class fee, which is $450 for class A with no limit on project value. Because there is no trade examination, no business and law examination, no experience threshold, no bond and no financial responsibility test, there is nothing for an out-of-state credential to be measured against or to replace. A contractor based in another state applies on the same terms as a resident and does not have to move here, but a nonresident appoints the registrar as their agent for service of process by signing the application unless they are already registered here as a foreign corporation, limited liability company or partnership with a registered agent on file. The Secretary of State publishes no reciprocity agreement and no endorsement route for the contractor license.
The class letters are a contract-value cap and not a skill grading, so they are chosen rather than earned: class A is unlimited, class B stops at $500,000, class C at $300,000 and class D at $100,000 for any single contract project, and a contractor may renew under a different class by paying that class's issue fee. On public work the class matters at the bid: a contract may not be awarded unless the contractor holds a license in the class the project's value falls within, the license must have been held at least ten days before the date set for receiving bids, and a copy of the license or current-year certificate goes in the bid bond envelope or the bid is returned unread. Bids to the Department of Transportation and the Public Service Commission, and federal-aid highway work, are outside that rule, and a public contract also needs a tax commissioner certificate showing no delinquent income, sales or use taxes. Two apparent routes are dead ends. The word reciprocal appears once in the contractor chapter, at NDCC 43-07-22, and it lets the labor commissioner make arrangements with another state about the North Dakota resident hiring preference on public construction contracts, not about licensure. And North Dakota does not accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors and is not among the participating agencies, which follows from there being no North Dakota contractor examination for it to replace.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Do not count
What you must already have
- No examination, minimum experience, work history review, education, continuing education, financial statement or qualifying party is required, however large the project. The class letter caps the value of a single contract project and is chosen on the application; class A carries no limit at all.NDCC 43-07-04(1) sets out the complete application contents and NDCC 43-07-07(1) sets the class limits. The Secretary of State's contractor page prints the same list and adds no examination, bond, net worth figure or responsible managing individual. The old classes-of-licenses section, 43-07-05, was repealed in 2015.
- The applicant must be eighteen or older and must sign the application under oath, including a statement of their own experience and qualifications as a contractor and the class of license sought. North Dakota sets no threshold for that experience and does not check it against another state's license or classification.NDCC 43-07-04(1). Out-of-state experience is described in that statement like any other experience; the registrar may deny a license where an application contains false or misleading information, so it should be described accurately.
- You must have no disciplinary action or unresolved complaints on your record.NDCC 43-07-04.1, with the rehabilitation test in NDCC 12.1-33-02.1 and a right of appeal to district court. Discipline under NDCC 43-07-15 runs to a civil penalty of up to $1,000, restitution of up to $5,000 and suspension of up to sixty months, and any penalty or restitution must be paid before a license is renewed, reinstated or newly issued.
What you'll do to get licensed in North Dakota
- 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($450). License fee for a class A license, which carries no limitation on the value of any single contract project. The other classes are cheaper because they are capped: class B $300 up to $500,000 per job, class C $225 up to $300,000 per job and class D $100 up to $100,000 per job. Renewal is $90 for class A and $60, $45 or $30 for classes B, C and D. A contractor may apply at renewal for a different class than the one previously held by paying the issue fee for the new class. A name change costs $10 and must be reported to the registrar within ten days..
- 2Insurance. Carry the required insurance. Certificate of liability insurance filed with the application, issued in the same name the contractor license is requested in and listing the North Dakota Secretary of State, 600 E Boulevard Ave, Dept 108, Bismarck, ND 58505, as the certificate holder. No minimum policy limit is set in the statute or published on the Secretary of State's page, so the state does not publish one; ask the Secretary of State on 701-328-2900 or 800-352-0867 what its reviewers accept, and expect owners, lenders and construction managers on commercial work to require far higher limits by contract. Coverage must be maintained and refiled at renewal; failing to maintain it puts the license out of good standing and leads to revocation if it is not cured within thirty days..
- 3Insurance. Carry the required insurance. Workforce Safety and Insurance coverage, evidenced by a statement from WSI that coverage satisfactory to WSI has been secured. A contractor with employees residing in North Dakota files a current WSI certificate of payment; a contractor with no North Dakota resident employees who does not meet the tests of significant contact files a WSI letter of good standing instead. At renewal the contractor certifies that all payroll taxes, including North Dakota income tax, WSI premiums and unemployment insurance premiums due at the time of renewal have been submitted..
- 4Business license. Obtain a business license. Business registration with the Secretary of State, completed before the license application because the name on the application must match the business registration. A corporation, limited liability company or other entity must register, an out-of-state company registers as a foreign corporation, LLC, LLP or limited partnership, and a sole proprietor or general partnership may need a trade name or fictitious partnership name registration. Letting any of those registrations lapse is a listed ground for the registrar to classify the contractor license as not in good standing, which requires the contractor to stop soliciting or entering new projects and leads to revocation if it is not cured within thirty days..
- 5Financial responsibility. Show financial responsibility (if applicable). North Dakota requires no financial statement, net worth figure, working capital figure or credit report for a contractor license at any class, including class A. The class letter is a cap on the value of a single contract project that the applicant selects and pays for, not a financial qualification the registrar assesses. Public owners may impose their own financial and prequalification conditions on top of the license: any administrative or governing body with power to enter public contracts may set reasonable additional requirements as a condition of awarding a public works contract..
- 6Background check. Complete a background check (if applicable). Not part of the standard filing. The registrar may require any other information needed to determine eligibility to act as a contractor, expressly including criminal history record information about the applicant or the officers, members or partners of a business applicant, held by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation or a similar agency in another state, at the applicant's expense. Failing or refusing to authorize or pay for that information is a ground to refuse the license..
- 7Surety bond. Post a surety bond (if applicable). No surety bond is required for the contractor license itself; the bond section of the contractor statute was repealed in 1995. Bonding is still a fact of commercial life in North Dakota: a bid for a public contract project must enclose a copy of the license in the bid bond envelope, public owners may impose their own bonding conditions, and private owners and lenders commonly require performance and payment bonds by contract..
- 8Other. Ongoing obligations once licensed. The license number must be supplied to the permit-issuing official on every building permit application. A public contract with the state or any political subdivision additionally requires a certificate from the tax commissioner showing no delinquent income, sales or use taxes. The license runs to the end of the contractor year on March 1 and is renewed by filing a list of every project, contract or subcontract over $50,000 completed in North Dakota in the preceding calendar year, the nature of that work, a current liability insurance certificate and the payroll tax certification, with the renewal fee; that project list is forwarded to the state tax commissioner. Missing the March 1 deadline leaves the contractor unlicensed until they renew, which is possible until June 1 on payment of a $50 penalty plus the renewal fee, after which the license is expired..
Published fees on this path total $450, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
What you'll need to buy or arrange
Liability insurance
Some states require proof of general liability or workers' compensation coverage at licensing time.
- Insurance
- Insurance
Business registration
If you plan to contract in your own name, budget for a business license or entity registration on top of the trade license.
- Business license
Surety bond
A license or contractor bond is bought from a surety, not the state. Price is a small percentage of the bond amount and depends on your credit.
- Surety bond · if applicable
How North Dakota licenses general contractors
North Dakota general contractor · “Contractor License, class A (no limit on project value) through class D”
Statewide license
Issued by North Dakota Secretary of State (Registrar of Contractors)
North Dakota has one contractor license for every kind of building work, issued by the Secretary of State as registrar of contractors, and it is the same license a homebuilder holds: the difference between a commercial general contractor and a residential builder here is the class letter they choose, not a different credential. A license is required of anyone whose job exceeds $4,000 in cost, value or price, including subcontractors, public contractors and nonresident contractors, and an unlicensed contractor cannot maintain a claim or lawsuit in a North Dakota court over the contracting business. The class letter caps the value of a single contract project: class A carries no limit, class B stops at $500,000, class C at $300,000 and class D at $100,000, so an unlimited or commercial builder applies for class A, and on a public contract the license must be in the class the project's value falls within and must have been held at least ten days before the bid date. There is no examination, no experience or work history review, no bond, no financial statement, no net worth or working capital test and no qualifying party or responsible managing individual: the license is issued to the individual or business that contracts, on proof of liability insurance and Workforce Safety and Insurance coverage. Electrical and plumbing work are licensed separately by the North Dakota State Electrical Board and the North Dakota State Plumbing Board, so any of that scope must be performed under the right board license.
Why Colorado has nothing to transfer
Colorado general contractor · “General / Building contractor license (Class A or B in most jurisdictions)”
Licensed by cities and counties
Colorado has no statewide general or commercial building contractor license. DORA licenses electricians and plumbers through its Division of Professions and Occupations but states on its own consumer page that general contractors are not licensed at the state level and that you should check with the city; the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department says the same thing in its exam notice. Unlimited and commercial building work is therefore licensed by each city, county or regional building department, typically as a Class A (unlimited) and Class B (limited commercial or under a height or storey cap) pair: Denver issues General Contractor Class A and Building Contractor Class B, Colorado Springs issues Building Contractor A-1, A-2, B-1 and B-2, Fort Collins issues Classes A, B, C1 and C2, and Aurora issues a single Commercial Building Contractor license. The license is held by the business and qualified by an individual who holds the supervisor certificate and has passed the relevant exam, so the person moving states applies for the certificate and the company applies for the license. The common thread is the ICC National Standard General Building Contractor (A) and Building Contractor (B) examinations, which nearly every Colorado jurisdiction requires, and a license must be obtained separately in each jurisdiction where the contractor will pull permits.
How local licensing works in Colorado
How local licensing works. Each Colorado jurisdiction licenses building contractors under its own ordinance and building code, and there is no state board above them. Class letters and size thresholds differ from place to place, so a Class B in Fort Collins is not a Class B in Colorado Springs. What is consistent is the exam: most jurisdictions require an ICC National Standard contractor examination, open book and multiple choice through Pearson VUE, and the Pikes Peak notice explains why that matters - "with successful passage of an ICC contractor exam, contractors can be secure in the knowledge that their results may be honored by many jurisdictions in Colorado and throughout the United States. However, each jurisdiction has the right to determine if this exam is acceptable." The same exam appears as W11, F11 or G11 for the unlimited (A) tier and W12, F12 or G12 for the limited (B) tier, depending on which code edition the jurisdiction has adopted, and departments generally require results from the current or a recent code year. The notice also warns that "passing an ICC contractor exam is NOT a license to practice and does not guarantee licensing in any jurisdiction."
Denver. The individual first earns a supervisor certificate. Class A covers "to erect, add to, alter, demolish, or repair any building or structure" and needs seven years of notarized commercial experience including ground-up high-rise work over 75 feet plus ICC exam #F11. Class B covers any building classified as less than a high rise and needs four years of notarized commercial experience on ground-up builds of 55 to 75 feet plus ICC exam #F12; Class B-2 caps the highest floor level or occupiable roof at 30 feet, with four years of experience including ground-up projects up to 40 feet, also on ICC #F12. Certificates cost $60 and renew every three years. The company then buys the General Contractor Class A or Building Contractor Class B license at $250 for three years. Denver states it "does not accept or reciprocate contractor licenses and/or certificates from other counties or states."
Colorado Springs, El Paso County and nearby towns (Pikes Peak Regional Building Department). Building Contractor A-1 covers "the construction, alteration and repair of any type or size of structure permitted by the Regional Building Code"; A-2 is the same except Group A, E and I occupancies over 30,000 square feet and any building requiring Type I construction; B-1 covers all occupancies except Groups A, E, I and H and Type I construction; B-2 covers nonstructural remodeling plus Group B, F, M or S buildings up to one storey and 7,500 square feet and Group R buildings up to 16 units and two storeys. License fees are $200 for A-1 and A-2, $175 for B-1 and B-2, on top of a $50 non-refundable application fee, and each of these classes requires an exam. Applicants supply three reference forms documenting experience, copies of all licenses held inside or outside Colorado, liability insurance naming PPRBD, workers' compensation, a Colorado certificate of good standing and a name-based judicial record check. Files close three weeks before the monthly Licensing Committee meeting, the Board of Review approves the following week, and the license must be claimed within 60 days. PPRBD accepts ICC National Standardized or ICC Colorado Standard exams passed on or after January 1, 2016 and states that "no out-of-state exams will be accepted."
Aurora. A single Commercial Building Contractor license "Requires ICC General Building Contractor 'A' OR 'B' Certification"; the supervisor license fee is $131 and the license fee is $392, plus registration and three job references. Limited Building Commercial and Demolition contractors register with three years of documented experience instead.
Fort Collins. Class A and A(DR) cover any building or structure; Class B and B(DR) cover new builds up to and including five storeys; Class C1 and C2 cover new builds up to three storeys and multi-family housing projects; E(C) covers nonstructural commercial alterations. Classes A and B require ICC exam G11 over the 2018 IBC plus the concrete manual, and Classes C1, C2 and E(C) require ICC exam G12, with G11 also accepted in place of G12. Every general contractor class also needs three project verifications with permits and final inspection records signed by someone unconnected to the applicant, and general liability of $1,000,000 per person with $2,000,000 per accident, property damage and aggregate. A new license with supervisor certificate is $300 for a two-year term including a $75 non-refundable application fee; renewals are $225. The city adopted the 2024 ICC codes with amendments in December 2025 and requires exam results from a current code year.
Boulder. Class A covers "the construction, alteration, wrecking, or repair of any type or size of building or structure permitted in the City of Boulder" and requires the ICC A Contractors certificate; Class B covers commercial and residential buildings of construction types V, IV, III-B and II-B and requires the ICC B certificate. New Class A and Class B applicants must also document education, training or years of experience in non-residential construction. Boulder states that it "does not accept reciprocal licenses from other jurisdictions," and its license covers work inside city limits only.
Jefferson County. Class A (labeled 2018 G11) covers "the construction, alteration, tenant finish or repair of any type of structure permitted by the Building Code" and Class B (2018 G12) covers commercial buildings and single- or multi-dwelling buildings up to three storeys. The county accepts "proof that you have passed an appropriate ICC exam within the last 3 years or ... a copy of a valid license issued from an ICC participating jurisdiction." The fee is $50 and licenses renew annually.
Arapahoe County. Building Contractor Class A (commercial) and Class B (commercial/residential) each cost $360 and require the matching ICC certification "or equivalent" certification by a recognized state or national certification entity; Class D specialty is $84. Insurance must carry a $2,000,000 general aggregate and $1,000,000 each occurrence, with the county as an additional holder.
Lakewood. Class A-1 Unlimited Commercial is "only issued to contractors with experience in building high-rise construction"; A-2 Limited Commercial is limited to two-storey commercial or four-storey R occupancies; A-4 covers commercial and residential remodeling not exceeding 30 percent of the original structure. A-1 and A-2 applicants attach any ICC certifications they or their employees hold. Fees are $150 for the first probationary year and $400 for each subsequent three-year renewal.
Douglas County. Unincorporated Douglas County registers general contractors rather than licensing them and states that it "has no testing requirements." Registration needs the application, workers' compensation proof or an exemption statement and business liability insurance naming the Building Division; fees are currently waived.
Out-of-state holders. None of the jurisdictions reviewed will convert another state's general contractor license into a Colorado one. Denver and Boulder rule it out in writing, and PPRBD will not accept exam results earned out of state. What does carry across is the ICC National Standard contractor certification: pass the (A) or (B) exam on a code edition the jurisdiction currently accepts and it will usually satisfy the testing requirement in Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Fort Collins, Boulder, Jefferson County and Arapahoe County, though each department still verifies experience, references or project history separately and charges its own fee. Jefferson County goes further and accepts a current license from another ICC participating jurisdiction in place of the exam. Check the required class, exam code year and fee with each building department before applying, and expect to hold a license in every jurisdiction where you pull permits.
- Denver (Community Planning and Development)
- Colorado Springs / El Paso County (Pikes Peak Regional Building Department)
- Aurora (Building Division)
- Fort Collins (Planning and Development Services)
- Lakewood (Public Works)
- Boulder
- Jefferson County (Division of Building Safety)
- Arapahoe County (Building Division)
- Douglas County (Building Division)
Common questions
- Do I have to take the North Dakota general contractor exam if I'm licensed in Colorado?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
- What does it cost to get a North Dakota general contractor license from Colorado?
- Published fees on this path total $450, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Colorado work hours count in North Dakota?
- No. North Dakota does not credit out-of-state hours on this path.
- Does it work the other way, from North Dakota to Colorado?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from North Dakota to Colorado, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors · National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies · Other · verified September 17, 2026
- North Dakota Century Code Chapter 43-07 - Contractors · NDCC 43-07-01, 43-07-02, 43-07-04, 43-07-04.1, 43-07-07, 43-07-08, 43-07-09, 43-07-10, 43-07-11, 43-07-12, 43-07-19, 43-07-22, 43-07-24 · North Dakota Legislative Branch · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
- North Dakota State Electrical Board - Home (license types and reciprocal license agreements) · North Dakota State Electrical Board · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
- North Dakota Secretary of State - Contractors (licensing, classes, fees and renewal) · NDCC ch. 43-07 · North Dakota Secretary of State · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.