Connecticut to District of Columbia: general contractor license reciprocity

The District of Columbia licenses general contractors and construction managers District-wide through DLCP, which issues a Basic Business License in the Contractor and Construction Services category with a General Contractor/Construction Manager endorsement. The license comes in five classes set by the value of a single contract project: Class A has no limit, Class B stops at $10,000,000, Class C at $5,000,000, Class D at $2,000,000 and Class E at $500,000. The license is entity-held and is not transferable, and no named qualifier stands behind it, because the District sets no trade examination, no business-and-law examination and no experience or apprenticeship requirement for this endorsement. What separates the classes is insurance: commercial general liability of $2,500,000 per occurrence for Class A, $1,500,000 for Class B, $500,000 per occurrence with $1,000,000 aggregate for Classes C and D, and $500,000 per occurrence for Class E, from an insurer authorized in the District and rated B+ or better by A.M. Best, with the D.C. Treasurer named as an additional insured. Applicants also file a credit report and a statement of outstanding judgments, and must disclose every jurisdiction where they hold a license and every disciplinary action taken against them anywhere. Electrical, plumbing and gasfitting, and refrigeration and air conditioning work is licensed separately by the DC Board of Industrial Trades and is not covered by this endorsement.

Connecticut issues no general, commercial or unlimited building contractor license. There is no state exam, no classification letter, no monetary limit tier and no qualifying party to become: a contractor may build, remodel or fit out a commercial building in Connecticut without holding any state contractor credential at all. What the state regulates instead is narrower and sits in three places. First, the trades: CGS chapter 393 licenses six occupations through examining boards at the Department of Consumer Protection - electrical work, plumbing and piping work, heating, piping, cooling and sheet metal work, elevator installation, repair and maintenance, fire protection sprinkler systems work, and automotive and flat glass work - so a general contractor meets those requirements by employing or subcontracting to the licensed firm. Second, structural work on large buildings: anyone who constructs, structurally repairs, structurally alters, dismantles or demolishes a structure that exceeds the threshold limits in CGS 29-276b - roughly four stories, 60 feet tall, a 150-foot clear span, 150,000 square feet of gross floor area or an occupancy of 1,000, with separate thresholds for institutional, residential and storage uses - must hold a Major Contractor Registration, and so must a subcontractor whose roofing, masonry or structural frame work affects the structural integrity of such a building. That registration is a screening rather than a qualification: DCP asks for two credit references, one from a supplier or subcontractor and one from a financial institution, and sets no examination, experience or education requirement; it renews every June 30 for $500, and a contractor prequalified with the Department of Administrative Services is registered without a fee. It does not reach smaller commercial buildings, new homes or residential work. Third, public money: bidding on a state or municipal construction contract estimated above $1,000,000 requires DAS prequalification under CGS 4a-100, which is bidder eligibility for public work and not a license to build privately. Connecticut municipalities do not license contractors; building departments enforce the statewide State Building Code and issue permits, and a commercial permit is issued to the project rather than against a contractor license. Connecticut also once had a Home Building Contractors chapter, CGS chapter 400d, and repealed it - the surviving credentials are the two consumer registrations described on the residential page.