Where a New Jersey general contractor license transfers

New Jersey issues no state license, certificate or registration for general, commercial or building contractors, and holds no contractor examination of any kind. Commercial construction is controlled through the State Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23) instead: the Department of Community Affairs' Division of Codes and Standards writes and enforces the code and licenses construction code officials, while construction permits are issued and inspections performed by the local construction official in each municipality. The State does license the individual building trades and design professions - electrical contractors, master plumbers, HVACR contractors, architects, professional engineers, land surveyors and landscape architects - so specialty work is credentialed even though general building is not. Residential work is separate again: improving an existing home requires a Home Improvement Contractor Business registration and building a new house requires a New Home Builder registration, both covered at the residential level. A contractor that bids or works on prevailing-wage public projects must also hold a Public Works Contractor Registration from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, currently $500 for one year or $750 for two years, which is a wage-compliance filing with no exam behind it. Because New Jersey holds no general building contractor exam, the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors is not accepted here - there is nothing for it to stand in place of - and New Jersey publishes no reciprocity or endorsement rule for a contractor licensed in any other state.