Kentucky to Nebraska: general contractor license reciprocity

How the two layers fit together. Hold the Nebraska Department of Labor registration first - it is required statewide before any construction work and it is cheap and quick - then deal with the city, which is where any examination, bond or board approval lives. Nebraska cities differ so much that the only safe approach is to ask the building department with jurisdiction over the site what it licenses before bidding.

Omaha. Permits and Inspections licenses building contractors under Chapter 43, Article IX of the Municipal Code. The largest tiers are Class A and Class B, which cost $300.00 plus a $24.00 technology fee and require an examination, drawn from the National Contractor/Trades Examination Information Bulletin published with the licensing page; Class C is $200.00 plus a $16.00 technology fee with an examination, Class E is $100.00 plus an $8.00 technology fee with no examination, and Class D is a renewal-only class that the city describes as requiring an 'Equivalent License From Another Jurisdiction... The Exam is No Longer Available, Renewal License Only.' Every class needs a bond of at least $10,000.00 and liability insurance of at least $1,000,000.00 for Classes A and B, $500,000.00 for Class C and $300,000.00 for Classes D and E; the bond and insurance go to [email protected]. Renewal requires nine contact hours of continuing education a year, from construction-related college courses, from education outreach work with school or university students, or from courses through agencies certified by the International Code Council, the American Institute of Architects, the National Association of Home Builders or the Associated General Contractors of America. Applications and renewals are filed through the Accela portal at OmahaPermits.com. The class scopes themselves sit in the building code rather than on the licensing page, so confirm which class covers your work with Permits and Inspections on 402-444-5350 or [email protected].

Omaha's reciprocal license. Omaha is the only Nebraska jurisdiction found to publish a route that credits a contractor license held elsewhere, and it is a municipal route decided case by case rather than a state-to-state agreement. Its published requirements are: 'Must hold a valid contractor's license from another jurisdiction'; 'Proof of examination required'; 'Approval by the Building Board of Review'; and 'Payment of required fee - $100.00 + $8.00 Tech Fee.' Apply online at OmahaPermits.com for Building Board of Review approval of reciprocation of a building contractor's license. The board is a seven-member body which also hears building code waivers and appeals from the Superintendent of Permits and Inspections; reciprocal license applications are heard quarterly, so confirm the next hearing date and the filing deadline with Permits and Inspections. No list of accepted jurisdictions is published and approval is not automatic, so allow for a full quarter in the schedule and be ready to document the examination behind your existing license.

Lincoln. Building and Safety licenses contractors by trade and specialty - demolition, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, signs, street use and fire - and certifies master and journeyman tradespeople. There is no Lincoln general or commercial building contractor license, so a commercial builder works from the state registration and city permits while the trades hold their own licenses. Insurance must be at least $500,000 each occurrence for demolition, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, sign, street use and fire alarm work, or $1,000,000 for fire sprinkler and chemical extinguishing work, with 'City of Lincoln as an additional insured' by endorsement, a policy number rather than a binder number and the agent's signature; plumbing, HVAC, electrical and fire contractors must list a master's name on the certificate as an insured. A bond is needed only for work in the city right-of-way, where sign, street use and excavation contractors post a $5,000 license and permit bond or an equivalent cashier's check. Documents go to [email protected].

Everywhere else, and what does travel. Bellevue, Grand Island, Kearney, Papillion, La Vista and the other Nebraska cities run their own building departments, and several license only the trades. An out-of-state general contractor license and a NASCLA Accredited Examination carry no weight in the state registration and no weight in Lincoln; the one place either might help is an Omaha reciprocal license application, where the board wants proof of the examination behind the license you already hold. What always matters is the Department of Labor registration, workers' compensation coverage that stays in force, and the correct trade licenses for any electrical, plumbing or mechanical scope.

How local licensing works. Kentucky has no state general contractor board, no state business-and-law exam for builders and no statewide reciprocity for commercial construction. Every rule that binds a general contractor is either a trade license from the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, the Kentucky Building Code in 815 KAR Chapter 007, or a local ordinance. Find the building department with jurisdiction over the site first, then register there before bidding. A registration in one Kentucky jurisdiction is worth nothing in the next, and an out-of-state general contractor license is worth nothing in any of them.

Louisville Metro (Jefferson County). The Office of Construction Review licenses building contractors for the merged city-county. License A covers "one or more permitted projects during a calendar year" and License B a single permitted project; the work scopes are Building A-Residential, Building A-Residential/Commercial, Building A-Commercial and Building B. Building Type A is "for building contractors seeking to obtain multiple permits within Louisville Jefferson County" at $125 a year on a term running 1 January to 31 December; Building Type B is $50 and is limited to one permit per person or company per renewal year. The filing is a certificate of liability insurance with the Office of Construction Review as certificate holder, workers' compensation and unemployment insurance or a notarized affidavit where the contractor has no covered employees, an Occupational License Number from the Revenue Commission of Jefferson County, and the application through the Metro business portal. The six-hour continuing education requirement attaches to the scopes that include housing - Building A-R, Building A-RC and Building B - so a contractor registered purely as Building A-Commercial is the one building class without it. Renewals must include a subcontractor list. There is no exam, experience review, bond or financial statement on any building class. 444 S. 5th St., Suite 100, (502) 574-3321.

Lexington-Fayette Urban County. The Division of Building Inspection registers every contractor under the Contractors Registration Ordinance, and "unregistered contractors cannot obtain building permits." The commercial class, under Ordinance 5-90(a)(1), is the general contractor, who "performs commercial, industrial, public works, and/or residential construction of larger than four-family homes (4-plex); and may supervise, arrange, and/or perform wholly or partly more than two building trades or crafts." A firm that concentrates on one or two trades registers as a specialty contractor instead. The filing is a Home Office Certificate ($10) or Certificate of Occupancy ($25) where the business address is in Fayette County, an occupational business license from Revenue, general liability and workers' compensation insurance with LFUCG named as certificate holder, and the online Contractor Registration Application with those two documents uploaded. No exam, experience or bond is required. The published Building Inspection fee schedule covers permits and lists no contractor registration fee, so confirm the amount with the division. 101 E. Vine St., (859) 258-3770.

Bowling Green and Warren County. One joint Contractors Licensing Board serves the city and the county under Ordinance 91-58 WC and Ordinance 91-25 BG. The General Contractors License, $250 and non-refundable, is required of anyone "doing any type of general contract work in Bowling Green / Warren County including pulling permits for building or remodeling, construction management, or if you would have two or more subcontractors per job." The Specialty Contractors License is $100 and covers subcontract work or a job with at most one subcontractor. Insurance is the substantive test: a certificate naming the board as certificate holder with general liability of at least $100,000 per occurrence, workers' compensation shown on the certificate or a notarized Affidavit of Exemption, and a notarized Partnership Agreement for partnerships. Licenses are non-transferable, renewals are annual and pro-rated mid-year, and a change of ownership voids the license. There is no exam or experience requirement; the board states that it "does not warrant that you are otherwise qualified to perform your trade or specialty by the issuance of its license." A city occupational license is needed for work inside Bowling Green and a county one for work outside it. 1141 State Street, Suite 200, 270-781-3530.

Owensboro and Daviess County. There is no contractor license here. The Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission's Building & Electrical Division issues building, electrical, HVAC, sign and parking lot permits and certificates of occupancy for Owensboro-Daviess County under the Kentucky Building Code and the National Electrical Code, and issues no contractor credential; demolition permits come from City of Owensboro Public Works. A commercial builder registers with the city's Occupational License Division before doing business inside the city limits, with a minimum license fee of $75 at registration. 101 East 4th Street, 270-687-5600.

Covington and Kenton County (Northern Kentucky). Planning and Development Services of Kenton County is the building department, and it requires that "all contractors must obtain and maintain a Kenton County occupational license and provide proof of Kentucky workers' compensation insurance coverage", plus the HBC state license "for electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and fire suppression work", with copies of all of it on file "before any permits can be issued." There is no general contractor license, exam or bond. In Covington a zoning permit precedes the building permit, and a certificate of appropriateness is needed first inside a historic preservation overlay. PDS, 1840 Simon Kenton Way, Suite 3400, Covington, 859-331-8980.

What does and does not travel. An out-of-state general contractor license, a NASCLA Accredited Examination and out-of-state project experience carry no weight in any Kentucky jurisdiction, because none of them tests or qualifies commercial builders. Kentucky is not a NASCLA participating state, and no Kentucky city on this page accepts an examination in place of its own filing. What does matter is holding, or employing someone who holds, the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction license for each state-licensed trade in scope - plumbing, electrical, HVAC, boilers, fire sprinklers and fire alarms - because those licenses are statewide, are the only Kentucky construction credentials with reciprocity rules of their own, and are separately demanded by several of the local building departments above.