Nebraska to Oregon: general contractor license reciprocity

1. 1Other. At least 16 hours of pre-license training on business practices and law from a CCB-approved education provider, taken by the RMI. It is required of every applicant except an RMI who has passed the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors, and except the narrow RMI route based on continuous Oregon licensure from before July 2000. Providers set their own prices, so the Board publishes no figure; the approved provider list is on the CCB site and the education team can be reached on 503-934-2227. (if applicable).
2. 2Law / code exam. Pass a law, rules, or code exam. The Oregon contractor test, administered by PSI at test centers in Oregon and other states or by remote proctor: 80 scored questions in 180 minutes, plus 8 unscored questions and 20 minutes, with 70 percent needed to pass. It is open book against the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management for Oregon Construction Contractors, 2nd edition, which may be highlighted, tabbed and annotated beforehand. The subjects are Oregon contractor laws and regulations, business structure, employees, subcontractors, contracts, lien law, bidding and estimating, project management, building codes, jobsite safety, environmental factors, exterior shell, financial management and tax basics. There is no separate commercial or trade examination. A failed test may be retaken without limit, though not the same version on consecutive attempts, and the license application must follow within two years of the pass..
3. 3Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($60). PSI examination fee, payable when the test is scheduled. It covers first-time and repeat takers and stays valid for one year from the date of payment..
4. 4Application fee. Pay the application fee ($400). CCB license application fee for a new license, set at $400 for applications received from 1 July 2025. It covers the two-year license; renewal is a further $400 every two years, and changing or adding an endorsement later costs $20. Application fees are not refunded. A licensee who is a sole proprietor or general partner on active duty in the armed forces does not pay a renewal fee falling due during that service..
5. 5Surety bond. Post a surety bond ($25,000). A commercial surety bond sized to the level chosen: $25,000 for Commercial General Contractor Level 2 and $80,000 for Level 1. The Board accepts only its own CCB Commercial Surety Bond form, signed by an authorized agent of the surety or an attorney-in-fact, bearing a bond number, and filed within 60 days of the date the surety executed it. A commercial bond answers only for small and large commercial work, so a contractor also taking a residential endorsement posts a second, residential bond. Commercial Specialty Level 1 is $55,000 and Level 2 $25,000..
6. 6Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($1,000,000). General liability insurance sized to the level chosen: at least $1 million aggregate for Commercial General Contractor Level 2 and at least $2 million aggregate for Level 1, covering products and completed operations, with the certificate naming Construction Contractors Board, PO Box 14140, Salem, OR 97309 as certificate holder. Proof is filed with the application and again at every renewal. A contractor holding both a commercial and a residential endorsement carries a single policy at the higher of the two amounts..
7. 7Insurance. Carry the required insurance (if applicable). Workers' compensation coverage, required of any business that is non-exempt, meaning it has employees. A sole proprietor with no employees, and a business in which every owner, officer or member is a family member, may file as exempt; the Board defines family as parents, spouses, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law and grandchildren. A non-exempt applicant supplies its carrier, policy number, Workers' Compensation Division compliance number and employer tax identification numbers, and any change between exempt and non-exempt status must be reported to the Board within 10 days..
8. 8Business license. Obtain a business license. A business entity that is required to register with the Oregon Secretary of State's Corporation Division must be registered, active and in good standing before the license issues, and every assumed business name used by the applicant must be registered as that entity's assumed business name. An out-of-state entity registers in Oregon in the same way. A joint venture is licensed and endorsed for bidding purposes if a named partner or joint venturer holds the license and endorsement..
9. 9Background check. Complete a background check. The RMI clears a background check after the application is filed. The application itself asks the business and its owners and officers to disclose, for the five years before the application and from any state, unsatisfied construction-related court judgments and administrative orders, pending complaints alleging money owed, and judgments of conviction or indictments for the crimes listed in ORS 701.098, along with unpaid workers' compensation penalties and unpaid employee wages. Unsatisfied construction debt keeps both the owners and the RMI from obtaining a new CCB license until it is paid..
10. 10Surety bond. Post a surety bond ($30,000) (if applicable). A separate $30,000 public works bond, filed with the Board before work starts on a qualifying public works project over $100,000. It is not part of the licensing application, but it is the second bond most commercial general contractors in Oregon end up posting. Disadvantaged, minority, women-owned, service-disabled veteran and emerging small businesses certified by the state may apply for an exemption..
11. 11Continuing education. Complete continuing education (if applicable). Not required to obtain the license. Each two-year license period a Commercial General Contractor Level 2 must certify that one or more key employees completed at least 32 hours of continuing education; a Level 1 contractor's requirement scales with the lowest number of key employees it had during the period, at 16 hours for one, 32 for two, 48 for three, 64 for four and 80 for five or more. Hours count only if the key employee was employed by the contractor when the course was taken, and hours credited at one renewal cannot be reused at the next. Contractors who also hold certain Oregon licenses, including architect, engineer, electrician and plumber, are exempt..
12. 12Other. A contractor whose Oregon work will include boiler, electrical, elevator or plumbing installation also needs the matching Building Codes Division contractor license, and OAR 918-030-0015 requires an active CCB license before the division will issue or renew one. The CCB license comes first, and it does not replace the division license..

Published fees on this path total $460, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.