Do I have to take the Nevada general contractor exam if I'm licensed in South Dakota?

The trade exam is waived, but Nevada requires a law or code exam.

What does it cost to get a Nevada general contractor license from South Dakota?

Published fees on this path total $900, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.

Do my South Dakota work hours count in Nevada?

Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Nevada's eligibility requirements.

Does it work the other way, from Nevada to South Dakota?

Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Nevada to South Dakota, the mechanism is not applicable.

South Dakota to Nevada: general contractor license reciprocity

No credit· Start overVerified September 17, 2026· 8 sources

South Dakota does not issue a statewide general contractor license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Nevada'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.

Trade examination waived only by the NASCLA examination or Board discretion (states with no equivalency chart entry)

Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.

An applicant from a state with no Nevada equivalency chart takes the ordinary route: the trade qualified individual proves four full years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in general building work within the past 15 years, on four Certification of Work Experience forms with a resume, and sits the Nevada B General Building trade examination. Out-of-state experience counts here, because the Board asks for verified experience rather than for a license. Two origin-independent ways past the trade examination exist: a passing NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors, whose transcript NASCLA sends to the Board electronically, and the Board's discretion under NAC 624.600(3) to waive the examination where the applicant's experience and qualifications justify it. Everything else is unchanged, including the Nevada Business and Law examination, which the Board never waives, the financial statement that sets the monetary limit, the bond the Board fixes at approval, proof of workers' compensation and the background investigation.

Nevada licenses the business, so the first practical decision is which entity will hold the license and who its management and trade qualified individuals will be. Accredited college or equivalent training approved by the Board can replace up to three of the four years of experience, and a current master certification issued by a governmental agency in a substantially similar discipline, or transferable military experience and training, may be filed instead of the work experience certificates. Anyone who qualified a Nevada license in the same classification within the past five years is already excused from the trade examination, and within the past ten years from the experience certificates. A separate statutory route, NRS 624.242 added by AB 540 of the 2025 session, requires the Board to license by endorsement an applicant who has held a valid unrestricted contractor's license in another state for at least four consecutive years with no discipline and who holds a contract to work on an attainable housing project in a rural area, with a decision inside 60 days; the Board handles that through its separate Rural Contractor's License Application. The Board does not publish how long an ordinary application takes, and licensing staff on (775) 688-1141 in northern Nevada or (702) 486-1100 in southern Nevada will say where an application stands.

At a glance

Trade exam: Waived
Law / code exam: Required
Out-of-state hours: Count toward eligibility

What you must already have

You must document at least 4 years of qualifying work experience.NRS 624.260(6). The experience may have been gained anywhere, and the Board takes it on four Certification of Work Experience forms completed by employers other than the applying company, with a Resume of Experience. Accredited college or equivalent training approved by the Board may replace up to three of the four years, and there is no education requirement. The 15-year window does not apply to someone who previously qualified a Nevada license in the same classification.
You must have passed a licensing exam in South Dakota that the destination considers comparable.The Board's FAQ answers the waiver question with a paragraph headed 'B or B-2 Exam Waiver' and says applicants for a full B General Building or a B-2 Residential and Small Commercial license may be considered for waiver of the trade exam on a passing NASCLA Accredited General Building Exam, so the credit is available at both Nevada building levels. NAC 624.600(2)(a)(2) is the rule behind it and lets the Board accept a NASCLA-accredited examination that it finds substantially equivalent to its own. The transcript must be bought from NASCLA's National Examination Database and sent to the Board electronically; a copy from the candidate is not the same thing. The NASCLA examination is an examination credential rather than a license or an interstate agreement, so any applicant may use it whatever state they come from, and it waives nothing else: the Nevada Business and Law examination, the four-year experience requirement, the financial statement, the bond, the background investigation and every fee still apply.
The license is held by a business and qualified by named people: a management qualified individual who passes the Business and Law examination and a trade qualified individual who meets the experience requirement, which may be one and the same person. That person must be a bona fide member or employee of the licensee, actively engaged in the contracting business, with authority to make technical and administrative decisions and to hire and direct staff.

What you'll do to get licensed in Nevada

1Law / code exam. Pass a law, rules, or code exam. Nevada Business and Law (CMS) examination, taken by the management qualified individual through PSI once the Board issues an Examination Eligibility form. The Board states plainly that a qualified individual coming in by endorsement must still pass it, and the NASCLA examination does not replace it either. Three attempts are allowed with a two-week wait between attempts, and the person qualifying must pass within six months of filing the application..
2Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam (if applicable). Nevada B General Building trade examination, administered by PSI at Las Vegas, Reno or Elko, or at a PSI site in another state. It is required only where it has not been waived by the NASCLA examination or by the Board's discretion under NAC 624.600(3). Three attempts are allowed with a two-week wait between attempts, the qualifying individual must pass within six months of filing, and a third failure voids the application, after which a new application and fee may be filed 30 days later..
3Application fee. Pay the application fee ($300). $300 to consider an application for a license in a classification the applicant does not already hold (NAC 624.130). The Board charges the same application fee whatever the classification, and it is not refunded if the license is denied..
4Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. PSI charges separately for each examination scheduled. The Board does not publish the amount on its website; NRS 624.280 caps an examination fee at $300, and PSI Candidate Services on 800.733.9267 and the Nevada candidate information bulletin give the current figure..
5License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($600). $600 to issue or renew a license (NAC 624.130). Nevada issues only two-year licenses, so the fee falls due when the license is issued and again at every biennial renewal; late filing of a renewal for an active license adds $150..
6Financial responsibility. Show financial responsibility. A current financial statement for the applying entity is required at every monetary limit, and the kind of statement depends on the limit requested: for $25,000 or less, a CPA-prepared statement, a statement on the Board's form, or an accounting-software balance sheet with a verifying affidavit; above $25,000 and under $500,000, a CPA-compiled statement current within six months or a reviewed or audited statement current within one year; from $500,000 to under $1,000,000, a compiled statement with full disclosures or a reviewed or audited statement; at $1,000,000 or more, a reviewed or audited statement by an independent CPA. A Bank Verification Form completed by the applicant's bank goes in with every statement, and sole proprietors and general partners file personal statements. The Board publishes no single minimum net worth: it reads the statement and fixes the monetary limit, the largest contract the license may undertake on one site for a single client..
7Surety bond. Post a surety bond. A surety bond or cash deposit filed before the license is issued. The Board fixes the amount at approval, anywhere from $1,000 to $500,000, from the type of license, the monetary limit, financial responsibility, experience and character, and states the figure in the Contingent Letter of Approval. A surety must be authorized in Nevada and rated A or better, the bond must be continuous, and a surety canceling it must give 60 days' notice. A cash deposit instead of a bond carries a $200 administrative fee at issue and at each renewal and is held for two years after the license ends. Residential pool and spa work also takes a consumer protection bond of between $10,000 and $400,000..
8Insurance. Carry the required insurance. Proof of Nevada workers' compensation coverage is one of the items the Board asks for in the Contingent Letter of Approval, before a license number is assigned. The Board does not publish a general liability minimum for licensure, although owners, lenders and general contractors normally require that coverage by contract..
9Business license. Obtain a business license. A Nevada Business ID number issued by the Secretary of State is needed before the application can be completed; a business without one obtains a Nevada State Business License through SilverFlume. The contractor's license is issued to the business rather than to the qualifying individual, and a filed fictitious name certificate is required to trade under any name other than the registered legal name..
10Background check. Complete a background check. A Background Disclosure Statement and Fingerprint Authorization form from every person listed on the application, including each qualified individual. Fingerprints are submitted only once the Board authorizes it and are used for a background investigation of all officers and qualified individuals..
11Other. Residential Recovery Fund assessment. It falls on any licensee engaged in residential work, so a B General Building contractor who builds or remodels homes pays it with the license fee at issue and at every renewal. NRS 624.470 sets it by the monetary limit on the license: $200 per biennium at a limit of $1,000,000 or less, $500 per biennium above $1,000,000 where the license is still limited, and $1,000 per biennium for an unlimited license. (if applicable).

Published fees on this path total $900, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.

What you'll need to buy or arrange

Exam preparation

Most boards contract PSI, Prov, or ICC for exams. Check which code edition the exam is written to before buying a prep course.

Law / code exam
Trade exam · if applicable
Exam fee

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

Liability insurance

Some states require proof of general liability or workers' compensation coverage at licensing time.

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

How Nevada licenses general contractors

Nevada general contractor · “B General Building (classification B)”

Statewide license

Verified September 17, 2026· 5 sources

Issued by Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB)

Nevada's unlimited building tier is classification B, General Building, issued statewide by the Nevada State Contractors Board. NRS 624.215(3) defines a general building contractor as one whose principal business is the construction or remodeling of buildings that require more than two unrelated building trades or crafts and on which the contractor is the prime contractor; a B contractor may perform specialty work only as prime contractor unless it also holds the specialty license. General building and general engineering are mutually exclusive branches, so classification A, General Engineering, covers fixed works such as highways, bridges, pipelines and power plants rather than buildings, and classification AB is granted only to applicants qualified in both who can support an unlimited license in each. The license belongs to the business, an individual, partnership, corporation, limited-liability company or joint venture, and is qualified by a management qualified individual who passes the Business and Law examination and a trade qualified individual with four full years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor within the past 15 years. What limits a B license in practice is not the classification but the monetary limit the Board places on it, the largest contract it may undertake on a single construction site or subdivision site for a single client, which the Board sets from the financial statement filed with the application; an applicant wanting a high or unlimited limit files a reviewed or audited statement from an independent CPA. A bond of between $1,000 and $500,000 is fixed at approval, and a B contractor who also builds or remodels homes pays the Residential Recovery Fund assessment.

Moving to Nevada Leaving Nevada

Why South Dakota has nothing to transfer

South Dakota general contractor

Licensed by cities and counties

Verified September 17, 2026· 10 sources

South Dakota has no state general, commercial or building contractor license and no state board that examines or qualifies builders, so there is nothing at state level for an out-of-state general contractor's license to transfer into. The Department of Labor and Regulation's occupational licensing list has an Electrical Commission, a Plumbing Commission and a Board of Technical Professions for architects and engineers, and no contractor board, so the credentials that matter at state level are the electrical and plumbing licenses held by the subcontractors and the design professionals who stamp the drawings. Commercial building is governed locally, and most of the state's larger cities license less at this level than at the residential one: Sioux Falls states that it 'does not require Commercial Building Contractors to be licensed at this time', Aberdeen says commercial contractors are not required to be licensed through the city because commercial projects are designed and overseen by architects and engineers, and Brookings publishes a residential contractor license and no commercial equivalent. Rapid City is the exception, licensing a Class A general contractor for construction of all types of structures on the ICC National Standard General Building Contractor (A) examination. Every contractor, commercial included, must hold a free contractor's excise tax license from the Department of Revenue before starting work anywhere in the state, and the 2% contractor's excise tax falls on the prime contractor's gross receipts.

How local licensing works in South Dakota

How it works in South Dakota. No South Dakota agency issues a general, commercial, building or unlimited contractor license, and there is no state qualifying party, business-and-law examination or financial responsibility test. Commercial construction is controlled through the building permit and the plan review, and by the state's requirement that commercial projects be designed and overseen by licensed architects and engineers. The one thing the state does require of every commercial contractor is a contractor's excise tax license from the Department of Revenue: 'an individual must be licensed before starting work in South Dakota. All contractors must be licensed regardless of the amount of the receipts they have or the amount of tax due.' It is free, it is applied for online, and the 2% contractor's excise tax is imposed on the gross receipts of the prime contractor. Get it first; cities ask for the card.

Rapid City. This is the one city of the four that licenses commercial builders, and its Class A license is the most demanding contractor credential in South Dakota. Class A is the 'General Contractor' class, 'for construction of any and All types of structures', and it is issued on the ICC National Standard General Building Contractor (A) examination, known as the G11, taken through Pearson VUE: 4.5 hours, 90 multiple-choice questions, open book, based on the 2018 International Building Code and the 2018 International Residential Code, with an examination fee of $115.00 and testing at the Career Learning Center, 730 E Watertown St. The license itself is $200 initially and $100 to renew, runs three years and carries six hours of continuing education per period. Every applicant files a certificate of insurance naming the City of Rapid City as certificate holder, and no other form is accepted, with minimum general aggregate liability of $1,000,000, $300,000 fire damage and $1,000,000 each occurrence, plus a workers' compensation certificate or a signed statement of non-participation. A copy of the South Dakota excise tax certificate is part of the packet, and an electrical contractor class separately requires proof of a South Dakota electrical contractor's license. No verifiable experience is required for Class A, and the packet offers no waiver, credit or reciprocity for a contractor license held in another city or another state: a licensee who lets the license lapse beyond the one-year grace period must reapply and pass the examination again. Building Services is on (605) 394-4120.

Sioux Falls. The city's position is one sentence long: 'The City of Sioux Falls does not require Commercial Building Contractors to be licensed at this time.' What it requires instead is that each individual project goes through plan review and obtains the proper permits. Note that apartment buildings count as commercial for construction purposes even though they are residential in use, so a multifamily builder falls outside the residential license as well. The electrical, mechanical, plumbing, refrigeration, sign and right-of-way trades are separately licensed by the city, and right-of-way contractors must be bonded and insured before working in a city right-of-way. Plans examiners are on 605-367-8248 and building inspectors on 605-367-8251.

Aberdeen. 'Because the majority of commercial construction projects are required to be designed and overseen by design professionals (i.e. Professional Architects and Professional Engineers), Commercial Contractors are not required to be licensed through the City of Aberdeen. Commercial Contractors are required to obtain a South Dakota Excise Tax License.' Electricians are licensed by the state, with state permits and state inspections in Aberdeen; plumbers are licensed by the state but permitted and inspected by city inspectors. Building Inspection is at City Hall, 123 South Lincoln Street, 3rd Floor, 605-626-7017.

Brookings. Community Development issues a residential contractor license, a plumber license, building permits and rental licenses, and publishes no commercial or general building contractor license; all work must conform to the International Building Code and electrical and plumbing work must be done by trades licensed by the state and the city. Because the city publishes no commercial contractor application, confirm what is expected of a commercial builder with Community Development on (605) 692-6629 before bidding. Building permits also apply on nonagricultural land in the joint jurisdictional area about three miles beyond the city.

Everywhere else. Other South Dakota cities set their own permit and licensing rules, and the further from the larger cities you go the more likely it is that a permit and proof of insurance are all that is asked. Check with each building official, and hold the state excise tax license wherever you work.

Moving to South Dakota Leaving South Dakota

Common questions

Do I have to take the Nevada general contractor exam if I'm licensed in South Dakota?: The trade exam is waived, but Nevada requires a law or code exam.
What does it cost to get a Nevada general contractor license from South Dakota?: Published fees on this path total $900, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Do my South Dakota work hours count in Nevada?: Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Nevada's eligibility requirements.
Does it work the other way, from Nevada to South Dakota?: Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Nevada to South Dakota, 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
Nevada Administrative Code Chapter 624 - Contractors · NAC 624.130, 624.160, 624.170, 624.600, 624.615 · Nevada Legislature (Legislative Counsel Bureau) · Admin Rule · verified September 17, 2026
Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 624 - Contractors · NRS 624.035, 624.215, 624.220, 624.242, 624.260(6), 624.264, 624.270, 624.280, 624.470 · Nevada Legislature · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
Nevada State Contractors Board - Contractor's License Application · Nevada State Contractors Board · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Nevada State Contractors Board - Licensure by Endorsement (State License Equivalency Charts) · NAC 624.600, 624.615 · Nevada State Contractors Board · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Nevada State Contractors Board - FAQ Central · Nevada State Contractors Board · Faq · verified September 17, 2026
Nevada State Contractors Board - License Classifications · Nevada State Contractors Board · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Nevada State Contractors Board - License Requirements · NRS 624.260, 624.262, 624.263, 624.265; NAC 624.600(3) · Nevada State Contractors Board · 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.

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