Moving to Alabama as a general contractor: every state's rule

Alabama licenses commercial and public general contracting statewide through the Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors in Montgomery; residential homebuilding is licensed separately by the Home Builders Licensure Board. A license is required for any undertaking, including labor and materials, costing $100,000 or more, and for swimming pool construction of $5,000 or more; subcontractors working under a licensed prime at or above those figures must also be licensed, and an awarding authority must confirm licensure before accepting a bid. The license belongs to the business rather than the person: it is issued to an individual, partnership, corporation, LLC or LLP and is qualified by a named qualifying party on the Board's Qualifying Party Form, so an inbound contractor applies as or for the entity that will sign contracts. Licenses are granted by classification, with major classifications including Building Construction, Building Construction Under Four Stories, Highways and Streets, Municipal and Utility, Heavy and Railroad, Mechanical and Electrical, each with named subclassifications, and at least three completed projects must be documented for every classification requested. Every license also carries a bid limit set by the financial statement the applicant files rather than by skill. The Board names five states whose licensees may have the trade examination waived; the business law examination is never waived.