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

Hawaii's building tier is the Class B general building contractor license issued by the Contractors License Board at the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. HRS 444-7 splits the contracting business into just three branches, Class A general engineering for fixed works such as highways, bridges, harbors, dams and utility plants, Class B general building for structures, and Class C specialty for the individual trades, and there is no residential class anywhere in Hawaii law, so Class B is the license for houses and for commercial buildings alike. A Class B license covers any contract requiring more than two unrelated building trades, and it automatically carries ten Class C subclassifications, among them carpentry framing, carpentry remodeling, drywall, scaffolding, cement concrete and roofing shingles, without a further examination or fee. It does not cover a job that needs only one or two unrelated trades unless the holder also carries the matching specialty license, and electrical and plumbing work always needs the C-13 or C-37 classification plus an individually licensed electrician or plumber. The license is held by the business and qualified by a person: a corporation, partnership, joint venture, LLC or LLP must employ a licensed Responsible Managing Employee, who is the one with the four years of supervisory experience and the passed examinations, and who must live in Hawaii while the license is in force. A contractor trading in their own name is licensed as a sole proprietor instead.