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

Montana's unlimited tier is the same single credential as its residential one: the Construction Contractor License issued by the Department of Labor & Industry. The statutory definition in MCA 37-45-102 reaches anyone who offers, undertakes or bids to construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck or demolish for another a building, highway, road, railroad, excavation or other structure, project, development or improvement attached to real estate, and it also catches an owner who employs members of more than one trade on a single job or under a single building permit. Commercial buildings, highway and heavy work and demolition therefore need no license that a homebuilder does not need, and there is no classification to choose, no monetary limit, no financial statement and no bond. The license is issued to the business, not to a qualifying individual, and the application asks for identity information, the federal employer identification number, the names and addresses of the owner, partners, corporate officers or LLC managers or members, and proof of compliance with Montana's workers' compensation laws. House Bill 239 (Chapter 644, Laws of 2025) converted the former Construction Contractor Registration into this licensing program effective January 1, 2026, moving it into Title 37 and carrying over every registration active on December 31, 2025. Businesses with employees must hold it, as must corporations and manager-managed limited liability companies whatever their employee count, and MCA 37-45-204 keeps cities and counties from issuing a competing contractor license or bond. Trade licensing sits alongside it: Montana-licensed electricians and plumbers are exempt while working inside the scope of their own licenses, which are issued by separate boards with their own examinations.